Last month, the Colorado Rush girls under-15 soccer team embarked on a mission to travel to Sweden and return home with the Gothia Cup.
After every player on the 16-member roster netted at least one goal while outscoring opponents 50-2 through 10 games, it was mission accomplished.
For that successful campaign, the Colorado Rush girls U-15 team was selected The Denver Post Youth Excellence in Sports award winner for July.
“Every player, one through 16, contributed and was relied on at one point,” head coach Wes Hart said. “I think the depth and the quality of the team was certainly a big reason for our success. . . . And the players rose to the occasion. In the final, the players played their best game.”
Colorado Rush beat Sweden’s Boo FF 3-2 in the championship game, courtesy of Brittney Stark’s hat trick. The Rush never trailed inside of Gothenburg’s Gamla Ullevi Stadium, as Stark scored her first goal minutes into the game before adding two more for a 3-1 halftime lead.
“It was amazing,” Stark said. “I could just tell that our team, all our hard work had paid off. It was just unbelievable.”
After Rush players pulled gold medals over their heads and took pictures with the gold cup, the team and coaches boarded a convertible bus and paraded through Gothenburg. According to Hart, people on the streets stopped to take pictures and cheered along with the champions — not that they were paying much attention. They were too busy celebrating among themselves.
“We screamed a lot,” said Stark, the finals’ most valuable player who is entering her freshman year at Broomfield High School. “That was so much fun.”
The Gothia Cup — one of the largest youth soccer tournaments in the world — fielded more than 1,500 boys and girls teams from 71 nations. For most of the players on Rush, the eight-day trip was their first time competing in an international soccer tournament.
Although Rush faced only opponents from Sweden, the handpicked roster welcomed the opportunity to meet players from around the world, including Brazil and England. During leisure time, the group attended a disco, spent time at an amusement park across the street from its hotel and went shopping.
“The stuff you do off the field is just as important as what you do on the field,” Hart said. “We tried to enjoy Sweden as well as play soccer.”
Stark added: “We all enjoyed being around each other. Nobody had enemies on the team. It’s all just friends.”
The bonding experiences transferred to the field. Hart experienced little difficulty meshing 16 players from different age groups under the Littleton group’s banner, and the girls had little difficulty accomplishing their No. 1 goal of July.
“That doesn’t always work, that you can combine a bunch of all-stars,” Hart said. “We were certainly talented, but it’s a team sport, so it was very important that we came together as a team.”
Shemar Woods: 303-954-1609 or swoods@denverpost.com
Colorado Rush
Natalie Ambrose, defender
Betsy Brandon, midfielder
Jordan Di Biasi, midfielder
Lindsey Hendon, goalkeeper
Kayla Latham, defender
Sabrina Macias, goalkeeper
Ashley Mages, defender
Kerri Marquardt, forward
Gabriella Miranda, midfielder
Shannon Patterson, defender
Hadlie Plummer, forward
Rebecca Rasmussen, mid.
Hunter Rooney, defender
Brittney Stark, forward
Whitney Szeliga, midfielder
Julia Thurston, defender
Honorable mention
Collin Hudson
The soon-to-be eighth-grader at Sunset Middle School in Longmont took the lead right out of the gate and never looked back to win the boys 13-year-old division July 29 at the UCI BMX World Championships in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. To see Collin ride to victory and accept his award on the podium, visit .
Colorado Rush U16
Lindsey Horan scored twice to lead the girls team to a fourth- place finish at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships from July 21-23 in Overland Park, Kan.
Know a top athlete?
Youth Excellence in Sports honors those 17 or younger who have excelled in any athletic endeavor unaffiliated with the Colorado High School Activities Association. To submit your choice for the top individual or team achievement that occurred during August, visit for an online form or fax a brief description of the achievement to 303-866-9004 (Attention: “Youth Excellence”). Pictures of the monthly winners go on display at the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame at Invesco Field.
