Backpass: Rapids Pyramid Scheme
The evolving state of the Rapids relationship with second division Colorado Springs could be critical to the future of the team.
I probably spend an unhealthy amount of time contemplating the overall state of American soccer. To be honest, almost anytime spent on an etherial concept such as this is probably time wasted. “What if our best athletes…”
But there are some aspects of the health of American soccer, writ large, that are of direct concern to the Colorado Rapids and their fans in specific. The youth academy structure is one that is worth ruminating on, and I did so a few weeks back. Another intersecting issue is the state of USL ownership - and certain specific racist USL owners. The overall health of the second division is important to the first division because it can provide teams with quality players that need a bit more time to polish their craft. And the overall health of one team’s links to the lower division can be a big push towards success.
A healthy and robust pyramid of opportunities for soccer players can help discover passed-over guys and refine younger not-ready-for-prime-time into big-time talents. The greatest example in the soccering world, of course, is Jamie Vardy. He was cut loose as a youth at Sheffield Wednesday and spent time with Stockbridge Park Steels in the English 7th division and Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town in the 5th division before being discovered and signed by Leicester City in 2012. Leicester were promoted to the English Premier League in 2014. In 2016, Leicester won the Premier League title; he scored 24 goals that year and was named Premier League Player of the Season.
Domestically, you’ve got lots of guys that spent some time in USL refining their skills; typically younger players. Two outstanding examples are Zack Steffen and Sam Vines. Steffen spent 2016 on loan to Pittsburgh Riverhounds because his own club, Columbus Crew, wanted him to get game experience rather than sit on the bench. After a stellar few years in Columbus, Manchester City bought Steffen for $7 million in 2019. Signed as a homegrown in 2018, Vines spent the year on loan with Rapids affiliate Charlotte Independence. He’s now the Rapids starting Left Back, was named to the league’s “22 under 22” list, and 3 caps for the Senior USMNT.
So a significant aspect of the Rapids success going forward will reside just down Interstate 25 with their USL affiliate, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.1 If players get good coaching, tactical development, opportunities to play, and a professional environment, they will grow as players. And if not, they might still succeed, but in spite of their USL environment, not because of it, much like the autodidactic kid who becomes an author and intellectual after flunking their boring and pedantic high school.
A good USL team is critical. And it requires several key components:
stable ownership
profitability
a culture of success
Up till now, Colorado Springs has been modestly successful and relatively stable. They still exist, which is impressive by USL standards. A significant chunk of the league’s teams don’t make it past year five, but the Springs yet live. Founded in 2015, they have out lived eight USL teams that played with them in their inaugural year, like the Wilmington Hammerheads and Rochester Rhinos. They outlived Reno 1868, who were founded two years after they began life. Part of that stability is patience, and part is having owners with a bit of money. Their owners include Ed Ragain, the now-retired founder of a large and successful engineering firm, and Dean Weidner, an apartment developer whose collective properties were valued at $2.3 billion back in 2015. Suffice it to say, the money’s there.
Their original stadium, “old” Weidner Field, seated 5,000 fans, was soccer specific, and of good quality, although it lacked fancy amenities - there was soccer, a few concession stands, a gift shop, and bathrooms. The big news is that the Switchbacks move this year to a new downtown stadium, “new” Weidner Field. It seats 8,000 and boasts luxury apartments, box seating ‘cabanas’, a Founders Club and a Sky Club2, and is in a premium location. The stadium situation is trending in the right direction. But a pretty stadium ain’t nothin’ if you cannot fill it.
Profitability in professional sports is never easy to determine - clubs aren’t publicly traded, and so, baring a rare leak of internal documents, it is hard to tell how things are going, financially.3 But we can ascertain the Switchbacks financial health by their attendance. Because I love charts, here’s a chart.4
I guess you could summarize that by saying ‘not bad, and growing’. And also pretty far off from league-best. There’s a good chance that the new stadium, slated for its inaugural match on May 21, will see robust gate this year. So profit-wise, things look good in the Springs, or at least promising going forward.
For player development, you want a winning team and a history of players developing and going on to bigger and better things. On that note, the Switchbacks have been less of a success.
Colorado Springs have missed the playoffs with below .500 finishes in the Western Conference for four straight years. Their coach from the team’s founding in 2015 to 2019 was former Rapid Steve Trittschuh. He compiled an uninspired 60-27-65 (WDL) record in his time. In 2020 the team brought on former coach of FC Cincinnati Alan Koch, who found success when the team was in USL, but floundered when the Lions hit MLS and was fired. Koch resigned at the end of a pretty dour 2-7-7 season. The new coach, Brendan Burke, was interviewed by my partner Matt Pollard for this week’s episode of the HTHL podcast. He’s a smart and successful coach formerly of Philadelphia Union II, and they have a history of producing good young players like Mark McKenzie and Brenden Aaronson.
Regarding player development, here’s a complete list of every player in Switchbacks history to spend significant time in the black and blue and went up to first division soccer afterwards:
Ish Jome
That’s it. That’s the list.
That’s partially because the Rapids used Charlotte Independence as their affiliate club through the 2018 season. Independent soccer clubs in USL, like Louisville, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, and (until 2019) Colorado Springs are less concerned with developing players, and more concerned with winning. They favor veterans, and they may not have spent the time, effort, and money to create a successful youth academy. Meanwhile NYRB II and Real Monarchs, subsidiary clubs of MLS teams, are primarily interested in producing young talent for the senior team. Both happen to also have been successful - NYRB won the 2016 USL trophy and the RSL affiliates won the 2019 trophy. And they’ve both provided a place for younger players to learn before they move up to the first division. Heck, former Baby Bull Tyler Adams anchors the midfield for top Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and has started 9 matches in UEFA Champions League.
So to this point, on the development front, CS Switchbacks have been a failure. Hopefully with Brendan Burke at the helm and with Colorado Rapids Director of Development Brian Crookham5 in a scouting and oversight role, both Colorado Springs and the Rapids can find a way to get young players minutes AND help the second division team succeed on the pitch.
…
The Rapids have a lot going for them. They have a smart coach. They have a solid academy. They have a historic team with an identity. They have some great players right now. Historically, what they haven’t had is a USL affiliate that is stable, profitable, and winning. The signs for a more stable and robust Rapids pyramid going forward look good.
It didn’t seem worth it to go gonzo on all the aspects Rapids development pyramid - do you really want to hear my thoughts on the U7 Rapids Youth team? But it is worth noting that Colorado’s USL PDL team in 2017 and 2018 were fertile ground for player development. MLS pros Griffin Dorsey, Sam Vines, Cole Bassett, and Andre Shinyashiki all played for the U23s. It’s been on hiatus for the past two years but I think when the team feels they have a little money and want more game opportunity for more kids, it’ll come back (in what is now called USL League 2.)
I don’t really know what this means? I think both are places where people with more money than me can watch soccer and get cocktails - or in other words, stand far from the field and get blotto. Also there are televisions of other games on in the luxury box so that you can… not watch the soccer game you paid to come to see? I sat in a luxury box for a Knicks game once. It felt far away and detached and I didn’t get the appeal. Give me a hot dog and a beer and half-decent uncomfortable plastic seat in the stands any day over that.
Teams also earn money from their tv deals (very little at the USL level) and by advertising. Advertising is almost certainly tied closely to attendance, because the local jewelers and dentists and real estate companies don’t want to pay for a banner alongside the pitch that nobody’s going to see.
I omitted 2020’s attendance numbers because, uh, we were in a pandemic.
Brian Crookham is very smart. I like him very much.