For the purpose of this article, the phrases “Colorado Rapids” and “the Rapids” refers to the MLS club. Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer club is referred to only as such or “CRYSC” for short.
Commerce City, Colo.- Colorado Rapids announced a change to their presence within the Colorado Soccer Association (CSA) on March 10. This included the MLS club ending their affiliation with Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club (CRYSC) at the end of their 2025-26 season. CRYSC, formerly Fusion, will rebrand as Colorado Storm over the summer.
This announcement was met with criticism and confusion across social media, mostly from fans of the first team that periodically keep up with the Rapids Development Academy. Burgundy Wave made some calls. Let’s talk about it and provide context.
Firstly, this is a change at the recreational youth level. We’re talking mostly 12-year-olds and younger. None of these changes affect the academy or its operation. The Rapids will still have academy teams and are very committed to youth development. None of their academy age groups are folding.
Over the last year, the Rapids hosted a handful of town halls with CSA stakeholders. In total, 17 clubs participated, who combine to cover about 90% of organized youth players in the state. The Rapids wanted to better understand the space, their impact on it, how the community interacted with the Rapids, and what they could do better or differently. They’ve been doing a bit of that recently, to be fair. Say what you will, they heard people out, even when it was mostly criticism.
“The town halls were a wonderful opportunity for us to listen to the (CSA) community at large. It allowed us to understand how we currently show up and how we can better to show up in the youth development space,” Colorado Rapids President Pádraig Smith told BW.
Essentially, the Rapids are ending their affiliation with CRYSC and expanding their general resource across to the CSA community. CRYSC began their partnership with the Rapids in 2012. Over 14 years, they had been confusion about that relationship and perceived barriers to others outside CRYSC.
BW also spoke to first-year CSA President Mike Schrad, who has been a C38 member for 12 years. Schrad attended the majority of the town halls and agreed they were productive and assuring. Players, parents, and staff felt heard.
“Big picture wise, it makes sense,” he told Burgundy Wave. “They’ve had this relationship for 14 years. Having had that for a long time, it got to the point of (confusion) about the pathway they could use with the professional team for any youth player, youth club out in Colorado.”
“They (the town hall) made it clear there was confusion there, and confusion that wasn’t intended (by the Rapids),” Smith added.
“They (CRYSC) had the rights to use our name and our image. We didn’t play a role in the operation of that club.”
CRYSC was never the exclusive pathway for players to get into the Rapids Academy, though some perceived that. Cole Bassett came from Colorado Rush. Goalkeeper Adam Beaudry played at Real Colorado. Sam Vines was at Pride SC down in Colorado Springs.
CRYSC surely benefited from having Rapids branding. I have friends whose children were in CRYSC. Their kids had good experiences. The club has certainly had its bad moments, which again the Rapids were not involved in. They’re now one of the largest youth setups in the state. CRYSC has enough reach and monument, maybe they don’t need the Rapids badge anymore to do their thing.
One CRYSC parent said the biggest impact would be families saving money because the Rapids kits were more expensive than template kits other clubs use.
For the Rapids to have a broader impact, they need to be an inclusive partner. They can’t do that while having a perceived tie or bias to one club. You can’t have Rush, Real, and Albion coaches, players, and parents showing up for programs provided by the Rapids while playing games against CRYSC.
The relationship has reached a logical conclusion, for all involved.
“It was wonderful to see so many kids every weekend wear the Rapids badge. We have to understand our ability to reach a broader number of players and support is the most important thing,” said Smith.
“We were in a position to play a much larger role in the development and growth of the sport. What we’re looking at is an opportunity to build a more inclusive and broader relationship.”
“They’re (CRYSC) still a part of CSA, they’re still a part of that pathway,” said Schrad. “This opens up greater numbers and greater opportunities to participate in that pathway.”
BW’s conversations with stakeholders has generally been positive. Checkout this Reddit thread which is mostly CSA parents and coaches discussing this news when it was previously just a rumor. The most upvoted comment is in favor of the change. Most of the other comments are claims it’s gossip started by other clubs to negate CRYSC’s (perceived) advantages.
The club will now focus on coaching education as well as resources for parents, referees, and players. Those are and have been open to everyone, more than 60,000 kids, not just CRYSC. This includes the Futures Program to the Rapids Academy.
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Eamon Shaw 