History of soccer in colorado

1939- Rocky Mountain Soccer Football Association is created for “the promotion and playing of soccer football in the Rocky Mountain region.”

1952- Rocky Mountain Soccer Football Association changes name to Colorado State Soccer Association (CSSA) and continues to focus on growth at the adult level.

1961- Colorado Junior Soccer Association (CJSA) is founded by Joe “G.K'“ Guennel, in order to create an organized, structured league for the children of Colorado. The FIFA Laws of the Game were heavily modified, resulting in more goals.

1974- The first professional soccer team to play in Colorado comes in the form of the Denver Dynamos, who played two seasons out of Mile High Stadium in the old North American Soccer League (NASL) before relocating at the conclusion of the 1975 season.

1974- United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) is created to unite all youth soccer programs throughout the country by affiliation and self-governance and to enhance youth development through national programs like the National Championship Series and Olympic Development Program.

CJSA opted not to join USYSA as they did not want birth certificate verification, roster limits, offsides rules, and throw-ins being required and wanting to remain focused on the recreational side.

1975- A number of advanced coaches from CJSA broke away to create the Colorado State Youth Soccer Association, which focused on the development of the advanced player and affiliated with USYSA for the 1975-76 seasonal year.

The first CSYSA event was the Pepsi League, which was played in Fall of 1975. Six teams from Aurora, Northglenn, Jeffco, Golden, Littleton, and Cherry Creek played in the Boys U19 division, with the winner progressing to Far West Regionals.

1976 onwards- Teams continue to switch affiliations from CJSA to CSYSA as affiliation with CSYSA, an in turn USYSA, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and FIFA, brought with it better competition, coaching education opportunities, and player development.

1977- CSSA’s Denver Kickers win the US Amateur Cup, the ultimate prize for non-professional teams in the country. They would go on to repeat as US Amateur Cup champions in 1978, 1983, 1994 and 1995.

1978- CSYSA is incorporated with the state of Colorado.

1978- Professional soccer returns to the Centennial State, with the Colorado Caribous playing a solitary season in the NASL out of Mile High Stadium. While their record was forgettable, their jerseys (right) are one of the most infamous jerseys in soccer history.

1980- The first full-time CSYSA employee, Tim Curry, is hired to assist with rosters and scheduling. This is accompanied with the first permanent CSYSA office, located in Lakewood.

1980- The Denver Avalanche becomes the first professional indoor soccer team in Colorado, playing two seasons out of McNichols Sports Arena and coached by Dave Clements, who previously served at the helm of the Caribous.

1981- The first issue of Goal Post Scripts is published and distributed to all residents of Colorado. The publication is well-received nation-wide and contains standings, soccer news from around the world, and other soccer information. The quarterly publication, which eventually transitioned to bi-monthly issues, would run for close to 35 years.

1981- Dr. S Robert Contiguglia, commonly referred to as Dr. Bob, is elected as President of CSYSA after serving years as President of Cherry Creek Soccer Association. Under Dr. Bob’s leadership, the member count for the organization grew from 3,000 to nearly 40,000 in the Eighties. Following his departure from CSYSA in 1989, Dr. Bob would go on to serve as President of USYSA and USSF over the next sixteen years.

1981- The first State Recreational Tournament was held in November of 1981 at Fort Logan.

1986- The first full-time club coach in the state is hired by Northglenn Thunder with the hiring of Gordon Miller. This year also saw the best performance of a team in the USYS National Championships, with the Girls U19 Northglenn Thunder finishing runners-up at the National Championships after winning Far West Regionals.

1987- Current CSA Director of Coaching Mike Freitag is hired in his first stint as CSYSA DOC to oversee coaching education and run coaching courses across the state. In 1993, Freitag would leave to go serve as assistant coach with his alma mater, the University of Indiana, eventually leading the Hoosiers to the National Championship crown in 2004.

1990- The Colorado Foxes are founded and prove to be, to date, the most successful professional soccer team in the history of Colorado, winning the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) crown in 1992 and 1993. The APSL, at the time, was the highest level of soccer in the United States. They would eventually leave Colorado at the end of the 1997 season after spending their time playing out of Englewood Stadium, Mile High Stadium, and Mile High Greyhound Park.

1991- The first USYS National Champion from Colorado is crowned when the Boys U17 Northglenn Thunder, coached by Larry Hopkins, wins the inaugural Boys U17 National Championship Series.

1996- The Colorado Rapids are one of ten original franchises in the newly formed Major League Soccer, playing out of Mile High Stadium and Invesco Field at Mile High. The Rapids would come close early on to silverware but finished runners-up in MLS Cup in 1997 and the US Open Cup in 1999. CSA’s own Esse Baharmast and Said Mossavian are members of the referee crew at the Rapids’ first home game.

1997- Current CSA Chief Executive Officer, Nate Shotts, was hired by newly elected CSYSA President Bob Selsvold as the Director of Coaching, replacing Mike Haas, who had held the position since 1993. Nate would hold this position for the next seven years.

1998- The second and third USYS National Champions from Colorado are crowned when the Girls U17 and Boys U20 Colorado Rush Nike teams claim the title. This is the beginning an era for Colorado Rush as they claim one more National crown in 1999 and two each in 2000 and 2001, including Ed Shaw’s ‘81/’82 team claiming an unprecedented three straight National Championship titles (GU17 in 1999, GU18 in 2000, and GU19 in 2001).

2002- The Girls U18 Colorado Girls Soccer Academy, a break off of Colorado Rush, win the USYS National Championship after finishing runners-up at Far West Regionals for the past four years.

2004- The first Colorado Olympic Development Program National Champions are crowned in the shape of the 1986 Boys Colorado ODP team. Coached by Frank Kohlenstein, Marcelo Balboa, and Nate Shotts, the ‘86 Boys took home Colorado’s first USYS ODP National Championship after defeating New Jersey’s ODP team in the final, also claiming the Golden Boot and Golden Glove awards for leading goalscorer and best goalkeeper at the Championships.

2005- The first rebrand in Colorado State Youth Soccer Association takes place. The previous logo, which had been used for thirty years, is replaced with an updated look.

2006- After a four-year “drought,” Colorado sees two teams win the USYS National Championship Series. The Girls U16 Real Colorado National team, coached by Frank Kohlenstein, and the Girls U19 Colorado Rush Nike team, coached by Tim Schulz, are both victorious in their quest for national glory.

2007- Nate Shotts was brought back into the organization as Director of Coaching.

2007- The Colorado Soccer Hall of Fame is brought back to life after being run by the adult program, CSSA. From 2007 onwards, nominees are submitted to a committee run by CSA and are inaugurated at the CSA Annual Awards Banquet, held in conjunction with our Annual General Meeting.

2007- Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the region’s first professional soccer-specific stadium is opened in Commerce City. The venue hosts the 2007 and 2015 MLS All-Star games, many international matches and World Cup Qualifiers, and continues to serve as the Rapids home to this day.

2008- The ‘89/’90 Colorado Rush Nike team win the first of back-to-back National Championships. The team’s victory in 2009, overseen by coaches West Hart and Erik Bushey, is the most recent USYS National Championship Series crown earned by a Colorado team.

2009- Colorado participates in the USYS Presidents Cup Series, which serves as a second-level tournament below Colorado State Cup and the National Championship Series.

2010- Mike Freitag is brought back to CSYSA as Director of Coaching as Nate Shotts becomes the new Chief Executive Officer.

2010- Colorado’s 1993 Girls Olympic Development team lift the trophy at the USYS ODP National Championships. At the helm of Tim Barrera, Kia Thomas, and Nate Shotts, the ‘93 Girls Colorado ODP team claim the state’s second crown in the ODP National Championship following the success in 2004.

2010- The first professional soccer championship since 1993 is brought to the Centennial State when the Rapids (MLS) win the MLS Cup. A seventh-place finish in the regular season is followed by winning three out of four playoff games, including a 2-1 win over FC Dallas in Toronto in the MLS Cup Final.

2011- After years of housing all rosters, schedules and information on servers at the CSYSA office, everything is transitioned to GotSoccer, a cloud-based software that handles everything that our organization needed to thrive.

2012- Colorado State Youth Soccer Association is renamed Colorado Soccer Association after its acquisition of the adult programs previously ran by Colorado State Soccer Association (CSSA), who had run the adult side of the game since the 1930’s. This is accompanied with a slight change in the logo.

2012- In the third edition of the National Presidents Cup Series, the Girls U17 Arsenal Colorado Royal team, coached by Adam Bauer, are victorious on the national stage, claiming the National Presidents Cup title.

2014- The Colorado Springs Switchbacks begin play in the USL Championship, the second tier of soccer in the United States.

2015- The current CSA logo is adopted and incorporates the Colorado flag, mountains, and other aspects that make Colorado so unique.

2016- The birth year mandates are put out by the US Soccer Federation and US Youth Soccer. CSA adopts this mandates to remain affiliated and restructures the league system, with the CSA Advanced League being revamped to become the Colorado Champions League and Centennial League, the CSA Recreational League becoming the CSA Front Range League, and the Western Slope Soccer League and Southwest League combining to become the CSA Mountain Region League.

2017- CSA acquires the Colorado Referee Program to become the first state in the country to manage both the youth and adult side of soccer, in addition to the state referee program.

2017- Five years since a national title was last won by a Colorado team, the Girls 15U Colorado Storm North 02 Royal, coached by Clint Shade, claim the title of National Presidents Cup Champions.

2021- The Colorado Springs Switchbacks open the season at Weidner Field, their soccer-specific stadium. the facility has the highest elevation of any stadium in the United States.