Polis announced the proclamation from the state Capitol rotunda, after the four players and other members of the Summit organization were celebrated in the state Senate. Summit is six games into its initial season in the National Women’s Soccer League, and its home debut last month was greeted by an NWSL-record 63,004 fans.

The team gave special jerseys to Polis, Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera and Sen. Marc Catlin, who officially welcomed the team in the Senate.

“I feel so honored and humbled to be standing in front of you, representing our player group,” team captain Janine Sonis, who grew up in Highlands Ranch, said during the news conference unveiling the proclamation. “All of us are so incredibly proud to wear this crest and represent this state. … I can’t wait to bring that first championship to this city and see all of you parade down 16th Street mall with us.”

The team is home to several Colorado natives. Sonis was joined at the Capitol by midfielder Meg Boade, forward Ally Brazier and goalkeeper Jordan Nytes, all fellow Coloradans.

Another Coloradan, U.S. national team captain Lindsey Heaps, will join the club in June.

“Colorado is the best place to train and compete, and we’re inspired by Summit FC,” Polis said. “It’s especially meaningful to see Colorado’s youngest soccer players look up to and cheer on some of the best athletes in the world, right here at home, for Colorado’s newest professional sports team.”

After a 3-2 loss to league-leading San Diego on Saturday, Summit’s record stands at 1-3-2 and the team sits in the middle of the NWSL table. After the news conference ended Monday, Sonis told Polis that the team was finding its footing.

“There’s a lot of time left,” she said. “We’re going to add a win this weekend.”

In January, she signed a pre-contract to join Denver Summit FC at the conclusion of her deal with OL Lyonnes of the French Division 1 Féminine. A few days later, Summit FC staged a heartwarming reveal to her parents, Linda and Mark Horan, that she’d be joining her hometown club in its inaugural year.

On Friday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, she got a preview of how her new life back home will treat her come June.

The U.S. Women’s National Team closed out a three-game friendly series against Japan, a top-five team in the world, with a 3-0 win. The USWNT went 2-1 in the series, with Heaps playing all three games. Last week, she scored in the first game of the series for her 40th international goal.

She’s played a handful of games wearing the stars and stripes in Denver now, but none of them have come with the same anticipation and excitement as this one did. She received by far the loudest ovation when the lineups were announced before the game. When she exited as a substitute in the 63rd minute, the crowd roared again. Walking off slowly to take the moment in, she thanked the nearly 18,000 in attendance — and almost 50 friends and family members, she said — with a round of applause and a heart signal with her hands.

“I’m a very sensitive person, so I get a little emotional with those things, but to see my home-state fans, my family in the crowd, friends, Denver Summit fans — seeing those jerseys, it feels actually real,” Heaps said after the match. “You don’t get that feeling until you’re here, but also walking out and getting a win the way we did as well, I’m really, really proud.”

On the field, for the last time in Colorado before she’s a full-time Summit FC member, Heaps showed why she’ll be an excellent addition to an already-solid team, beyond the name and status.

Since joining Lyonnes on loan and eventually permanently from the NWSL’s Portland Thorns in 2022, the Golden native has scored 27 goals in all competitions, helping lead the French powerhouse to four league titles, a UEFA Women’s Champions League title and a Coupe de France Féminine.

This June, she’ll leave that success for a new project and an old sense of home. But for now, essentially existing with two clubs in two countries has been a challenge. Summit FC games start anywhere between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. in France, making it nearly impossible to follow along live. She said she speaks with Denver coach Nick Cushing and defender Janine Sonis often, but that can’t replicate live, in-person reps with the team.

Heaps relished what she missed last month, when Summit FC drew an NWSL-record 63,004 fans for its inaugural home match against the Washington Spirit. Through it, she can’t lose focus on what����ap at hand in France.

“It����ap been a little bit difficult to balance because you’re kind of two places in one. But my main focus is Lyon and finishing out the season well, which Denver has been very respectful of and I really appreciate that,” Heaps said. “But it����ap also me always following along and wanting the team to do well, and it����ap been cool to see what they’ve been able to accomplish as an expansion team and coming into the league. The hometown crowd here at Empower was absolutely incredible, and I was a little bit jealous of that.”

Listed as a midfielder, Heaps stretches the pitch like no other. She was all over the field Friday night, serving as a connective tissue in a ball-dominant setup. On a night where Japan defended open-play crosses expertly, Heaps operated in the channels and bridged the gaps between wingers and center forwards.

Before she subbed off, Heaps found the pass before the pass to set up the USWNT’s second goal of the night. Right at midfield, she could have dinked a risky ball over the top to set up a ready-to-run Rose Lavelle, but instead found winger Trinity Rodman for an easier look at the same pass. Rodman slotted it perfectly — a more controlled throughball on the ground — for Lavelle, and she did the rest.

Sonis and Natasha Flint — who ended her loan by signing a permanent contract with Summit FC on Friday — have come closest to playing that part for Denver, but there’s still much to be desired. Come June, Heaps should instantly aid the midfield in finding Melissa Kössler — whose total of three goals in five games could easily be higher — for more opportunities on goal.

But, USWNT coach Emma Hayes said, perhaps most important to Summit FC is the personality Heaps adds to any team.

“Lindsey is no passenger, ever. She’s so ultra-competitive. She will want to drive that team as a leader in the way that she does every day. She lives and breathes those behaviors,” Hayes told media members on Thursday. “We’ve sat down this week in her own 360 meetings to discuss how to get ready for (the move) and what support she needs for that. I think it will bring another level out of her and that����ap what I think we’re all excited about, is that this is another challenge in her career.”

Currently, Lyonnes is more than comfortably in first place in the French league and on the way to Heaps’ fifth title in as many tries. In European competition, Lyonnes most recently beat Wolfsburg Women, 4-1 on aggregate, in the Champions League quarterfinals.

It����ap not certain when exactly she’ll arrive in Denver, but the last confirmed match on Lyonnes’s schedule is May 10, when it plays Paris Saint-Germain in the Women’s French Cup final. If the team makes it to the Champions League final, that match is scheduled for May 23.

In all likelihood, Heaps’ first match with Summit FC in her home state will be a July 3 matchup with KC Current, which happens to be the inaugural match at Centennial Stadium, the Summit FC-specific home venue still under construction.

When that time comes, one place will be enough.

U.S. Women’s National Team star striker returns to her home state on Friday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for the USWNT’s final friendly of a three-match series against Japan. Wilson, a Windsor native, made her comeback to the USWNT lineup in the opening two friendlies for the first time since October 2024.

In the 18 months between appearances, Wilson (nee Smith) got The couple then had their first child, a daughter named Gigi, last September. The ensuing maternity leave kept Wilson off the pitch for the USWNT for all of 2025 and she didn’t play for the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, either.

Wilson called her return to Colorado for the stars and stripes “a full-circle moment” as she plays in front of her family with Gigi in the stands.

“Anytime I get to go back and play in Denver, I have all the feels because that’s a place where I really grew into who I am as a soccer player and as a person, too,” Wilson said. “So getting to go back and play with the national team at this point in my career now with my little girl, it’s like a dream come true.”

The 25-year-old is the 18th mom to play for the USWNT, and when she finds the net again, she’ll be the ninth mom to score for the team.

She started in the Americans’ last Saturday in San Jose and came off the bench in the team’s 1-0 defeat in Seattle on Tuesday in a match where head coach Emma Hayes experimented with It marked the first time the USWNT has been shut out in a defeat in 42 games.

Wilson says that becoming a mom has shifted her perspective on life and has her relishing moments out on the pitch more than before.

“We (as a professional athletes) put too much pressure on things that we can’t control,” Wilson said. “I feel like (with Gigi) I’ve learned to just focus on what I can control and enjoy every moment as it comes, because life goes fast.

“I’ve realized that my career is going by and while I’m still in my prime years, I want to enjoy it all. You can’t play soccer forever, unfortunately. So more than anything, being present in every moment is what I’m trying to do and take from being a mom now.”

Setting an example for the next generation

Wilson, a former Real Colorado star, has won at every level she’s played at.

While starring at Stanford, she led the Cardinal to the 2019 Division I national title. The Thorns drafted her No. 1 overall in 2020, and she became the in ’22, when she led Portland to the title and was named MVP of that game as well. Wilson also won the NWSL Golden Boot in ’23 as the league’s top scorer.

She was also part of the along with Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson that propelled the U.S. to a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Swanson, a fellow Colorado native who in the gold-medal match, missed the 2025 NWSL season on maternity leave but is expected back to the league and the USWNT

While soccer fans wait on the return of Swanson, Wilson has been patient with herself in her ramp-up to get her game back to best-in-the-world level in the lead-up to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

“Obviously, I know that getting back to playing at a high level is not just a straight path, and it’s not going to happen with the snap of my fingers,” Wilson said. “… I hope that I carry myself in the same way that (former USWNT star) Alex (Morgan) did (after her maternity leave), where it showed young girls and athletes that it is very possible to do both — have a family and play the game at a high level.

“It’s so important that women feel supported and feel confident in whatever it is that they choose to do. But knowing you can do both (is paramount).”

Friday’s match will also give Colorado soccer fans their first glimpse at USWNT captain Lindsay Heaps since the midfielder signed with Denver Summit FC in January. Heaps, who scored the game-winning goal in the first friendly against Japan — her 40th goal for the USWNT — is finishing her season with OL Lyonnes before joining Summit FC sometime this summer, likely in June.

When 63,000 fans turned out for the home debut of Denver Summit FC at Empower Field a couple of weekends ago, Colorado soccer fans got to celebrate the arrival of the National Women’s Soccer League with an epic experience far beyond what we could have imagined a generation ago.

Like so many, I got to savor a historic day for women’s sports with a daughter who inherited my deep love for the game. But for me, it was also a day to reminisce on 50 years of observing the slow but irrepressible U.S. growth of the world’s most popular sport.

My introduction to soccer came while covering the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the old North American Soccer League as a young sportswriter in the 1970s when the Brazilian star Pelé — still the only player to win three World Cups — played for the New York Cosmos.

He and boxer Muhammad Ali were the world’s most popular athletes at the time, and his signing in 1975 at the end of his career made many Americans pay attention to soccer for the first time. Other international soccer stars would soon sign with NASL teams as the league fought to elbow its way into the American sports consciousness.

I covered multiple Cosmos games in Giants Stadium that attracted more than 75,000 when, for an all-too-brief heyday, soccer was big in New York, Tampa Bay and a handful of other NASL cities. I ran into Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones in the Cosmos locker room after a game. I covered Pelé’s last game, a retirement celebration, when the sellout crowd included Muhammad Ali, Henry Kissinger and many other Big Apple A-list celebrities.

Pelé scored an unforgettable goal that day on a free kick from 35 yards out, struck with so much power that the follow-through lifted him up into the air. I watched a video of that goal last week, and it’s exactly as I remember it.

I actually had brunch the day after Pelé’s retirement game with him and his immediate family. How that came about is a long story, too long to explain here, but I swear it’s true.

We who fell in love with what Pelé famously called “the beautiful game” thought it was just a matter of time before soccer would be acknowledged as a major sport in the U.S. Instead, it took decades.

The NASL folded in 1985, and the U.S. would go eight years without another national soccer league. My love for soccer only grew over the ensuing decades, though. It even became a family affair.

Soccer at the youth level boomed, especially among girls, and I watched one of my daughters fall in love with the game and the stars of the women’s national team. She was jubilant when she got Brandi Chastain to autograph her USA jersey at a national team game in Denver. Chastain had scored the penalty kick shootout goal to clinch the 1999 World Cup title. My daughter still has the jersey.

I had tears in my eyes covering the championship game of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, which was the final national team appearance for Chastain, Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy, because of the inspiration those women gave my daughter and millions like her. The U.S. beat Brazil that night for the second of its five Olympic gold medals in soccer.

The girls Chastain, Hamm and Foudy inspired now are in their 30s, raising more girls who love soccer, and in Denver, they finally have a women’s home team to call their own.

My daughter has season tickets, and she’s spent a small fortune on Summit FC merch.

If you’re a soccer fan, you know the game requires strength, speed, technique, endurance, toughness, agility, creativity and sound tactical decisions made on the fly. All were on display at Empower Field. If you’re not already a soccer fan, maybe this team will make you one.

You probably heard we were part of the largest crowd ever to see a women’s professional sports event in the U.S. I’m excited to watch Denver Summit evolve through its inaugural season in the NWSL. I’m eager to see Lindsey Heaps, the Golden High School product who is captain of the current women’s national team, when she arrives in June after finishing her contract with a team in France.

My daughter already has her jersey, of course.

The U.S. Women’s National Team announced its roster for its April friendlies against Japan, and the Windsor native Wilson will make her first USWNT appearance in 15 months following maternity leave for the birth of her daughter last fall.

Wilson, part of the “Triple Espresso” front line that helped propel the USWNT to a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has 58 caps for the senior team with 24 goals. She returned to the NWSL for the Portland Thorns on March 13 after over a year away from the league.

Summit FC midfielder and USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps, the national team’s most experienced player with 173 caps, is also on the roster. The Americans begin their three-match series of friendlies against Japan on April 11 at PayPal Park in San Jose, then play the “Nadeshiko” on April 14 at Lumen Field in Seattle before concluding the series on April 17 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

The full USWNT roster for the series, with each player’s current club and number of caps:

Goalies: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash, 10), Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign FC, 8), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, 6).

Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC, 67), Emily Fox (Arsenal, 74), Naomi Girma (Chelsea FC, 52), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash, 10), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC, 7), Emily Sams (Angel City FC, 9), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC, 115), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC, 7), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave FC; 4).

Midfielders: Sam Coffey (Manchester City, 44), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes, 173), Claire Hutton (Bay FC, 15), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC, 118), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC, 15), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham FC, 34), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes, 16).

Forwards: Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current, 10), Jameese Joseph (Chicago Stars FC, 4), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit, 52), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC, 17), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current, 18), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea FC, 29), Sophia Wilson (Portland Thorns FC, 58).

Heaps, the Golden native and Summit FC star, will join the Men in Blazers Media Network (MiBMN) with her own monthly show, “The Captain with Lindsey Heaps,” which drops its debut episode on March 25.

The show will be part of the MiBMN’s “The Women’s Game” platform, and co-hosted by Heaps and former professional soccer player Sam Mewis.

“Soccer has shaped my identity both personally and professionally, and I’m thrilled to be able to bring my voice and my love for the sport to the Men in Blazers Media Network,” Heaps said via a news release. “This is a chance to reflect on my own career, highlight incredible talent changing the game, and dig into defining moments that show what it really takes to lead and grow as a player.”

One of the most decorated players in the history of women’s soccer, Heaps is slated to join Summit FC, which makes its home debut on Saturday at Empower Field before a record crowd for a North American’s women’s sporting event, in June. The former Colorado Rush standout, who is completing his contract with French giants Lyon, has signed a four-year deal with the Summit that runs through 2029.

For additional information on the Men in Blazers Media Network, or to watch the debut episode of “The Captain with Lindsey Heaps,” fans can visit or visit .

Abby Smith is as advertised.  The veteran NWSL goalie was stellar. The two goals Smith gave up weren’t her fault; the first, by Bay FC’s Alex Pfeiffer, came on a wide-open look in the box. The second, via Joelle Anderson, was an uncontested, deflected shot from the top of the box. Smith made a handful of highlight saves in the second half, including stopping two 1-on-1 breakaways. Bay FC coach Emma Coates lamented her team should’ve scored more, but Smith (five total saves) kept them from pulling away.

The offense needs time to gel. Denver coach Nick Cushing wants Summit FC to be an aggressive, attacking side, but Saturday showed the offense is a ways away from finding its chemistry. Even before captain Janine Sonis was sent off with a red card in the 26th minute, Denver offense wasn’t applying consistent pressure. Summit FC finished with two shots on goal, just six shot attempts and controlled possession for only 36.8% of the time. Those stats won’t win many matches.

Youth movement. are the most of an NWSL club this season, while the club also has eight players who started their pro careers in other leagues but had yet to play in the NWSL. Defenders Eva Gaetino, Natalie Means and Ayo Oke, midfielders Natasha Flint, Devin Lynch, Emma Regan and Yuna McCormack, and forwards Olivia Thomas and Melissa Kössler all debuted. Kössler scored the first goal in club history in the first half off a perfect cross from Sonis.

Sonis still rules. Cushing chose his words carefully following the loss, noting he didn’t think Sonis’ penalty was worthy of a red care while qualifying his opinion with the fact he had not yet seen the replay. By league rule, Sonis will serve a one-game suspension for being sent off. But Denver fans need not worry about Sonis, who remains a club pillar. And from the press box view, the red card issued to the Canadian Women’s National Team member on Saturday should’ve been kept at a yellow.

The looming X-factor. Summit FC needs to find a way to mold its identity, win a few close matches like the one they lost on Saturday, and stay relevant in the playoff race through the first third of the season. If they do that, come the June break in the schedule, Lindsey Heaps will be done playing in Europe and will arrive in Denver to join the club. The U.S. Women’s National Team captain, one of the best midfielders in the world, will provide an instant boost to Summit FC’s playoff odds. ]]> 7455481 2026-03-15T10:08:46+00:00 2026-03-15T14:04:32+00:00 /2026/03/01/april-heinrichs-award-top-colorado-high-school-girls-soccer-player/ Sun, 01 Mar 2026 13:00:27 +0000 /?p=7433690 A Colorado soccer icon’s legacy will carry on to the next generation.

The Denver Post is proud to announce the creation of the April Heinrichs Award, which will be presented annually to the top high school senior girls soccer player, scholar and citizen in Colorado. The inaugural honor will be awarded this June, following the conclusion of the high school soccer season in late May.

Like the newspaper’s Gold Helmet Award in football and Roy Halladay Award in baseball, the April Heinrichs Award will factor in achievements and impact outside the field of play. In addition to skills on the pitch, candidates for the award will also be evaluated by their GPA and their community service.

“It’s great for girls soccer to be on par with the boys sports (The Denver Post) is recognizing at the highest level,” said longtime Broomfield soccer coach Jim Davidson. “And while it’s great from a gender standpoint, it’s also awesome that we’re recognizing a player from a state that has had great success on the girls side of the game at the college, national, international and professional level.”

An explosion of soccer talent

While Heinrichs set the bar for Colorado high school girls soccer players — the 1982 Heritage High School graduate was the captain of the U.S. Women’s National Team that won the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991 — many other notable players have followed in her footsteps.

As of late, the state has produced USWNT players such as captain Lindsey Heaps (née Horan), Mallory Swanson (née Pugh), Sophia Wilson (née Smith), Jaelin Howell and Ryan Williams. Plus, the state has churned out other stars such as Canadian national team pillar Janine Sonis (née Beckie) and three-time National Women’s Soccer League champion Jaelene Daniels (née Hinkle).

That Colorado talent pipeline of world-class players is why, when The Denver Post evaluated which girls sport to honor with an annual award, girls soccer was the clear decision.

“The state’s talent has really exploded in the last 15 years,” said Davidson, who coached the Broomfield girls for 25 years, with 385 wins, two state titles and six state runner-ups. “When we saw Lindsey Horan and Mallory Pugh rise to stardom, Colorado girls soccer was really making breakthroughs at the youth national team level and the national team level.

“We’ve since maintained that, and it’s incredible to see these Colorado women on television, representing our country, playing in the NWSL, playing major Division I and having such great success.”

The April Heinrichs Award is backed by a nonprofit, the Colorado High School Girls Soccer Player Award Corporation. The award is made possible by donations, including a sizable donation from Arvada resident Adam Stevinson. Additionally, new NWSL franchise has committed to an annual donation to support the award.

The winner of the award will be profiled in The Denver Post, receive a trophy and have a celebratory banquet in her honor. Plus, Summit FC will recognize the player during a Denver home game this summer.

Heinrichs gave her blessing for the award to take her name. The first female player inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame embodies the talent and lasting impact of a local player that the award seeks to honor.

After starring at Heritage, where led the Eagles to two state titles in 1979 and ’81 and was an All-American, she was a three-time first-team All-American , where the Tar Heels made four Division I championship games and won three of them.

After playing for the USWNT and professionally in Italy, she was the head coach at Maryland and Virginia. She was an assistant coach on the 1996 Olympic gold medal team in Atlanta, and was the head coach for the USWNT that claimed silver at the 2000 Sydney Games and gold at the 2004 Athens Games. After that, she oversaw the USWNT’s youth program.

“As a new women’s professional soccer franchise launches in Colorado, it feels fitting to launch an award that recognizes one of the state’s best female prep players and carries on the legacy of a trailblazer in the sport,” Denver Post sports editor Nate Peterson said. “Colorado has such a rich history of great players, coaches and teams in the women’s game, and April Heinrichs embodies that tradition. We couldn’t be more proud to partner with her to give out this award each year to a deserving player.”

Denver Post sportswriter Kyle Newman is the chairman of the award’s nonprofit, and he is joined on the board by Stevinson and Davidson as well as other longtime Colorado girls high school soccer coaches in , and .

A 17-person selection committee to decide the winner will consist of community members with an extensive range of girls soccer insight and influence, as well as Heinrichs herself and Denver Post staffers.

• Theresa Echtermeyer, longtime Mountain Vista coach
• Reagan Kotschau, CU player/All-American at Broomfield
• Dave Cope, retired Battle Mountain coach
• Nikki Marshall, ex-Mead/CU star and retired pro
• April Heinrichs, former USWNT player/coach
• Gary Gustafson, Heinrichs’ coach at Heritage
• Kia Gudewicz, longtime Heritage coach
• Jim Davidson, retired Broomfield coach
• Dan Watkins, longtime Jeffco girls coach
• Adam Stevinson, award’s first donor
• Lori Punko, Denver Post deputy sports editor
• Matt Schubert, The Athletic digital managing editor
• Kyle Newman, Denver Post sportswriter
• Jen Millet, Denver Summit FC president
• Nate Peterson, Denver Post sports editor
• Patrick Saunders, Denver Post sportswriter
• Joe Nguyen, Denver Post sports digital strategist

Nominations for the award and will be accepted through May 24, following the CHSAA state championships earlier that week. Ideally, players with a strong case for the award would be nominated by their head coach or athletic director.

The Post encourages any individuals or businesses who want to get involved in sponsoring the award with tax-deductible donations to reach out to board chairman Newman at knewman@denverpost.com.

2026 April Heinrichs Award nomination form

Nominations are open from March 1 through May 24 for the honor recognizing the state’s top senior girls soccer player.

“Obviously, our first goal was to break the record for the largest (professional) women’s sporting event ever in the United States,” Rob Cohen, controlling owner of Summit FC soccer club, , told me Tuesday. “But our latest goal is to set a record that hopefully will never be broken. I hope that fans get excited and fill up the building.”

Don’t put it past them. Don’t put anything past them. Not this town. Not this team.

No one has gotten more than 40,091 into one building for a U.S. pro women’s soccer match. Or any professional women’s sporting event. Until Denver. Until next month.

The National Women’s Soccer League expansion franchise, which debuts next month in San Jose, just passed the 40,000 mark in ticket sales for its home debut at Empower Field on March 28. Which is where the history part comes in.

The NWSL record for attendance is 40,091, set last August by Bay FC at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. That’s also the high-water mark for any pro women’s sporting event ever held in the U.S.

Say bye-bye, Bay. Tickets for March 28 are still available. Empower seats roughly 76,000 for football. We’re only just getting started here.

“My husband has friends here. They’re like, ‘Hey, can you get me tickets?’ I’m like, ‘You guys know I only get four only per game,'” Summit FC striker Ally Brazier (nee Watt), a multi-sport star at Pine Creek High School, recalled to me with a grin.

“So, I’m going to have to steal all my ticket requests from my teammates if they’re not using them. But there are so many people reaching out for tickets. Even people that I know flying in from different parts of the country saying, ‘Hey, everybody bought tickets to your home opener. I was like, ‘You live in Florida,’ or, ‘You live in Georgia.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m flying up to see you play. This is epic.'”

This is fun. Crazy fun. Summit FC held its first-ever media day Tuesday in Glendale, where they’ve moved preseason camp after a fortnight in sunny Santa Barbara. The team’s slated to train at Infinity Park through Feb. 13. They’ll open their inaugural season at Bay FC on March 14.

“(I was) really excited about the culture of the team and the way we had it together,” said Cohen, who flew to SoCal recently to see how camp was progressing. “They obviously haven’t been together for that long. Just the way they’ve come together and bought into what we’re trying to do and what the vision is we have for the franchise, it’s obviously a manifestation of all of the work we’ve put in over the last 12 months to make it happen.”

Cohen and the Summit ownership group — which includes Colorado icons Mikaela Shiffrin and Peyton Manning — aspire to only one class: First. All the way. Top to bottom. When Cohen hired GM Curt Johnson and coach Nick Cushing, he told them the exact same thing:

“Look, there aren’t many expansion teams in history that have won championships in their first year. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.”

“No pressure,” I said to Cohen.

“No pressure,” he laughed.

The best record for a first-year NWSL team? Well, that’s Bay FC again, with an 11-1-14 mark in 2024. Two seasons ago, that club became the first NWSL team to reach the postseason as an expansion franchise.

“It’s no different than anything else in life,” Cohen continued. “If you have the capacity for excellence, why settle for normalcy?”

The new normal looks kinda awesome, though. The jersey — sorry, shirt — is coming soon. So are the alternates. Golden native Lindsey Heaps, another Denver icon, is due to join the roster in June. She should be up to speed the time the Summit moves into their temporary stadium at Centennial in July.

The first-year club will play its home opener at Empower in March, then have two matches (April 25 and May 16) at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, home of the MLS Rapids, until the franchise’s Centennial HQ is ready for its July 3 debut.

Technically, part of the new park is already here, chilling in local warehouses, ready to be assembled. Other parts are in transit. Other parts are sitting in containers at the Port of Los Angeles, allegedly.

Thank you, tariffs.

“It’s no different than the game on the pitch — you’ve got to deal with what comes your way and what’s thrown at you,” Cohen said. “So (having) tariffs and having it done overseas was just part of what we need to do to get it (done).”

They need to keep several trains running smoothly right now — on about eight different tracks. And the designs for their permanent home at Santa Fe Yards, still slated for a March 2028 opening,

“It’s moving quickly,” Cohen said. “Someone said to me the other day, ‘There are three things that go with projects: You can do ’em fast, you can do ’em cheap or you can do ’em high-quality, but you can only have two of the three.'”

Another laugh.

“So I tell people, ‘Well, we’re certainly doing it fast,'” he said, ”And we’re certainly doing it high-quality.'”

Talk is cheap. History ain’t. The view from the Summit gets better by the day.

Sonis, a Highlands Ranch native and Valor Christian alum, is close friends with U.S. Women’s National Team captain and Golden native Lindsey Heaps. So when Heaps texted Sonis last year about her intention to sign with Denver FC following the conclusion of her contract with Lyon in France, Sonis knew that she, too, had to find a way back home.

“That was the hardest-kept secret of my life,” Sonis said with a laugh. “I was obviously very excited for her, and she told me, ‘You have to get there.’ We’ve wanted to play together our entire careers.

“When I finally got (my trade) over the line, I texted her, all caps, ‘IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!'”

Sonis (nee Beckie) and Heaps (nee Horan) have known each other since their elementary school days, when Sonis was a star for Real Colorado and Heaps was the headliner for Colorado Rush. The two frequently played against each other on Colorado’s youth scene, and in their professional eras, have become international rivals with Sonis as a longtime pillar for the Canadian Women’s National Team and Heaps as a centerpiece of the U.S. squad.

They are two of the five local players on and their acquisitions by the club were announced three days apart last month. Denver got the 2020 Olympic gold medalist via trade with Racing Louisville FC in exchange for an initial $120,000.

“When the team was announced (last January), I knew I wanted to be back here,” Sonis said. “I loved being in Louisville… but I was very excited about the possibility of coming back home. I reached out to my agent and asked to do some exploration, see where the club’s head was at, float my name around and see if there’s any interest. Then, when they announced Nick (Cushing as manager), I knew I needed to be here.”

Sonis played for Cushing for two seasons with Manchester City, winning two FA Cups and two Women’s Super League titles. Cushing was the first coach to switch Sonis from forward to fullback, which is what the defender will be playing with Summit FC.

But Sonis is still capable of being an offensive threat from that position, as evidenced by a goal and an assist in Summit FC’s first exhibition match. The 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Current last weekend came in the opening phase of the club’s preseason training in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Sonis is one of several notable veterans on the Summit FC defense, along with Camryn Biegalski, Carson Pickett, Kaleigh Kurtz and fellow Canadian Women’s National Team member Megan Reid. Plus, the defense has several intriguing NWSL rookies in Natalie Means, Eva Gaetino and Ayo Oke, who recently

While Cushing vowed that Summit FC will be “an attacking team,” he also acknowledged that the club’s ability to fulfill owner Rob Cohen’s expectations to compete for a championship in Year 1 will hinge heavily upon the back line.

“You won’t win championships without a good defensive record, so to give us the chance at being above the line and having a solid position, we have to be a team that can contain the opposition,” Cushing said. “To defend the way we did in Game 1 after two weeks (of training), it showed the potential we have is going to be high.”

Behind the defense, Cushing said the starting goalkeeper job is still up for grabs.

Summit FC has veteran Abby Smith, a two-time NWSL Champion, as well as rookie Jordan Nytes, a Grandview alum who is coming off a prolific career with the CU Buffs. The goalies split time in the exhibition against the Current. Summit FC general manager Curt Johnson said he plans to sign one more goalkeeper sometime in the next couple weeks.

Cushing will continue to evaluate the position but doesn’t want to platoon there, and will settle on a starter heading into the regular season. Summit FC will train at Infinity Park in Glendale for the next couple of weeks before heading to Indio, Calif., for an exhibition tournament at the Coachella Valley Invitational. There, the team will play the Utah Royals and San Diego Wave FC.

Summit FC’s inaugural match is March 14 against Bay FC at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif., followed by two more road contests before making its Denver debut on March 28 against the Washington Spirit at Empower Field. The game has already sold 40,000 tickets, so it is well on pace to shatter the NWSL single-game attendance record of 40,091, set last August in a match between Bay FC and the Spirit at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

Sonis will be thinking of her late father when she takes the pitch that day at Empower Field — Gary Beckie died from skin cancer when she was seven years old — and will relish having her family in the stands, along with what she hopes is a crowd that approaches the stadium’s maximum capacity.

“I’m not surprised at all by the Denver community showing up for this team,” Sonis said. “I know they’ve been eager to have women’s professional sports back in Denver for a long time (since the Colorado Xplosion basketball team in the 1990s).

“I’ve envisioned that moment walking onto the pitch many times already. It’s going to be an incredibly special moment, and I’d love to see us push that number to 50,000, 60,000-plus.”