Written By:    Andrew Mosier
​               Central Region Contributor            

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Colorado has long been a women's soccer hotbed.

Just look at the current U.S. Women's National Team roster: WPSL alumna and two-time MAC Hermon Trophy winner, Jaelen Howell, along with Lindsey Horan, Mallory Pugh and Sophia Smith all developed in the talent-rich Colorado youth soccer system – like Howell, Pugh and Smith also had stints in the league.

For decades the state has been a consistent and ready feeder to universities and colleges across the country, and there are more than a dozen active players from Colorado in the professional ranks – including 2021 WPSL Mountain Conference Offensive Player of the Year, Natalie Beckman, now playing for the Portland Thorns FC after a stand-out career at Denver University.

Beckman, with a conference-leading 10 goals and 14 assists, helped the Colorado Rapids Women to its first WPSL Mountain Conference title in 2021. In just its second season in the league (play was canceled in 2020 due to Covid-19), the Rapids Women ran roughshod through its 10-match 2021 schedule—an early season 2-2 draw with eventual conference runner-up, Colorado Rush, the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record—on the way to the Mountain Conference championship, an accomplishment the club looks to build on for the 2022 season.

"Our goal is to repeat as conference champions," Sebastian Giraldo, Colorado Rapids Women's head coach, said entering his first season with the Rapids Women organization after high-level coaching stints in south Texas. "There is an incredible amount of talent in the region. It's certainly not going to be easy."

With the addition of two new Utah-based teams for the 2022 season, the conference was broken into two divisions: the Rockies Division, featuring six Colorado-based clubs, and the Wasatch Division, featuring five Utah-based clubs. The winners of the respective divisions will face off for the Mountain Conference championship, hosted by the winner of the Wasatch Division. The winner will then move on to the Central Region semi-final, along with the winners of the Midwest, Northern, and Ohio Valley conferences.

The addition of Giraldo in December of 2021 is part of the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer organization’s ongoing effort to cement the Rapids Women as the pinnacle organization for pre-professional women's soccer in the region. Giraldo holds a USSF A coaching license, is a federation coaching education instructor, and earned a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in elite athlete development. The Rapids Youth organization also entered in a partnership with Regis University in northwest Denver, where Rapids teams will have access to the university's athletic facilities, including two lighted turf fields, a natural grass stadium where the Rapids Women will play its home games, indoor training, and classroom facilities.

"With our partnership with Regis we now have access to the best training and game facilities in the conference, and among the best in the league," Giraldo said. "This will help us continue to attract the top talent, which will attract fans."

In 2021, five Rapids Women players earned All-Mountain Conference honors. Giraldo is confident this year's squad will be even stronger.

"We have a lot of returning players from last season," Giraldo said. "We are counting on them to help keep the culture everyone worked so hard to establish over the last couple of years in place, from the way we train, to the way we play, to how we interact with our fans."

Giraldo said he has fielded calls from players from some of the top college programs in the country with no ties to the Rapids Youth organization, wanting to spend the summer playing for the Rapids Women.

"The word is out about what we are doing here," Giraldo said. "This is where players want to come play, test themselves, develop as players and people, in a true pre-professional environment."

Giraldo estimates there are five or six players on this year's roster with professional aspirations, and several more with the potential to play at the professional level if they so choose, including some of the program's elite youth players.

"We're here to help them make that next step. This is just a little more than just a team for college players to play over the summer," Giraldo said. "We want everything we do to be as professional as possible."

Giraldo said he looks to build on the attacking style of play for which the Rapids Women are universally known.

 "We're going to play even more attractive, possession-based, attacking soccer," Giraldo said. “That says a lot. We want to give the fans something fun and entertaining to watch when they come out to watch us play, [and] show everyone just how good these women are. We know it's not going to be easy though. Every single game we will have a target on our back."

The Colorado Rapids Women kick off the 2022 season Sunday, May 22 versus Indios Denver FC at Regis University.

 

 

Colorado Rapids Women Full Schedule

5/22  vs.    Indios Denver FS

5/28  vs.    Colorado Rush

6/2    @     Colorado Rush 

6/5    vs.    Colorado Pride

6/10  @     BC United 

6/11  @     Broomfield Burn 

6/18  @     Indios Denver FC 

6/19  vs.    BC United

6/25  @     Colorado Pride 

6/30  vs.    Broomfield Burn