SPORTS ILLUSTRATED - The Oklahoma City Spark, a previously independently owned and operated professional softball team, announced that it would join the AUSL, and leading the team into the new era is veteran collegiate coach Kirk Walker.

Walker, who will be the team’s general manager, will be joining Amber Flores, who has coached the Spark for the last three seasons under their independent status.

Flores is no stranger to success; as a former Oklahoma Sooner, she comes from a championship foundation.

Before leading the Spark, Flores spent 13 seasons as the head coach at Seminole State College in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), where she amassed a record of 510-107 (.826) over 13 years. During her tutelage, her teams won two NJCAA regional tournament titles and made six World Series appearances.

Walker was a collegiate softball staple. Mostly known for his time at UCLA, Walker helped guide the Bruins to six national titles from 1984 to 1994. He was also part of the staff that guided UCLA to the 2019 national championship.

Between his two stints in Westwood, Walker was the head coach at Oregon State for 18 seasons, where he helped the Beavers to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, including their first Women’s College World Series (WCWS) trip in 2006.

In 2025, Walker served on the coaching staff of the Talons, the first AUSL champions.

Walker and Flores Combined Leadership Strategies for Competing in AUSL As Walker and Flores begin this new journey working together, Flores has already indicated that she will rely on Walker’s expertise from his year spent with the Talons.

Although Walker may lead the charge from the front office, the pair has already been discussing the moves they want to make in the draft and the type of team they want to build.

“I think it’s obvious we’re looking at the total package in these athletes, their character, their background, their resiliency, their talent,” Walker said on a Zoom call with media members on Monday. “So, we’re looking at all of those things.”

“Just last night, we were just texting and trying to strategize,” Flores added. “There’s so much strategizing going on and trying to kind of figure out what our path is going to be and what others are going to do. But I think that’s the fun and exciting part. I don’t think we’re trying to reinvent the wheel here, Kirk and I.”

Even though Walker hasn’t been a general manager before, his coaching expertise gives him a unique point of view when it comes to building a competitive product on the field.

“I think we both have had success in our coaching areas,” Flores added. “And so, we know what it takes. But we’re both huge on the human factor, and we want to get the right people in place to build this foundation in year one.”

The team will be based in Oklahoma City and has clear ties to Patty Gasso and the Sooners, but Walker understands the balance between players who are from the market and creating a cohesive team that can win.

“I think I’m not going to necessarily look for a particular brand to be building off of,” Walker explained. “There are great players. I’ve had the great opportunity to coach a lot of players who have played at Oklahoma. I think there’s talent throughout the entire league. I think that’s one of the greatest things about being in Oklahoma City is that even if we don’t have some of those Sooners on our team, they’re going to be coming home to play at Oklahoma City at different times.

“I think to me, it’s not necessarily about having to only put them onto one team. I think it’s just valuing that there are so many great Oklahoma alumni who are in the pool. There are certainly players that I am excited about trying to bring and put into that Spark uniform that have OU ties, and we’ll see how that plays out. But it’s not going to have more of a factor than just our total philosophy.”

Former Spark Roster and Movement to the AUSL The excitement surrounding the Spark joining the AUSL can be felt across the softball community.

However, fan favorites from previous years are guaranteed to return. Part of the agreement between the Spark and the AUSL was to dissolve any active contracts. A move that was understandable but still bittersweet for the head coach.

“I think we became a family and, really, truly, those three years were the most special years for us,” Flores said. “So, dissolving that roster has been tough. And we’ve talked about that in length with the players. We’ve had some really good conversations. We were really proud of what we put together these past years.”

According to Flores, several, if not all, of the former Spark players intend to be eligible for the AUSL Expansion and Allocation Drafts, including power hitters Jocelyn Alo and Kinzie Hansen.

For Oklahoma City Spark fans and AUSL fans, they will be able to watch where the former Spark players and others who have entered their names in the draft land on Dec. 1.

The Expansion Draft, followed by the Allocation Draft, happened Monday night. The Spark had the first-round draft pick and chose Maya Brady. Cascade (the other expansion team) chose Sam Landry for the number two pick.

Here are the rest of the picks on the evening: No. 3: Cascade Pitcher Carley Hoover No. 4: Spark -- Utility Sydney McKinney No. 5: Spark -- Sydney Romero No. 6: Cascade -- OF Sierra Sacco No. 7: Cascade -- P Payton Gottshall No. 8: Spark -- 3B Jessi Warren No. 9: Spark -- P Alana Vawter No. 10: Cascade -- OF Korbe Otis No. 11: Cascade -- INF Tori Vidales No. 12: Spark -- Utility Bubba Nickles-Camarena No. 13: Spark -- INF Delanie Wisz

Allocation draft picks Round 1

No. 1: Cascade -- P Kelly Maxwell No. 2: Spark -- C Kinzie Hansen No. 3: Talons -- OF Jayda Coleman No. 4: Bandits -- P Kat Sandercock No. 5: Blaze -- INF Alyssa Brito No. 6: Volts -- P Ally Carda

Round 2

No. 7: Spark -- P Maddie Penta No. 8: Cascade -- C Mia Davidson No. 9: Talons -- OF Jadelyn Allchin No. 10: Bandits -- INF Jocelyn Alo No. 11: Blaze -- INF Jenna Laird No. 12: Volts -- P Alyssa Denham

Round 3

No. 13. Cascade -- INF Sis Bates No. 14. Spark -- P Jailyn Ford No. 15. Talons -- INF Rachel Becker No. 16. Bandits -- OF Jessica Clements No. 17. Blaze -- P Jala Wright No. 18. Volts -- OF Rylie Boone

Round 4

No. 19. Spark -- INF Billie Andrews No. 20. Cascade -- INF Paige Sinicki No. 21. Talons -- INF Maddie Moore No. 22. Bandits -- INF Sami Williams No. 23. Blaze -- Utility Valerie Cagle No. 24. Volts -- P Aliyah Binford

Round 5

No. 25. Cascade -- Utility Ali Newland No. 26. Spark -- INF Sydney Sherrill No. 27. Talons -- OF Aliyah Andrews No. 28. Bandits -- P Emiley Kennedy No. 29. Blaze -- Pass

Round 6

No. 30. Spark -- C Haley Lee No. 31. Cascade -- OF Kendra Falby

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