Best Thing We Do: Rapids Unified kicks off season 14 with signings

DENVER — There’s a moment every spring inside the Colorado Rapids organization that has nothing to do with standings, transfer windows or points — and yet, by club president Padraig Smith’s own telling, it’s the most important night on the calendar.

Tuesday evening at Catalyst Event Center in RiNo, eighteen athletes walked up to a table, walk-up music blaring and signed professional contracts with the Colorado Rapids. The kind with your name on the dotted line, a handshake from the club president and a photo to prove it happened.

This was Signing Day for Rapids Unified, and it marked the beginning of the program’s fourteenth season.

“This is, without a doubt, the best thing that we do,” Smith said. He’s repeated some version of that sentence for over a decade now, and it hasn’t lost a syllable of sincerity. “When I got involved in sports many, many years ago, the thing you hear about is how it can create connections, how it can bring people together. We’re going to win games, we’re going to lose games. But it’s the people you meet on that journey — those are going to last you a life.”

Fifteen of this year’s eighteen players are returners, a testament to what the club has built — a culture people don’t want to leave. Scotty Stephens, the team’s longest-tenured player, has been around for nearly the entire run. He once modeled a new Rapids kit at New York Fashion Week. Smith half-joked about hanging his shirt in the rafters. Nobody, not even he, laughed it off entirely.

Then there are the newcomers. Tomas Rodriguez is sixteen, a Kent Denver kid who plays soccer and football for his school, originally from Houston, a season ticket holder, and a devoted Paxten Aaronson fan. This was his first year in the program, and when asked what it felt like, he didn’t hesitate.

“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had in soccer, genuine. Everybody’s so happy, so joyful all the time. They don’t take anything for granted,” Rodriguez shared.

And then there’s Sunand De, who — when asked if there’s anyone he’d like to add to the roster — said Messi. Smith smiled at that one. “These guys are gonna boss Messi,” he said, without a trace of irony, looking at the three players who showed up to support from the first team, who will take on the legend later this month at Empower Field.

Across the room, there was Rob Holding mingling. The English defender, who’s played FA Cup finals and faced the biggest clubs on the planet, had signed up for all four Unified events this month before anyone had to ask.

“As soon as I got the email, I was like, absolutely,” Holding said.

He spent the night chatting with the team’s goalkeeper, trying to campaign for favorite-player status, and scheming to get Scotty to put in a good word. He’d never been part of anything like this back in Manchester.

“It’s nice to actually mingle and get to know the people themselves,” he said, “not just take the photos and leave.”

Soon the athletes will walk into the first-team locker room at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park — a room Smith is quick to note only four teams ever use: the U.S. Women’s National Team, the U.S. Men’s National Team, the Rapids first team, and the Unified team. Their names will be above the lockers. Their gear will be laid out. Boots and all.

“The athletes walk in like, yeah, of course — this is what we do,” Smith said laughing. “They come in with a level of expectation that I actually love.”

The season opens May 16th on the road at Real Salt Lake for the Unified Rocky Mountain Cup, a trophy the Rapids have kept on the right side of the Rockies the last couple of years. Austin FC Unified visits DICK’S Sporting Goods Park on August 1st. There will be goals, saves, frustrations, celebrations and — if the last thirteen seasons are any indication — a whole lot of families in the stands full of emotion.

Smith tells a story about being down grabbing food earlier in the day when Holding came bounding up to him: “Hey, I heard what we’re doing tonight.” A guy who’s played at the biggest venues, giddy about adding some happy faces to share the crest.

That’s what this program does. It strips the game back to its original language — joy, connection, belonging — and reminds everyone in the building why they ever kicked a ball in the first place.

Fourteen seasons in, it’s still the best thing the Rapids do — heck, it’s one of the best things happening in Denver sports annually.

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