The Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is the first and only professional men’s soccer club in Southern Colorado. 2015 was its inaugural season in the USL. The Switchbacks FC was honored with an award for 2015 New Business of the Year in Colorado Springs and the club's President received the Mayor's Young Leaders Award for Economic Impact. Switchbacks FC joined 23 other clubs as part of the United Soccer League (USL) professional division in 2015. The expansion franchise was awarded to Ragain Sports December 2013. The Switchbacks FC plays at Switchbacks Stadium in Colorado Springs, with the goal of making its permanent home in the planned City for Champions’ Sports and Events Center. In March of 2014, the Switchbacks FC named Steve Trittschuh as Head Coach. Coach Trittschuh was a high school All American from Illinois, a full-ride scholarship athlete at Southern Illinois University, a U.S. Olympic athlete who competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, a starter on the 1990 U.S. National Team competing in the FIFA World Cup in Italy, the first American to play in the European Championship Cup, and he played seven years in the MLS and competed for an MLS Cup with the 1997 Colorado Rapids. Trittschuh was also an assistant coach with the Colorado Rapids from 2001–2006 and won one MLS reserve title. For the past several years, he's coached with the top youth clubs in Colorado, most recently for the Colorado Storm, and is a member of the Colorado Youth Soccer Association Hall of Fame. One thing that continues to be a prime focus for the Switchbacks FC, according to club owner Ed Ragain, is that the team “continues to tell and advance the story of soccer in new and exciting ways.” Learn more at www.switchbacksfc.com or join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/switchbacksfc or Twitter #SwitchbacksFC.