Congratulations to Gracie R from the U13 Rush Girls for setting a new personal juggling record of 1,318 using only her feet! That is AWESOME Gracie!

With winter months approaching and most teams taking some time off, juggling is a great way to get touches on the ball and have fun! Did you know that Rush has a Juggling Club (called Keep it Up) that features Rush players from all across the country? There are levels for all as the club tracks levels of 100, 250, 500 and 1000+. Gracie, who plays for Coach Russell Finch, has broken into the Elite Club going over 1,000 juggles and is the highest reported Colorado Rush player over the past year.

To report your scores or learn more about the Juggling Club, click here. 

'Keep Up' the good work Gracie!

Congratulations to Griffin Dorsey who has been named an NSCAA All-American! Dorsey, who plays for the U18 Colorado Rush DA, has had several stints with the U18 Men's Youth National Team program over the past year in addition to his club duties. He was also named the Central Conference Player of the Year for the U15/16 Development Academy age group last season.

Sean Bushey, Griff's DA Coach said, "Griff is such a pleasure to coach and to watch. He embraces training like few others, and though he has garnered great recognition and honors (captaining our national team!), his desire has not ebbed to become the best he can be. Griff is an impressive young man and his growth, patience and drive within our Development Academy has simply been exemplary."

Way to go Griff!

On the girl's side, Civana Kuhlmann was named to the Girls NSCAA All American team, earning the honor for a second straight year. Kuhlmann had one of the more impressive years of any player in the USWNT Youth program being a mainstay with the U17 program playing in the CONCACAF Qualifying and U17 Women's World Cup. At the World Cup Kuhlmann scored a hat trick in the opening round win over Paraguay and added an assist on the lone goal against Ghana. C also scored the CONCACAF Tournament game winning goal in a 2-1 win over Mexico to ensure the US would advance to the World Cup. Very impressive stuff and another well deserved award for Civana!

Over the next few weeks Coloradorush.com will feature end of season recaps that have been shared with the club. If you would like to share your teams fall success stories, please contact Adam Logan. First up, the U14 Nero Boys coached by Brian Greenwood.

The U14 Rush Nero boys continued its march through the fall season demonstrating their incredible passion for the “beautiful game”. Teamwork and sportsmanship coupled with their ever increasing individual skills have truly catapulted the team to an end of the season highly competitive run. It has been amazing to see this team come together as new group this August and turn into a fun, cohesive unit this fall, under the tutelage of Coach Brian Greenwood. Although we have ended our fall season, we are all eagerly awaiting the spring to continue to watch this amazing group of boys hit the field again. Look out for U14 Rush Nero! 

Tis the season! Come on out to Children's Hospital South Campus in Highlands Ranch on Saturday December 10th and meet Santa!

The U16 Girls National Team under coach Jaime Frias is headed to Chula Vista, CA for their final camp of the calendar year December 3-10 and our very own Cori Dyke (U17 ECNL) has been called in for the camp. Cori has been a mainstay in the U16 program this year and it speaks to her dedication and hard work to continually be called in to represent for the USA and of course for the Rush! Cori has been in several camps including trips to Italy in the spring and another to the Netherlands in September where Cori acted as Captain. Keep up the great work Cori and good luck at camp!

(Pictured: Cori playing against Iran in March. The first time the two countries had met on the pitch.)

See full list of camp invitees here.

Over the next few weeks Coloradorush.com will feature end of season recaps that have been shared with the club. Next up, our U19 Nero girls, playing in their final games as members of the Colorado Rush.

With the end of the fall league season, Colorado Rush will say goodbye to our Senior girls. U19 Nero Coach Dan Georgopulos shares some thoughts about this team who finished top 4 in their Centennial Elite League this fall after a busy summer including the President's Cup Regional competition and some of the players going on a once in a lifetime trip to play in Norway and Sweden.

While their club soccer time is over, the relationships will continue for a lifetime. There have been highs and lows for this team but they definitely ended on a high. With a league title, many tournament championships and close seconds in the past few years, these young women accomplished it all through hard work and a commitment and love for each other.

A few of them started playing together at Rush when they were four years old. Many others joined over the years and were all welcomed. Several will be playing in college and even more are committed to academics moving forward. Whatever journey lies ahead, they are all better equipped for life as a result of the sport, the club and each other. Coach Georgopulos is proud of each of you girls! 

2016 Colorado Rush Nero 98 - 
Maggie Allen
Taylor Brouillet-Stock
Lindsay Carter
Raymie Fotherby
Allie Goulding
Grace Herring
Natalie Laubacher
Christine Leas-Burnley
Jordan Lilja
Carlisle Maney
Isabella Olson
Grace Putz
Kristen Ross
Emma Sears
Jacey Smith
Kyra Stulz

Thank you girls for your time, commitment and dedication to the game and to our club!! We wish you all the best of luck with your future ventures!

One of the final trainings - good old bubble soccer!

Final Team Dinner!

If you would like to share your teams fall success stories, please contact Adam Logan.

While the excitement of the Rio Olympics has come and gone, former Olympians are still making an impact on our sidelines. Former United States Olympian, Matt Hemingway, treated the U14 Rush team, coached by Megan Melucci, to two sessions of individualized running technique work. Matt represented the U.S. in the 2004 Olympic games held in Athens, Greece, literally leaping to glory and brought home a silver medal. In college, Matt competed for the University of Arkansas, was on seven National Championship teams and became a five-time All-American. After college, Matt earned a spot as an alternate on the 1996 team and recorded the second highest jump in the world in 2000. Despite his success, Matt did not qualify for the 2000 Olympic team. After "retiring" from track and field, Matt re-entered competition in 2004 at the age of 31. His 7' 8 1/4" jump earned him a silver medal. This season Matt shared his talents as an athlete and a competitor with the U14 Rush squad. Parents watching on the sidelines saw their daughters laughing as they soaked up the constructive feedback and made technical running improvements.

Matt and his wife Kate adopted their daughter, Asha, from Ethiopia in 2007. Asha and her teammates on 03 Rush have experienced their own highs and lows this season. The newly formed team struggled through some tough losses, overcoming mental challenges, yet never giving up. In fact, they finish the fall season with a very successful weekend winning the Championship at the Christmas Angel Tournament in Phoenix with 3 wins and a tie scoring 20 goals and allowing only one! Thank you to Matt for demonstrating many of the Rush core values, in particular, TENACITY.

Tenacity: To be successful, persevere.... persevere but do not be anxious. Fear no one. Be strong and courageous. Work when no one else is looking, even when the circumstances are not right and everyone else quits.

For more information on Matt Hemingway's road to success, please see his website at: http://www.matthemingway.com/'

Looking for a great camp before the start of the Spring 2017 season? IFA has announced their camp details for January and February.

Rush Winter Jam League is targeted to U7 through U10 boys and girls who are looking to continue to get touches on the ball and improve their game, even when the weather isn't cooperating. The focus is to allow our players to compete in full games during the winter months. This league begins January 8 and runs until February 12 with games being held on Sundays (2:00-3:00 pm & 3:00-4:00 pm). We are accepting registrations to form up to 24 teams in the league, which get split into two divisions, a younger (U7/U8) division and older (U9/U10) division. Rosters will hold 5-6 players. Players may request to be on the same team or we will place them on a roster. All games will be 30 minutes and held on a hard surface with futsal balls, increasing the speed of play, giving our teams a unique playing experience. They will be either 3v3 or 4v4 to allow players more touches on the ball.

All sessions and games will be held at Denver Christian School (3898 S Teller St). Rush members who have non-members register for Rush Winter Jam League will be given a referral refund of $25.

REGISTER HERE

Hoover, Alabama - In only its second year of inception, Golden Running Academy (GRA) positioned six of its runners atop the team podium at the 2016 US Track and Field Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on December 10th. In the 13-14 year old girls 4000 meter race, GRA runners and Colorado Rush players Jayden Goodrich (U14 ECNL), Katelyn Haerbig (U14 Nero) and Taylor Haerbig (U14 Rush), along with teammates Harmony McMullin, Maggie O’Connell, and Sonja Morin (former Rush player) raced to a combined score of 130 points. The GRA runners’ score topped the second place finishers from Equalizer Track Club (CA) by 49 points. Led by 24thfinisher Jayden Goodrich, GRA placed all six of its racers no lower than 78th place in a field that consisted of 376 runners from across the nation. 

(From left, Katy, Jayden and Taylor celebrate their National Championship with teammates!)

Our U17 Rush 00 Girls traveled to Raleigh, NC last weekend for the CASL Girls College Showcase. There were over 500 college coaches in attendance and more than 400 participating teams from across the country. Aside from the event, the Rush 00 Girls got in some team bonding at an Escape Room and took a tour of Duke University. The trip was a great success with multiple coaches expressing interest in our players!

The 2000 Rush Girls also took 1st Place in their U19 Elite 'E' Division of the Centennial League this Fall. Congrats to Coach Paul Garcia and the whole team on a great fall season!

This week the Colorado Rush Director of Coaching Adults, Joe Webb and Director of Coaching-Seniors. Peter May had the opportunity to be guests on the Flakoglost Futbol Podcast. The Flakoglost is a popular Denver based podcast that features 3 co-host all of whom are strong supporters of American Futbol. The Rush coaches were interviewed by one of the shows co- host, Todd Brossart, and he covered a wide gambit of topics, including everything from the formation of the Rush, the growth of the Rush youth club, the newly formed UPSL Colorado Conference and its impact on Colorado Soccer, the events going on in the current US Soccer Pyramid and some Promotion/Relegation chat too. You can listen to the entire podcast at www.flakoglost.com or on itunes here https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/flakoglost-futbol-pod/id980471595?mt=2 . Follow the Flakoglost on twitter @flakoglost and like them on Facebook www.facebook.com/flakoglost , they are supporters of the beautiful game at the grassroots level.

The lights were on, the stage was set, and the doors to Denver Sports Center were open for greatness. Alumni Week 2016 has officially begun!

The day started off with splitting these Rush legends into three teams. Green - a team full of young talent with the likes of JP and Noah making their Alumni debuts. Salmon - a formidable force of seasoned vets that were eager to show they still had "it". Gray - one of the crowd favorites as the combined social media follower count on this team was special.

The day started out with some extremely impressive match play. There was good soccer happening all over the pitch. But with the good, comes bad...A player by the name Russell Finch was all over the map with his tackling on the day. A fellow Rush alum Max Flom compared him to a newly born baby dear still trying to find his balance in the world. Luckily though no one was injured and Boomer was able to get everyone to sign the DSC liability waiver.

There were plenty of goals scored today. The almost goal of the day goes to Kenny Tribbett with a spectacular effort on the bike, but just missing the frame. The consistent "eye catcher" of the day has to go to Nick Blanco with a plethora of skillful and crafty finishes. Another eye catching performance has to go to Rigo, who found himself outside puking just as much on the pitch playing! We salute you. The gray team showed there tekkers with triangle after triangle being formed and had a dominant performance in the middle of the field with Paulo and Lindsey leading the charge.

The champions of the #RAW Day 1 though goes to the Salmon team as they defeated the Gray team in the final. The gray team had a surprise appearance in the final after being the first team in the history of soccer to get a SECOND semi-final chance after clearly having the lease amount of points in group play (Rush Soccer and FIFA are currently investigating any bribery taken by the referee Tim Schulz). The final was cagey, intense, and very Rush like. In the end though Betsy Brandon was the difference with a clinical finish in the dying seconds of the game. Her team went on to celebrate a great win. Congratulations to Brad Gorham, Will Williams, Collen Warner, Joe Web, Phil Owen, Nick Blanco, and Betsy Brandon.

Tune in tomorrow to find out what will happen on day 2...you never know what you will get on the best week of the year.  

We will see you out there tomorrow. Same place, same time. Come one come all. 10am - 12pm @ DSC.

Day 2 of Alumni Week is history....it was even better than day 1. What will day 3 have in store? TOMORROW STARTS The New LOCATION and Time: The 21st and 22nd will go from 3:30 - 5pm at Foothills Indoor Facility. 3608 S Kipling St, Denver, CO 80235. Come one come all! In the meantime, please enjoy this write up of Day 2 from our very own Paolo Delpiccolo. A part time journalist I believe...

Day 2 of Rush alumni week had no suprises. It all started with Lindsey Horan blowing off the first 5 mins to do interviews while the rest of the more humble rush alum warmed up. Next, Tim Schulz did a great job of embarrassing a select few players (warner) by making everyone go in a circle and share their gpa.

The first hour showed very even soccer between the three teams with each team producing pieces of magic, and individuals showing their rust. The yellow team showed superior tactics with the full field substitutions, however this innovation was quickly outlawed by the referee. When asked about the banning of full field substitutions, co inventor Zander Dietz said, "some people are scared of change. Progress is important in our society. I just am glad as a group of alumni we have finally opened the door to have a conversation about these important issues facing alumni week. I will keep fighting to find a balance between good substitutions and fair play in the game."

In the last game of warm ups, controversy erupted on the pitch with play having to be stopped for over 24 seconds. Lindsey Horan was target and speared by Collen Warner. Some nearby fans heard Warner standing over Lindsey saying "Jill Ellis should have called me up." When asked about the incident Horan responded, "It wouldn't have hurt so bad if his head wasn't so egg shaped." It has yet to be determined if dsc will be issuing Warner a fine.

The finals took place between the yellows and the orange team. Orange got on the board first when the ball got mixed up at the top of the box and took a lucky deflection off of Russell Finch's shin and trickled into the back of the net. Upon opening his eyes, Russell exclaimed, "That was cool! Wait what just happened?" Yellow would show great character when superstar Bri Campos collected the ball cut around a few orange defenders and tucked a lazer into the bottom corner. The goal changed the momentum. Colin Clark showed a lack of composure when he shanked a ball right of Horan who was standing in front of the goal. She collected and put it away to seal the victory for the yellows.

Honorable attendees Jordan Angeli-superstar behind and in front of the camera
Nick Blanco- 3rd straight game without a red card (personal record)
Cole chaplips - did not play

Questionable absences Corey Schulz & Morgan Sacco - living in the wilderness
Nick Cardenas' new girlfriend - no one cares about nick. But if you have 5 mins to spare, look at his girlfriend on instagram
Brittany Kerridge - no excuse
The Foxhovens - usually combine for 30 goals a day. They were missed. 

A new venue, new faces, and another day of Alumni Week in the books. The Rush Alum found themselves in a new element with no walls and were able to get back to the roots of the game. Even more importantly, it allowed stoppages to rest while players went to retrieve balls. The group was definitely missing their fearless leader with Schulz organizing the group at the beginning. A 1.5hr session turned into only an hour of playing with the yahoos that were leading the charge....never the less the teams were formed and the games began. 

Tomorrow is the last day of the best week of the year. Same place and same time as today (Foothills Indoor, 3:30PM). Akio Ohtake-Gordon is rumored to be making an appearance and maybe a surprise appearance from the one and only Wes Hart? Tune in....you know what they say, save the best day for last. #RAW #RUID   

Thank you to all of our alumni for coming out and playing this week and for your continued support of Colorado Rush!

Jordan Angeli had some fun during the week and did some rapid fire questions with some of the alumni. Check it out! A special thanks to Jon Galpin for his work with fimling and editing this week!

What a year it has been for Colorado Rush representing our country within the National Team program. Colorado Rush is well represented currently in US Soccer’s national team program on both the boys side and the girls side. Luke Hansen has competed at the U14, U15 and now U16 level for our country and Griffin Dorsey is in his second calendar year with the U18 Men’s National Team.

In an unprecedented manner, Colorado Rush is also represented on every single girls/women’s national team except U23.

U14 – Addie Bundy
U15 – Brooke Berdan (pool)
U16 – Cori Dyke (Audrey Weiss – pool)
U17 – Civana Kuhlmann
U18 – Brynn Martin, Sofia Weiner 
U19 – Betsy Brandon, Kayla Hill
U20 – Jordan Dibiasi 
USWNT - Lindsey Horan

"I have been in the youth game for 25 years and never have seen anything like this. I am so impressed.  Everyone of these gals have worked so hard and we are very proud of them. Go Rush!" exclaimed Colorado Rush President Tim Schulz.

Addie Bundy - U14 Girls 

Bundy was the lone player from Colorado to be invited into the first U14 camp. "I couldn't be prouder for Addie," exclaimed her coach at the time Russell Finch. "She's worked tremendously hard to get to where she is today. This is the kid that every youth coach in the country would want to work with week in and week out. Always listening when things are being said, always watching when things are being demonstrated, hard working, accountable within her role(s) and just always wanting to learn. She will represent herself and Colorado Rush to the highest of standards."

Brooke Berdan - U15 Girls

Berdan converted to a defender when joining the Rush and her hard work has paid off as she participates in the U15 GNT pool.

Cori Dyke - U16 Girls

Cori has been everywhere in 2016 attending multiple domestic camps with the U16GNT but also travelling to Italy and the Netherlands on two seperate trips where she captained the 16's.

Audrey Weiss - U16 Girls

Audrey has been injured much of the year but has been to multiple camps with this age group and is sure to rejoin the mix once fully healthy.

Civana Kuhlmann - U17 Girls

Civana had one of the more impressive years for any player within the National Team program at any level. In addition to attending virtually every camp of the year with the 17's, she scored the game winning goal to win the CONCACAF Tournament and propel the US to the U17 Women's World Cup. During the World Cup, Civana open the tournament scoring a hat-trick in the tournament opening 6-1 win over Paraguay. Kuhlmann was also named an NSCAA All-American for the second consecutive year.

Brynn Martin - U18 Women

Brynn made her second appearance with the national team this year as she was called in to the U18 Training Camp in September along with teammate Sofia Weiner. 

Sofia Weiner - U18 Women

Sofia is a great success story earning her first invite into the national team program at 18. She has done well with her opportunity after attending the September Camp, she was called back in to the team for a trip to Northern Ireland in October.

Betsy Brandon - U19 Women

Betsy has been in the national team program at virtually every age group and added the U19's to her list during a camp in January.

Kayla Hill - U19 Women

Kayla had a busy year with the U19WNT. Attended the January camp, another in March, a third in May and then travelled to New Zealand with the team in June for a series of friendly matches.

Jordan DiBiasi - U19/U20 Women

Jordan spent time within both the U19 and U20 teams this year. Started the year in Spain with the U20's in the La Manga tournament and then travelled to New Zealand with the 19's in June along with attending several camps.

Lindsey Horan - USWNT

Horan started the 2016 calendar year by returning to America to play with the Portland Thorns of the NWSL. She also was a mainstay with the full national team as the prepared for and competed in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio.