Fan Perspective: Colorado Springs Switchbacks, USL Championship Champions!

OPINION – Mark Turner is a friend of Burgundy Wave and a Switchbacks OG. He reflected on Colorado Springs winning the USL Championship on Saturday afternoon:

When the final whistle rang out at a capacity Weidner Field on a sunny Saturday morning, the joy experienced by a victorious Switchbacks FC team was felt ten-fold by their loyal fanbase. 

The Colorado Springs Switchbacks soccer team, the only professional sports team in our city of over half a million people, was founded in 2015. Many of the fans who attended the Switchback’s first appearance in a USL Championship Final in the club’s 10-year history today, were there at the very start of this journey over a decade ago.

Since the club’s inception, their passionate fanbase has bought season tickets, jerseys, and assorted merchandise, shown up to games, tailgates, try-outs, and sundry other events in all weather in a show of unwavering support for their hometown team. 

Today, they were rewarded – as were CBS viewers – who witnessed the Colorado outfit put visitors Rhode Island FC to the sword by a dominating 3-0 scoreline. The tally didn’t flatter the Switchbacks either. They were good value for their victory. But more of that later.

When the club released its beautiful 10th-anniversary jersey to kick off the 2024 season, hopes were high. A new coach (former assistant James Chambers) and a bolstered roster further freshened things up, causing many fans to speculate that post-season soccer could be on the cards this year. 

And then the season started. Badly. The Switchbacks, as is well documented at this point, suffered five defeats and a tie in their first six matches, conceding 10 goals in the process and notching only two themselves. However, once Chambers found his formula, the team began to climb the table, losing only two of their next dozen matches. 

Impressive road form coupled with an exuberant Weidner Field helped the Switchbacks rise to the play-off spots and ultimately secure an impressive second place in the Western Conference table – something that seemed inconceivable back in May. 

The strength of their league seeding and momentum generated throughout the season helped them plow through the playoffs in commanding fashion, earning the right to host the Western Conference quarter, semi, and last week’s final versus Las Vegas Lights – a point beyond which the Switchbacks had never previously progressed. Some unlikely results in the Eastern Conference playoffs ensured that the Switchbacks seeding would again see them as the home team for the USL Championship Final, welcoming first-year outfit Rhode Island FC to the Centennial State.

And so the stage was set for a fairytale ending. A wretched start to the year in the club’s 10th season, with a ‘green’ head coach and players unfamiliar with one another…could it really culminate in a championship final success on home turf no less? Were the city’s long-suffering fans finally going to see their hopes and dreams of the past decade realized in their own backyard?

Step forward, the special Juan. Juan Tejada has a knack for scoring game-winning goals – a remarkable 7 of his last 8 – and so it was again today. However, when the game MVP smartly diverted Yusuke Hanya’s cross in off his thigh in the 22nd minute, he probably wasn’t imagining that tally would be the difference. With 70+ minutes still to go, none among the 8,000 present were taking the win for granted.

Time for another Switchbacks ‘super Jairo’ to make his mark. Jairo Henriquez, the Salvadorian who had declined his most recent international call-up to ensure he would be available for every USL playoff game, scored an absolute banger on the second attempt. As Henriquez’s volley rocketed into the roof of the Rhode Island net, Switchbacks fans’ hopes rose similarly.

The home team were dominant in the first half. It was to be more of the same in the second period. Rhode Island, unsurprisingly looking a little shell-shocked, tried to battle their way back into the game, creating a handful of chances in the process, but the Colorado Springs outfit never looked flustered. And there was an air of the expected when Ronaldo Damus sprinted from one end of the field to the other before cooly slotting home the Switchback’s third and game-killing goal. 

In less than an hour, the match was over as a contest. Finally, the black and blue faithful could exhale – and celebrate! Weidner Field went into full party mode in the remaining half an hour. Flags were waved, scarves twirled, songs sung, drums banged and horns blown, and the now trade-mark blue smoke released in a carnival of color and cacophonous sound, marking perhaps the finest moment in the city of Colorado Springs professional sports history. 

Photo Credit: Colorado Springs Switchbacks

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