Who We Are

A Little Bit About CRYSC

Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club (CRYSC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. CRYSC is Colorado’s premier youth soccer experience and the only club in Colorado to offer opportunities from three-years-old to professional, from beginner to Major League Soccer with year-round youth soccer programs of all levels serving 10,000 children across the Front Range seasonally.

CRYSC provides top-quality leagues, camps, and tournaments that serve beginner- to elite-players locally, regionally, and nationally. As a Top 100 Youth Soccer Club in the U.S. and a consistent winner of Colorado’s Top Youth Soccer Club by Colorado Parent Magazine, CRYSC values holistic child development as ‘The Heart Behind the Crest’ and cultivating remarkable coaches. The club prides itself on supporting players and coaches through a number of other programs such as the nation’s largest college placement program, an integrated relationship with UCHealth Sports Medicine, an online digital education platform that serves players, coaches, and parents, and a fully integrated sports psychology program.

With satellite leagues, camps, and tournaments across Colorado, we are confident we can provide your child a fun and enriching home to play soccer.

How We Are Different

  • Professional Team Partnership
  • Holistic Child Development
  • Complete Player Pathway
  • Full-Time Dedicated Athletic Trainer
  • Highest Licensed Coaches Nationally
  • Dedicated Technical Staff
  • Professional Goalkeeper Coaches
  • Partnership with Sport Psychology Consultants

Purpose

Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer is committed to being ‘The Heart Behind the Crest’ by focusing on our player’s development both on and off the field first.

Niche

Our coaches are our number one influencer of a CRYSC player’s participation with the club. Our niche is ‘To Develop Remarkable Coaches’ to create remarkable experiences for our players.

Core Values

  • Win Within: CRYSC strives to become the destination youth soccer club within Colorado for all levels of players. We are constantly striving to improve, in a pursuit for perfection.
  • In & Up: Within CRYSC, we value collectively lifting those up in our sphere of influence through consistent development.
  • Keep it Simple, Keep it Small: As an organization we prioritize delivering complete information to our members as well as giving straightforward feedback on the field to our players.
  • Enjoyment First: Fun is central to all interactions within CRYSC. We understand the importance of finding joy in the good times as well as the challenging in order to continue growing.
  • Moment of Truth: Every moment matters at CRYSC. We will never stop trying to create remarkable experiences for our staff, coaches, players, and members through each encounter.
  • Own It: CRYSC welcomes the responsibility of working with youth across Colorado. We own our role both on and off the field to influence a player’s development.

2023 Board Slate

  • Adam Schlegel
  • Andres Pedraza
  • Brooke Yates
  • Cris White
  • Lindsey Ghiselli
  • Lauren Tankersley
  • Sean O’Hara
  • Wayne Brant

2023 Board Slate Biographies

Adam Schlegel is the owner of Chook Charcoal Chicken, in addition to CEO of Cumulus Etc, a consulting company focused on food, beverage, agriculture, and sustainability. Initiatives include Chook, Denver Public Market and Snooze an AM Eatery.

Adam’s experience spreads across multiple sectors and disciplines in entrepreneurship, management and socially conscious business practices. In 2006, Adam and his brother Jon founded Snooze AM Eatery, a consortium of breakfast and lunch restaurants throughout the Western US. Adam currently sits on the Snooze Board of Directors, focusing on community and sustainability programs across this growing restaurant group. From 2013-15, he served as the Executive Director for EatDenver, a Denver-based nonprofit focused on locally owned, independent restaurants, developing the organizations mission of education, community, and advocacy. In 2018 Adam hatched Chook, partnering with James Beard Award-winning chef Alex Seidel, to create a casual, healthy, affordable, and delicious rotisserie chicken shop. Chook continues a mission that business can be a force for good.

Adam sits on the board of Visit Denver and The Colorado Health Foundation, in addition to community and sustainability initiatives that include Colorado Restaurant Response and Colorado Net Zero. Adam speaks locally and nationally on the restaurant industry, sustainability, and triple-bottom-line management opportunities.

A Denver native, husband to a dynamic partner Sarah, and father of their two boys, Adam spends more time than not playing soccer

Andrés Pedraza is excited to join the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club, and bring with him his passion toward the development of young players, and his vast professional experience from working at multiple Fortune 500 organizations. Since he was a child in Colombia, or even as a young adult in the Denver Metropolitan area, Andrés was devoted to the sport of soccer. In fact, like many kids, he dreamt of playing professionally one day, but unfortunately, this never materialized. In his younger years, he experienced first-hand the monetary hardships of playing competitive soccer and the necessity for additional outreach tools for monolingual parents. During college, he attended DU, the University of Miami, and UC Denver where he developed a niche in the creation and the delivery of complex financial strategies. Most recently, he transitioned from managing a multibillion-dollar budget for a supply chain organization to lead very large M&A and restructuring operations of key NBC/Telemundo assets. Andrés is going to focus his energy on breaking down language barriers; in order for all families in our footprint to thoroughly enjoy the Rapids experience. Finally, in his spare time, Andrés loves to watch soccer matches with his wife and his 3-year-old son and hopes to instill in him the same love and passion he has for the sport.

Brooke Yates brings knowledge and experience from her work with various sports’ National Governing Bodies, sports organizations, and boards of directors to benefit the CRYSC. As a former competitive athlete and a parent of two CRYSC players, Brooke has seen first-hand the benefits of team athletics in children’s lives and understands the importance of the player experience in youth sports. She hopes to support and reinforce the CRYSC’s Core Values throughout the Club and the Colorado youth sports community. She is a litigation partner at Foley Hoag, an international law firm that recently opened an office in Denver, where she focuses on resolving high stakes disputes and counseling clients on complex risk management and related insurance issues. She earned her J.D. at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law, and her B.S. in Business Administration at the University of Denver.

Cris has been with Colorado Housing and Finance Authority for 34 years, serving in various affordable housing and economic development capacities. He has served since 2010 as the Executive Director and CEO.

In its 49-year history, CHFA has invested more than $32 billion to support affordable housing and community development throughout Colorado. In that time, CHFA’s resources have helped more than 147,000 Coloradans achieve their dreams of homeownership, over 78,000 affordable rental housing units have been developed or preserved and provided homebuyer education to over 189,000 households. CHFA has also provided financing programs to support over 8,400 small businesses, which have created or retained more than 85,000 jobs.

Cris has served on the Executive Committee of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, Mayor Hickenlooper’s and Mayor Hancock’s Denver Housing Plan Task Forces, and the Colorado Legislature’s Long-term Fiscal Stability Commission. He most recently served on the Board of Directors of the National Council of State Housing Agencies, as Chair of the Board of Directors for Housing Colorado, on the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Community Advisory Council, and on the Colorado Affordable Housing Transformational Task Force. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver and the Board of Governors of the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association. 

Cris played competitive youth and college soccer and, for nine years, coached youth premier and elite league soccer teams for various clubs in the Denver Metro area.  He also served as a volunteer assistant coach for the men’s soccer team at Regis University.

 

Cris earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Regis University in 1988.

Lauren has been involved with the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club since 2015. Lauren and her husband, Jay, have three kids in the CRYSC competitive program, and Lauren volunteered as a coach for her kids’ early years in the Rapids Recreational program.

Lauren is passionate about youth sports, having grown up playing a multitude of sports, including soccer, and went on to play D1 lacrosse in college. Lauren highly values the role sports play in a child’s life both on and off the field and is honored to help support the organization that has already brought so much to her family over the years.

Lauren received her B.A. from the University of Richmond and went on to earn her MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She is currently the CEO of 828 Venue Management Company, a high-growth organization which manages a portfolio of venues across the country focused on private events including weddings, corporate events, galas and more.

Coming soon.

Sean M. O’Hara is an Architect and a founding partner with EVstudio, a Denver based architecture and engineering firm. He has served multiple terms on the Denver Board of the American Institute of Architects and is currently a board member with the Boy Scouts of America, Denver Area Council. Both Sean and his wife Stephanie have coached Rapids rec teams for their three children and his daughters currently play for Rapids competitive teams.

Wayne Brant is the Colorado Rapids’ senior vice president of business operations. In his role, Brant oversees the day-to-day business operations for the club, including strategic communications initiatives, marketing, fan experience and match presentation, while developing and delivering the club’s long-term vision.

One of the longest tenured Rapids employees, Brant brings over 15 years of experience in the event and sports entertainment industry. He first joined the Rapids in 2007 and has held various roles ranging from director of marketing to senior director of fan development before accepting his current position in 2018. During his time with the Rapids, Brant played key roles in bringing in the 2015 MLS All-Star Game to Colorado, as well as hosting the first-ever MLS Cup Playoffs game on Thanksgiving Day.

Current Board Members

  • Caleb Meyer
  • Manny Rodriguez
  • Robert Klamser
  • Stephen Redden

2023 Current Board Members Biographies

Coming soon.

Manny is the chief marketing, experience and customer officer for UCHealth, a nationally recognized, nonprofit health care system. Actively involved in the Denver community, Mr. Rodriguez is a member of the board of trustees with Denver Center for the Performing Arts and Boy Scouts of America-Denver Council, President of the CMO Club Denver Chapter, Co-Chair of the Denver 2026 World Cup Host City Bid Committee and he is the Board Chair of the Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club. A leukemia survivor, Mr. Rodriguez does public/motivational speaking to raise awareness – and funds – for leukemia research and causes.

Robert has been involved at Rapids Youth Soccer for the last five years as a parent and coach, he is excited to increase his commitment to the club. Born and raised in southern California, he played a variety of sports, but soccer was always his first love. Eventually, his soccer skill couldn’t keep up with his passion, so he hung up my cleats and rowed competitively for Loyola Marymount University, where he earned a Bachelors in Business Administration and an MBA in Finance. He moved to Colorado in 2012 for a better quality of life for his family and to start a legal services company. He’s served on the board of a local school and a program that supported under-served youth by providing access to physical fitness through CrossFit. His passion for Rapids soccer runs deep. With all three kids involved in the program, he’s at a Rapids training or game every day of the week. Rapids soccer has given so much to his family and he’s honored to give back to such an amazing organization.

Stephen Redden is passionate about helping individuals and organizations achieve and maximize their potential. He has worked in this capacity in a variety of companies and non-profit organizations throughout his career. He is a graduate of Mississippi State University (BS Computer Engineering 1994, MBA 1995) and Dallas Theological Seminary (MA Biblical Studies 2007).

In 2009 Stephen moved to Denver, CO with his wife Kate and his sons Ethan (16) and Andrew (13) to be part of founding New Denver Church, a non-denominational Christian church where he still works today as a pastor. Stephen also leads the Church Cooperative of Denver, a network to foster collaboration among local churches, and does leadership and strategy consulting through Core Ventures.

A lifelong soccer fan, Stephen first got involved with youth soccer in Denver in 2009 through Fusion Soccer, which would later become Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer. He volunteered as a coach with CRYS from 2011 to 2017, coaching teams from U5 to U10.

Send Us a Message

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Contact Information

Address:
Fort Collins: No physical office, reach out via email if needed

North: 1070 W 124th Ave #100, Westminster, CO 80234

Central/South: 111 Havana St, Aurora, CO 80010

Castle Rock: No physical office, reach out via email if needed

Phone Number:
303.399.5858

Email:
[email protected]

We Are Open:
Monday-Friday 8:00am to 4:00pm