Kevin Lytle

kevinlytle@coloradoan.com

World Cup babies are leading a girls soccer revolution in Fort Collins.

The United States hosted the Women’s World Cup in 1999, with packed stadiums and a nation of new fans watching on television as the Americans won the tournament.

In the wake of that team was a surge of girls soccer growth across the country.

Right here in Fort Collins, the generation born around the time of the 1999 team grew up with U.S. women’s soccer as one of the “it” programs to follow.

Girls in high school don’t know a time where the best U.S. women’s soccer player wasn’t a household name.

Mia Hamm, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Abby Wambach.

They’ve been the idols, the stars showing the path Fort Collins players could follow.

Now this generation is making its mark, a golden age in Fort Collins girls soccer as those who grew up following U.S. soccer are becoming stars in their own right.

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Between the four big Fort Collins high schools (Fort Collins, Fossil Ridge, Poudre, Rocky Mountain) and Windsor, there are 26 known commitments or signings to college women’s soccer programs and more coming as players make their school decisions.

Of those, 19 are going to Division I programs and 11 to Power 5 schools. Three are staying local and going to Colorado State University.

“They paved the way for us. Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Mia Hamm,” said Fossil Ridge senior Isabella Alessi, who has signed to play at Missouri. “There’s such an impact from them on us. Just the level of play (in Fort Collins) and caliber of player, it’s crazy."

Girls soccer has a long history of talent in Fort Collins, but everyone seems to agree that this is a special time.

“There was a run before Fossil Ridge was open, like 2004-05, where we had five Division I girls at Fort Collins, and Rocky Mountain was pretty solid as well,” said Fort Collins coach Justin Stephens, who is in his ninth year as head coach and 14th year coaching girls soccer in the city. “That’s probably the closest we’ve had to this. This is the deepest, most widespread talent that I can recall in the city.”

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The Fort Collins talent is also making a mark across the nation. Two Fossil Ridge juniors — Sophia Smith and Jaelin Howell — are consistent call-ups and big contributors to U.S. youth national teams and both are currently with the U-23 team.

The Arsenal Colorado (Fort Collins Soccer Club) 1999 academy team has won multiple club state titles and were semifinalists at the Far West Regionals over the summer. Thirteen players from that one club team are currently committed to play in college.

No one can pinpoint exactly why the talent is so good — it seems to be a confluence of factors. Participation numbers continue to rise and the clubs in Colorado are very strong with the competition between them helping all become better.

The growth in girls soccer since the 1999 World Cup has been substantial. In 1999, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) reported 270,273 players in the U.S. The most recent survey by the NFHS in 2015 reported 375,681 players across the country, and soccer was closing in on basketball as the third-highest participation sport for high school girls.

Arsenal Colorado is the big club in Fort Collins, but Colorado Storm, Colorado Rush, Real Colorado, FC Boulder and Broomfield Soccer Club are all strong in their regions. The majority of locals play for Arsenal, but many travel to play for clubs that practice and are based in the Denver metro area.

It all helps feed and maintain the success.

“We’re proud of the number of girls that achieve that dream of playing college soccer,” said Dave Shaffer, the director of coaching at Arsenal. “I think competition within the state has been advantageous and beneficial to the development. If you want to get better, you play against better competition.”

During the high school season, the club players disperse to their various high schools, creating unique, talent-filled showdowns like what happened Thursday as all four city teams played each other at French Field.

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“Playing against other Fort Collins teams with friends that I know that are going to college is just a lot of fun. We have really good competition,” said Poudre’s Taylor Bee, a member of the ’99 Arsenal team and an Iowa State commit.

Colorado is firmly on the soccer map in the U.S. and Fort Collins is making its mark. This is an era of talent that won't soon be forgotten.

“It’s pretty crazy, it’s unbelievable. Even when you look nationwide, you have California, Texas, Colorado. That’s your big three for girls soccer,” Stephens said. “That’s pretty amazing when you look at the amount of student-athletes in Texas and California compared to Colorado.”

Follow sports reporter Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle.

Current known commit/signee list for high school girls soccer players

Fort Collins

Bailey Nemechek, Kansas State (Division I)

Riley Dietrich, Kansas State (Division I)

Esther Malers, University of Denver (Division I)

Parker Humpal, University of Nebraska-Kearney (Division II)

Kali Crosby, Regis University (Division II)

Fossil Ridge

Isabella Alessi, Missouri (Division I)

Sophia Smith, Stanford (Division I)

Jaelin Howell, Florida State (Division I)

McKenna Schultz, Iowa State (Division I)

Macy Schultz, Texas Tech (Division I)

Kenady Adams, Iowa State (Division I)

Haley Rockwell, Northern Colorado (Division I)

Victoria Graham, Chico State (Division II)

Shannon Pelichowski, Humboldt State (Division II)

Cassidy Hoyt, Lake Forest College (Division III)

Poudre

Taylor Bee, Iowa State (Division I)

Scout Bohlender, CSU (Division I)

Shayla Reeves, Adams State (Division II)

Rocky Mountain

Gabriella McDonald, CSU (Division I)

Bailyn Furrow, CSU (Division I)

Madison Williams, Cal Poly (Division I)

Jade Gosar, Notre Dame (Division I)

Savannah Warner, Wyoming (Division I)

Stephanie Muchow, Colorado Christian University (Division II)

Windsor