Commitment to “Rapids Way” starting to pay dividends

Pádraig Smith had just been named interim general manager for the Colorado Rapids when he wrote an Op-Ed for The Denver Post in August 2017.

In it, Smith made a promise to fans to do things “The Rapids Way,” as he spelled out an organizational ethos that entailed “committing to a strong set of values, acknowledging shortcomings, and perhaps most importantly, it requires looking ahead to the future.”

Heavy emphasis on “the future.”

Change didn’t happen overnight.

In fact, the Rapids finished second to last in the Western Conference the next two seasons. But Smith committed completely to overhauling the roster. And in 2020, the Rapids — as one of the youngest teams in MLS — made the playoffs for the first time in four years.

“Back in 2018, that was looked upon a little bit kind of suspiciously, but we wanted to be open about it,” Smith said of spelling out his plans. “We wanted to say that the club had a great history, you know, but it was based on a particular type of soccer a little bit more.”

What occurred over the last few years was a complete transformation. The only starter who remains from the start of the 2018 season is Jack Price, with a series of movies, including a pivotal trade for Kellyn Acosta, reshaping the roster.

That overhaul has continued this offseason, as the Rapids signed capable veterans and promising young talent. They traded for MLS veteran Michael Barrios from FC Dallas, acquired goalkeeper William Yarbrough on a permanent transfer, moved up in the MLS SuperDraft to land 20-year-old Philip Mayaka and signed four players to homegrown contracts.

“It’s a good example of a club being patient with executives and those executives learning from their mistakes and pivoting and not being beholden to kind of an ego or anything like that and doubling down,” Sam Stejskal, who covers MLS soccer for The Athletic, said. “But actually learning then saying, ‘Hey, you know what? We did this wrong, but we know what we need to do to fix it.’ And they went out there and they did a pretty good job at it and now they’ve established themselves.”

The Rapids in previous years were built on toughness and defense. But with MLS getting younger and the style of play changing, Smith and the Rapids changed along with it, starting a youth movement focused on identifying and developing talent domestically and close to home.

Sam Vines and Cole Bassett are the faces of that shift in roster construction. Both are Colorado natives developed within the confines of the Rapids Academy, and both have already tasted success at the MLS level. In 2020, Vines became the first Academy product to start for the U.S. Men’s National Team, while Bassett led Colorado in goals and assists as a 19-year-old.

“Anytime you have success stories that obviously helps to kind of galvanize everything and to show everybody that this can work and it excites people in it,” Smith said. “It kind of encourages others to become involved in it.”

The next step of the process: Selling his two young stars to Europe. Smith has made no qualms about that.

“We want to move players into Europe. That is very much a part of our ethos here, the right move for both the player and the Rapids,” Smith said.

It may seem counterintuitive in traditional American sports for a team to plan on selling their best young assets. In soccer, that is the expectation.

Without significant financial backing from the owner, the only way a club like the Rapids — in any league in the world — can continue to improve and play at a high level is by developing talent and selling them to bigger, more lucrative leagues.

It says a lot about the kind of players Bassett and Vines are that they have already had tremendous success, with observers raving about them. But not everyone is going to be a success story, and Smith knows that.

Most academy players won’t go on to play for USMNT or get sold to Europe. But the more they invest in the players, the more success stories the Rapids will have.

The Rapids showed they are committed to that formula by signing four young prospects to professional contracts two weeks ago. Two Rapids Academy products: Darren Yapi and Oliver Larraz. And two players from outside the organization: Michael Edwards and Dantouma Toure.

“... a real structure that enables us not only to be able to identify and recruit the best young talent across the country,” Smith said, “but then to be able to develop that talent within our club, succeed on the field with that talent and then ultimately be able to provide a platform where they can go on and go all the way to playing at the very highest levels of the game, both on the club side, and for their national team.”

While it remains unclear what those young players will become, what is clear is the Rapids have a dedication to the youth movement, and it is already working.