Rhode Island's FC first player needs to excel on the pitch, and in the community. Who is it?

PAWTUCKET — There will be lots of firsts for Rhode Island FC in the coming months, but perhaps none more important than the first player to wear the uniform. That honor goes to Koke Vegas, one of the USL Championship's top goalkeepers, who was introduced as the team's first signing on Tuesday morning.

"Very thankful for the opportunity that the club is giving me," Vegas said at his introductory press conference on Wednesday morning. "It's not only about soccer, it's more about our community, our fans, the city and the state."

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Coach Khano Smith called the signing a special moment for the team.

"Personally, for me, I'm just grateful to him because he was the first person to believe in the club, and he was the first person to believe in me as a professional head coach," Smith said. "Bringing him on board, I do think it sends a message to other players and other teams and other people who support us and who's interested in what we're doing. "

Vegas, 28, is a native of Antequera, Spain and played professionally in his country for 11 seasons. He made his professional debut in 2011 and has recorded 39 clean sheets over the course of his career. He won a La Liga 2 championship in 2016-2017 with Levante UD and played with Levante in La Liga, Spain’s top professional league, for parts of several seasons. In early 2022, Vegas was named the top keeper for USL Championship’s San Diego Loyal, for which he appeared in nearly 60 matches. This year, he started 31 matches for the Loyal and recorded eight clean sheets. He had 76 saves to 77 goals allowed.

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“I cannot think of a better person or player than Koke Vegas to go into the history books as the first player to ever wear our crest,” said Rhode Island FC cofounder, native Rhode Islander and former member of the U.S. Men’s National Team Michael Parkhurst.

Vegas said he was excited by Smith's pitch to him about playing for an expansion franchise. "There's something special here — people are excited," he said.

"When you have the opportunity to start something at the very beginning, it's something really special, really exciting."

The signing of Vegas also sends a message about what type of players Rhode Island FC is looking for. On the field, they want players who can control the game and, Smith said, "keep possession of the ball, and I think that's one of his major assets."

Off the field, Smith is looking for someone who embraces the community and connects with fans, and Vegas checks all those boxes. "He represents the values and style that we want our club and team to have,” Smith said.

"We want to create an environment that helps them achieve their goals, along with the team goals, just create an environment that we're there to support them, we're selling to players that we want to get you better, get better individually and collectively."

Rhode Island FC will make its USL Championship debut in March 2024 and will play its home matches during its inaugural season at Beirne Stadium at Bryant University while the soccer stadium at Tidewater Landing in Downtown Pawtucket is completed.

The team will hold two days of open tryouts in Providence on Nov. 11 and 12, and then an invitation-only combine. Smith has noted that there are 10 Division I college soccer programs within two hours of Providence, and tapping into that talent will also be key for Rhode Island FC.

"We've been doing a lot of scouting," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island FC signs goalkeeper Koke Vegas to new soccer team