Brian Crookham Inducted into Colorado Soccer Association Hall of Fame

Westminster, Colo. – Brian Crookham has been inducted into the Colorado Soccer Association Hall of Fame. Saturday night, he spoke as part of his induction at the CSA Annual General Meeting and Award Banquet. This comes after Crookham received the MLS NEXT Pro Executive of the Year Award this past December. The Colorado Rapids’ Director of Player Personnel has spent over 30 years working hard, finding good people, and putting them in a position to succeed.

“My success is in the agency of others,” Crookham agreed with Burgundy Wave on Saturday. It’s led to him to where he is today and it’s helped the Rapids Development Academy and Colorado Rapids 2 succeed on and off the field.

Crooks came to Colorado 30 years ago in what he called the biggest risk and bet on himself of his life. The Jenks, Oklahoma native left a full-time teaching position to take a part-time coaching job at Metropolitan State College in Denver. He was making a $6,000 a year from that and had a cardboard box as a coffee table.

“I bet on myself. Within two years, it was a full-time gig. Within a couple more years, I was an assistant Athletic Director. I’m going to roll the dice here. I’m going to bet on myself,” Crookham said.

“When I came to this state, it was already overachieving for its talent level, because of the people that were involved. While it’s kind of a small state, every opportunity has been here.”

He spent nine years at MSU. Having never been a ranked program before, they got up to No. 4 in the NCAA Division II. They made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2000. In Crookham’s time there, they had three All-Americans and 11 All-Midwest Region players. A number of CSA award winners played for Crookham in college or have ties to the Rapids Academy. After MSU, Crookham had a three-year stint as the Assistant Technical Director for Colorado Youth Soccer.

“I spent a lot more time at the end dealing with non-soccer things rather than soccer things. There were times, I wasn’t bought in. I don’t think I was a good leader at that time. I reflect on that time when times are tough. Turning challenge into motivation is something I’ve had to develop that I didn’t have.

“Being able to step back and learn and become somebody that’s reflective is important. It’s not natural to look at yourself and say ‘I don’t think I was good enough today.'”

“Be present, be willing, you’re going to get yourself through the system. That’s how untalented (hardworking) people got here,” he said emphatically.

He saw the potential for a professional academy to work in the state. Right place, right time. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity, even for an “untalented” administrator.

“I’ve been very fortunate to be in a position to take advantage of opportunity. I couldn’t have dreamed that I moved to a city that was going to have MLS,” he said. “There were 31 Colorado guys in the league already.”

At the end of the day, Crookham’s still just likes helping young people, finding good human beings, and making them better. That part-time MSU coach is still in there somewhere. What keeps him going 30 years later?

“Seeing progress. It may be subtle things with pros, but it may be life changing things with kids. It’s not just the soccer part of it, it’s the human part of it. The younger they are, the more influence you have on who they become as a person (as an adult).”

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