How long have you been a part of Colorado Rush (Lakewood-Littleton)? What attracted you to the club?

I have been involved with the club, as a coach and a director, and various other roles for 18 years now. It's been a long journey, but one I wouldn't trade for the world. I've really enjoyed my time here, you know, getting to work with kids every day and play a game has been so rewarding. Getting the opportunity to watch kids grow and learn, both as players and as individuals, you know, chase career dreams, chase college scholarships, chase national team offers is something that I've always wanted to help, be a part of, and I have been lucky enough to do so over my time here. I think it's a tough world to get into as a coach because it's a lot of hours. The pay is not great, but it's not worth...it's not what we do it for. We do it for the love of the game, for the love of the players that we get to help every day, and again, like I said, I wouldn't change it for the world.

What has been your favorite experience at the club?

What is my favorite moment with the club? It's hard to whittle it down to just one. There's so many, you know, so many days that stand out, tournament wins, those things are all special, but, you know, it's the trips you take with the kids, bonding, you know, inside jokes, spending time learning from the, the great staff we have here.

If I had to say one memory, probably when I first started with the club, I think 18 years ago, there's a young girl at the time named Lindsey Horan, who played for our club, now known as Lindsey Heaps, who is the women's national team captain. Lindsay was, again, she was 15 or 16, so I got the opportunity to work with her over a couple of years before she moved off to Paris and started her professional career. The memory that stands out with her is the first time she came back to Denver with the national team. We had the chance to organize a couple 100 Rush families, players, parents, former teammates of Lindsey got together during the game and kind of sat in the same section. We're all wearing the Rush gear and had Rush flags, and after the game, Lindsay came over. We'd organized a photo op with her, so to be on the field with her and taking a picture of her in front of all these fans and players that are kind of the next generation to be, you know, inspired by somebody who wore the same badge was a pretty cool day.

How has the club impacted you as a coach?

I think the biggest way that the club has impacted me as a coach is just the relationships that I've been able to build with other coaches. The depth of knowledge that has come through this club during my time is unbelievable. People have gone on to coach youth national teams, professional teams, both here and abroad. Some of them coach the top Division One programs in the country right now. So, just to be able to watch how those people carry themselves, the standards they hold, the way they work, the way they coach. All of that rubs off on other coaches and younger coaches, and, now I'm in a position where I have the opportunity to help coach and mentor the next generation. [This] is a task that I spend time on daily, you know, if I'm not helping the next coach get better, then I'm helping them get worse. So, I think, you know, just finding a way to create the right culture, both for coaches, for players, you know, it's that, that people want to be a part of, I think, is super important and is really what has set this club apart for the last 20 years.

What stands out about the club's facilities?

[Our] club facilities are a little different than others in the area. We don't have our own complex. We rent fields from the city. They can be bumpy and lumpy, and they can close with, you know, a quarter inch of rain in the air or on the ground, and those things are frustrating, but, you know, it helps coaches have to be better, you know, if the fields are closed, find a tennis court to play on, find a parking lot that you can go to, get inside, you know, find ways for the teams to keep training.

The nice thing about being on city-owned fields, though, is that it's big. We've got opportunities to bring out lots of teams at the same time for practices and games and I think we try to use that to our advantage, to have a U17 player come over and spend some time with the U9s, show them a flip throw-in, show them their cool new juggling move, just dribble around them for two minutes and see if anybody can steal the ball from them. The older kids get to feel kind of that enjoyment that they had back when they were young, of just coming out and playing for fun and the love of the game, and the younger ones get to meet, you know, some new idols and some new players that they can look up to. So, like anything in life, you know, problems just present new opportunities for growth and, you know, we want to get better with our facilities, and hopefully someday we'll have our own, but until then, we make the best of what we've got.

Would you recommend Colorado Rush (Lakewood-Littleton) to a friend or colleague? Why?

Would I recommend the club to a friend or colleague? Yeah, of course. I mean, I've been at the club for so long that the values and the way that we do things are part of who I am as a person now, and I believe that the things that we try to impart on the kids, not just on the soccer field, but trying to help them grow as people, is what I think all parents had hoped for, for their kids to find an opportunity to play a sport, to go be active, to make new friends, to face adversity, you know, to overcome obstacles. These are things that youth sports are known for and help kids grow into more rounded and you know, resilient adults, and that's part of what Rush does as well. It's not just about the results on Saturday. It's about the results in 15 years when these kids are going to their first job interview or meeting their significant other, you know, how are they going to be as people? Are they able to look you in the eye and shake your hand and say hello? Do they show up to work on time? Do they hold their self to a high level of integrity? These are all important things for us. We want good players, but we want good people too, and that's the reason why I would absolutely recommend the club to friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc.