The top three teams in this week’s Class 5A CHSAANow.com boys soccer rankings all have something in common: No. 1 Fairview, No. 2 Boulder and No. 3 Broomfield all hail from the Front Range League.
“The strength of the league and the competition game-in and game-out is so good,” Fairview coach Jeff Frykholm said this week. “I don’t know how you determine who is one through eight and beyond. We’re trying not to pay too much attention to that because there are so many good teams that you get too caught up looking at (the rankings), all of a sudden somebody else sneaks up and gets you.”
“It’s no surprise that Front Range League teams are there again,” said Boulder coach Hardy Kalisher.
However, the FRL’s presence in the poll is not limited to the top three spots. Eight out of the 13 teams appeared on ballots, with Fort Collins and Greeley West as the first two out, receiving 12 and 11 votes, respectively. Horizon, Loveland and Legacy also received votes.
“You can see the depth of the league, it’s really cutthroat,” said Broomfield head coach Jim Davidson. “You have to bring your ‘A’ game every night. If you don’t, you’re going to lose.”
The league’s success spans back years. Four championships have come from the FRL since 2009 and three of the last four state champions have been from the league. In 2014, three of the four state semifinalists were from the FRL.
“Outside of our league, there aren’t too many teams that are in the discussion at the end,” Davidson said.
The Front Range League’s success has made national waves.
“One could make the case that we have one of the most competitive leagues in the country, much less in Colorado,” Kalisher said. “Not only are we ranked well in the state, we’ve made a name for ourselves nationally. Nationally-ranked programs are contacting us to try to get on our scrimmage schedule.”
Salesianum School, winners of 12 of the last 14 Delaware state championships and the last six in a row, is flying out in September to Colorado to play Fairview and Boulder. Fairview is scheduled to play Salesianum on Sept. 16 and Boulder is scheduled for Sept. 17.
Another measuring point of the league on a national scale comes in the USA Today Super 25 Polls. Fairview is ranked fifth in the latest USA Today/NSCAA Super 25 National Poll. Fairview and Boulder are ranked No. 1 and No. 9, respectively in Region VIII.
The competitiveness of the league prepares its members for successful playoff runs.
“I think if you’re fortunate enough to qualify, you feel pretty good in those matches. You know what it feels like to have your back against the wall,” Davidson said. “Very few teams will ever get through our league without a single blemish. I think our kids have that understanding of what it means to really play in that arena where it does feel constantly like playoff soccer.”
“You want to get into the tournament playing high level games that are very competitive where you have to work for the result,” Kalisher said. “That’s what happens in the Front Range League every single game.”
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(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Often, when teams like Broomfield, Boulder and Fairview make it into the playoffs out of the Front Range, they have matchups against other league opponents. In last year’s state tournament, Fairview played two of its first three matches against FRL opponents.
“When you get into the playoffs, more often than not, it’s a Front Range League team playing another Front Range League team,” Kalisher said.
“You’re gonna have to go back into battle again,” Frykholm said. “They know us from last time, we’re going to have to make an adjustment, we’ll see how they adjust to us. So, it’s a question of adjusting to the adjuster and which team is more prepared to do that.”
Frykholm, Davidson and Kalisher said all bets are off when playing a team for a second or third time. Throughout the league, the coaches know each other so well and the players have familiarity from playing club with and against each other. There are no secrets.
“The more you play a team, the more you learn about them and they’re learning about you,” Kalisher said. “You beat a team in league, and now you’re playing them in the playoffs; it’s harder to beat them again. There’s no doubt.
“One year, we played Broomfield three times, and that third time was the state final. We beat them in a scrimmage, we beat them in a league game and they beat us in the state championship game.”
The aspect of athletes playing club soccer is what contributes to success.
“I think you’ve got a lot of really quality coaching staffs and in a place like Boulder or Broomfield, you have good youth programs that are feeding into the high school,” Davidson said. “Competitive high school players that arrive prepared because of their club experience.”
“The soccer in the North Metro area has really been growing at the high school and club level in recent years,” Frykholm said. “I think one of the things that may stand out in the Boulder area is that we’ve been able to keep a lot of the kids that are playing in our local clubs and then they come into high school and we’re able to keep them intact whearas some of the high schools in Denver, their kids are playing club all over the place. My guys have played quite a lot together throughout the year in a club environment.”
Club soccer creates an interesting dynamic and furthers the familiarity that these teams already have of each other. You could have players from Broomfield, Fairview and Boulder all on the same club team. But, when it comes time for high school season, those club teammates are pitted against each other.
“There’s no doubt they’re putting their absolute effort during the Fall,” Kalisher said. “Something changes when you look down and you’re playing for your high school.”
The challenge comes for coaches in bringing the different systems from club season together for success during the high school season.
“For us, it’s a process until mid-to-late season where we’re just getting back on the same page because they’re coming from different systems and different coaches,” Davidson said. “It takes a little while to get that to gel and be prepared, hopefully, for that run at the end of the season.”
The coaches continuously mentioned respect and tradition in addition to talented youth programs.
“We all know each other so well and I think that the coaches in our league have such great respect for each other,” Davidson said.
“When you take the strength of soccer in the Boulder Valley School District area, and combine it with the strength of soccer in the Fort Collins area, you end up with a really strong conference, Kalisher said. “There’s no doubt that you have to have talent to be competitive, but I would say those programs and the history of those programs brings out the best in their players.”
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(Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
From respect and tradition comes pride. Pride not only in their respective programs, but in the league as a collective.
“The league takes a lot of pride in how well it does,” Kalisher said. “Even the teams that don’t make the playoffs out of our league still have tons of pride for the teams in the playoffs because you couldn’t get to the playoffs without that level of competition. You couldn’t do well in the playoffs without that level of competition.”
These experienced coaches realize the recognition and pride extends throughout Colorado, and credit must be given to those creating that success — the student-athletes that come every day carrying a piece of that same pride and give everything for the school on the front of their jersey.
“There’s so much good soccer being played in Colorado right now and we’re fortunate to play in such a strong league,” Frykholm said. “At the end of the day you do the best you can as a coach, but you have to recognize special kids, special human beings, and great players that make your program good. I feel super fortunate to be able to coach in a place where I’ve got such great kids that show up every day to work.”
The second a hitter steps into the batter’s box, Ali Kilponen is sizing her up.
And looking at Kilponen’s stats, it’s hard to believe that it’s going to be the batter who wins that showdown.
“I read my batters a lot,” Kilponen says. “I read where they are in the box, how they approach the box and how they’re swinging. I try to stay as confident as I can because they’ll see it.”
And she has every reason to be confident. As a sophomore, Kilponen repeated as the Class 4A player of the year and was instrumental in Valor Christian’s march to a second-straight state title. That analytical approach has served her well on the field and it will continue to serve her well off of it.
With her numbers (48-2 career record, 0.57 career ERA), she would be an asset to any softball team in the country. She was getting a hard look at Texas A&M, among other top programs.
But just like the way she sizes up a hitter that’s trying to take down, Kilponen was extremely analytical about her post-high school softball career and, more importantly, education.
She isn’t on the hunt for a national championship above all else. No, Kilponen, a junior, wanted to make sure that she was getting the most out of her college choice.
She wanted a school that worth playing for and one that fit with the path that she wanted to take her life on. And perhaps one of the biggest factors was the chance to take a financial burden off her family by combining those other two traits with a scholarship.
And that’s how she’ll end up at Colorado State.
“If I can get scholarships to help my parents pay for my education, that’s huge,” she said. “My main goal is to help my parents out by getting a scholarship so that I don’t have to put so much stress on them.”
But Colorado State can’t be the only school interested in giving arguably the top player in the state scholarship money, right?
Probably not. But when it happens to be one of the top schools in the field that she wants to study, it only made the decision much easier.
“Colorado State is ranked No. 2 nationally for vet school,” Kilponen said. “I want to be a vet when I grow up.”
(Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
And just like that, a decision that has the ability to haunt student-athletes into their senior year of high school was made before she was even considered an upperclassman.
And with that out of the way, she just gets to focus on playing softball for the Eagles.
“Ali, since she’s been a freshman, has just been a good teammate,” Valor Christian coach Dave Atencio said. “She blends in well with the kids and always stays positive with them.”
And above all else, she has fun and enjoys the game of softball.
Her experience in what is still just a short time at Valor Christian has shaped the way that she approaches most aspects of her life. And as a result, she tends to go about most things in a carefree manner.
“I love high school softball,” she said. “I just get to play with all my closest sisters and I just get to have fun and just go out and play and represent Valor.”
It’s all fun and smiles. At least until a hitter steps into that box.
