Colorado Springs, CO (September 5, 2017) – The Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Colorado's only 2nd Division Professional Team, announced a multi-year partnership with the strongest youth soccer club in Southern Colorado, Pride Soccer Club, to inspire youth, improve operational efficiency, and grow the game in Southern Colorado.



The multi-year partnership will see Pride Soccer Club and Switchbacks FC field an Amateur Men's Team in the Premier Development League (PDL) set to begin play in the near future. The PDL is a development league organized by the United Soccer League and features 72 teams from the US and Canada. It is considered to be in the "fourth tier" of the US Soccer Pyramid.



"Pride Soccer was one of the first clubs I met when we first explored coming to Colorado Springs," said Switchbacks President Nick Ragain. "From day one, they have been very welcoming, easy to work with, and excited about our participation in the growth of soccer in Colorado Springs. I am happy to say that we will be working closer than ever to come alongside kids and families to engage, train, and inspire youth to succeed, certainly on the soccer field, but more importantly in life."



"This is a major win for youth soccer," said Candy Brooks, Pride Soccer Club's Co-Founder and Executive Director. "With over 4,000 players in our club alone, this partnership opens up tremendous new opportunities for growing our youth coaching staff, creating improved training opportunities, sharing facilities, and event seeing a higher level of competition now available for our 17 and older boys."



"Having a relationship with Pride is very important for our club and the community," said Switchbacks Head Coach Steve Trittschuh. "They have been a fantastic club for a long time in this area and for us to grow together will be huge for soccer in the Colorado Springs soccer community. I look forward to working with Pride and their coaching staff."



This is the largest soccer partnership in the history of Southern Colorado and the Switchbacks anticipate that Pride players and their families will benefit greatly from the partnership. The partnership will provide Pride players with unique access to Switchbacks games along with front office and coaching staff alignment. Pride Developmental Academy players will wear the Switchbacks FC patch on their sleeves and the Switchbacks will wear Pride SC patch on their training-top sleeves.



The Switchbacks return home Saturday, September 9th as soccer legend Didier Drogba and Phoenix Rising FC visit Weidner Field. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive the fifth and final piece of the poster series puzzle courtesy of Accelerated Wealth. Tickets start at just $12 and are available here.