West Texas FC has added goaltender Tomas Butkovic to its 2026 roster.
The club made the announcement in a Facebook post Wednesday, stating that Butkovic is a native of Wollongong, Australia, and joins West Texas from Drake University in Iowa, where he is currently enrolled as a sophomore student-athlete. The signing adds to the team’s group of Australian players and staff.
According to the post, the 6-foot-tall Butkovic recently completed a successful 2025 season with the Drake Bulldogs. He twice earned Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors and helped guide Drake to a conference regular-season championship. Additionally, Butkovic was selected to the Missouri Valley Conference’s 2025 All-Conference Second Team and has started every match for Drake since arriving in the United States for his freshman year.The club described Butkovic as “an elite goalkeeper with resounding presence and ability.”… “We’re so excited to keep this Aussie train rolling into Midland,” West Texas FC said in reference to its cadre of Australians on the roster, including head coach Scotty Murray. The club also noted that Murray believes Butkovic’s ongoing streak of matches started will carry over into his first season in West Texas.
“He’s explosive, excellent with his feet and has high caliber senior experience… He’s a huge addition to our goalkeeping unit for the summer,” Murray said according to the Facebook post. The club has not released further details about contract terms or additional roster moves at this time.