Major League Soccer recently announced the initial list of 53 NCAA Division I college players that have been invited to participate in the 2017 adidas MLS Player Combine in Los Angeles from Jan. 8-12 and among them is Colorado Rush Development Academy alum Sam Hamilton.

Hamilton had a stellar senior season at the University of Denver leading the Pioneers to the Final Four of the College Cup with a team leading 9 assists during the 20-1-3 season. A two year captain at DU, Hamilton finishes his time at DU as the most capped player in school history with 83.

All invited players will be eligible for selection in the 2017 SuperDraft presented by adidas, which will take place on Friday, Jan. 13 at the LA Convention Center. A committee of MLS and NCAA Division I coaches from every conference selected the invitees, all of whom completed their college eligibility this season.

Good luck Sam!!

The 2017 season has kicked off for the US U23 Women's National Team as 30 players have been called in to camp in Carson, California January 6-13.

Among the invitees are two Colorado Rush players: Danica Evans, and Jordan DiBiasi. Evans, a Senior at the University of Colorado just finished her final season in Boulder and is now awaiting the NWSL Draft next week where she looks to be drafted. DiBiasi, a Sophomore at Stanford, spent much of the 2016 year playing with youth national teams spending time with both the U19 and U20 teams. This marks both players first camp call up for the U23 team.

USWNT Coach Jill Ellis will be in attendance to observe potential players for the full national team.

Good luck girls! See the full 30 player camp roster here. 

A HUGE congratulation is in order for our very own Danica Evans who was selected today in the NWSL Draft by the Orlando Pride!

Evans was the 2^nd pick in the 3^rd round, 22^nd overall and the first pick for Orlando in the 2017 draft. Danica is currently in Carson, California attending the U23 Women’s National Team camp but was able to attend the Draft, which coincides with the NSCAA Coaches Convention taking place in Los Angeles this week.

Danica attended the University of Portland for two years before transferring home to the University of Colorado. As a Senior, she led the Buffs with 11 goals, 6 assists and 28 points as the team advanced to the second round off the NCAA Tournament. She was a first team All PAC 12 selection and an NSCAA All Pacific Region 3^rd team member.

While with Colorado Rush, Danica was a top player within the ECNL program. She was called in to the U17 Women’s National team and was also a four-year player with the Colorado Rush W-League team including a team leading 13 goals in 12 games in 2014. She was also named as the Colorado Rush representative to the All-Rush team in 2013.

Congratulations Danica! We all look forward to seeing you play in Orlando!

Sam Hamilton will be staying in Colorado to continue his soccer career. The Colorado Rapids selected Hamilton with their first pick (Number 15 overall) in today's MLS Superdraft in Los Angeles. 

After growing up in Evergreen and playing club ball with the Colorado Rush Development Academy, Hamilton went to the University of Denver where he would be a two year captain in the midfield and finish his collegiate career with 83 appearances, most in school history. In his Senior season, Hamilton led the Pioneers with nine assists as DU completed an undefeated regular season before falling in the National Semi-Final.

The Rapids were perhaps the surprise team of the MLS season, finishing with the second best record and an undefeated home campaign in 2016.

Congratulations Sam! We look forward to watching you next year with the Rapids!

The Rush coaching staff is holding a free clinic to players in the Lakewood/Littleton area who are interested in competing at the recreational level.  We encourage players to bring a friend to learn more about the Rush Way and have fun playing the beautiful game.  Below are details:

• Date: February 4
• Times: U6-U8 (12:00pm - 1:00pm), U9-U10 (1:00pm - 2:00pm)
• Location: Denver Christian School (3898 S. Teller St., Lakewood, CO 80235)
• Cost: FREE!
• Click HERE to register.

Live in the Roxborough area? We have a free clinic for you too!

• Date: January 28
• Times: U6-U8 (10:00am - 11:00am), U9-U10 (11:00am - 12:00pm)
• Location: Roxborough Primary School Gym
• Cost: FREE!
• Click HERE to register.

Over MLK Weekend, a number of Colorado Rush teams headed to Vegas to particiapte in the Vegas Cup. Below are recaps from a few of the teams:

Vegas Cup 2017 Rush ’05 Boys

Our first trip out of state was exciting, fun, and memorable and we can’t wait for the next one.  On our first day some of our team went to see Hoover Dam with Coach Peter May.  It is very unique and if you looked over the edge you could get scared because it is so high.  We were there just in time to see the sunset and that was pretty cool.

Traveling to Vegas Cup brought our teams closer together and we got to know each other by mixing the teams as roommates at the hotel.  We swam in the pool and had kids happy hour, but the best part of the hotel was that we just got to socialize.  We feel like we are one big team instead of two different teams.

Rush White’s record was 1-2 and Blue’s was 1-2.  Although the scores don’t show it, the players worked really hard and are proud of what they accomplished as a team.  In losing, we have to remember to never give up and stay focused and work together.  We have a new goal set for next year, Go Hard and THEN go home!

We ended our trip walking down the Las Vegas Strip, but not before Coach Nick Blanco and Coach Peter took us to In-N-Out Burger!  The Vegas strip in an interesting place.  We saw a Green Lamborghini, a water show choreographed to music and lots of “people” watching. 

Over all ’05 Boys Rush Blue and White had a great time at the Vegas Cup playing soccer and growing new friendships.

Written by John Austin Smith

Vegas Cup 2017 Rush ’05 & '06 Girls 

On January 13th, four U11 and U12 Youth Girls Divisional teams took flights into Las Vegas, NV to compete in the Las Vegas Cup, a tournament that sees some of the best younger teams from around the country. The girls all travelled the Rush Way, without their parents, two chaperones, same flights, hotels and sharing a room with 3-4 of their teammates.

The weekend started off well with 05 Rush and 05 Nero both getting early wins. The 05 Nero defended well through their stubborn defense and others to hold on for a 1-0 win, while the 05 Rush finished 2-1. The 06 Rush Blue started off with the So Cal Blues. With one goal separating the two teams at half, the 06 Blue ran out of gas towards the end and never managed to get back in the game. The 06 Nero battled hard against a direct and effective team from Utah. They created many good chances, but again, couldn't find the back of the net and ended up losing their opening game also. In their second games, the 05 Nero won again, coach Antonia Land (Rush alum) getting of to a great start after recently taking over the team. Not too far behind them was the 06 Rush Blue that had to get some points out of this one to set themselves up for an exciting finish. With the game tied at 0-0 and two big saves from Bridget, Rush Blue had two late chances that forced a big time save from the Utah keeper and then another that skimmed past the post but 0-0 was the final.

Sunday brought about two narrow losses for 06 Rush White and 05 Nero. The 06 Rush Blue also lost 2-1 in their must win game, but it brought about some of their best soccer of the weekend and many, many chances to get the job done. The 05 Rush had a day off and awaited their semi-final game Monday morning.

Monday brought a tough 2-1 loss the 05 Rush against to a big, direct Texas North team in the semi-finals after being up 1-0.

With all games done it was time to go and explore the city, which meant seeing some sharks at the Reef Aquarium and naturally the M&M, Coke-a-Cola and Hersey's chocolate stores!

The flight home wrapped up a great weekend, where kids learned how to travel the Rush Way, play and recover in an out of state tournament and sing chants as they all landed on the same flight into Denver International.

Also at Vegas Cup, from the Senior Girls Division were the U15 and U16 Rush girls (below). The 15's, coached by Jami Kummer, beat teams from Nevada and Minnesota but lost 2-1 to a Texas team so did not advance to the Semi-finals. The U16's, coached by Pedro Rabadan, had an undefeated weekend, winning 2 and tying 1, but sadly missed out on advancing due to fewer goals scored in their matches. Overall though a very successful start to 2017!

Colorado Rush is excited to announce our newest branch, Centauros Rush! Felipe Soria, a Director of Coaching with Centauros Rush, took a few moments to talk about the new partnership.

Rush: What is the history of Centauros? When did the club start? What are the main areas that players come from?
Felipe: It all started in 1993 when Rogelio Fernandez coached for a club called D.P.S.A. (Denver Power Soccer Academy). This club lasted for about 6 years until 1999 and then the club (D.P.S.A) decided to quit/end the club because of insufficient funds. In Rogelio decided to make his own club (Centauros Soccer Academy) because he didn't think it was fair to all the kids to not play a sport just because they didn’t have money so he started coaching them at no cost. Since then, he has been coaching and forming teams to compete at a good soccer level. I started helping Rogelio around the 2006 and have been with him since then working with the 2007-2010 age groups. Most of our players come from the Denver Metro Area but we have some from Lakewood and Aurora as well.

Why did you choose to partner with Colorado Rush?
We decided to partner with Rush because we think that our players will have better opportunities since Rush is a bigger club and it’s well known.

What is the goal for Colorado Rush Centauros?
Our goal as a club and as coaches is not only to show the kids/teenagers how to be good soccer players, but also to be good human beings and have a good education in the future.

What are you most excited about for the new partnership?
We are excited to be part of Colorado Rush because we think that Rush will give our players a better shot in their soccer futures and hopefully even have some professional players.