The Ragain Family was awarded a USL Pro franchise on December 5, 2013, with plans to begin play in 2015. The team’s name, the “Switchbacks Football Club”, was announced on January 31, 2014, following a fan naming contest. The team hired MLS and USMNT veteran Steve Trittschuh as the first head coach on March 11, 2014. Luke Vercollone was the first player signed by Colorado Springs in October 2014. The Ragain Family chose Colorado Springs in large part because of the City for Champions vision by city leaders which included a downtown stadium concept that needed a champion of its own.
The Colorado Springs Switchbacks Football Club is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The club competes in the USL Championship, which is the second tier of the American soccer pyramid and one of the most competitive professional leagues in North America.
The club is owned by Weidner Apartment Homes, a privately held real estate investment company founded by Dean Weidner. Weidner Apartment Homes owns and manages over 60,000 residential units across the U.S. and Canada. The company has been a key financial and development partner in Colorado Springs, playing a central role in the construction and ongoing support of Weidner Field and the Switchbacks organization. Switchbacks FC were formally owned by the Ragain family.
In 2022, player Hadji Barry tied the Championship league record for total goals scored at 25 goals earning the leagues Golden Boot award. Hadji Barry was transferred to Future FC for a league record breaking transfer fee in September.
The current head coach is James Chambers, who was appointed in January 2024 and guided the team to its first USL Championship title later that year. Under Chambers’ leadership, the Switchbacks finished second in the Western Conference during the regular season and went on to win the 2024 USL Championship Final with a 3–0 victory over Rhode Island FC. Key members of the technical and sporting staff include Stephen Hogan(Sporting Director/GM) and Alan McCann (Technical Director/Assistant Coach), along with a dedicated performance and medical team.
All Switchbacks matches are streamed nationally on ESPN+, with home games broadcasted locally on KOAA. Additionally, radio coverage is available via Xtra Sports 1300. Following record-setting attendance and viewership in 2024—including 13 home sellouts and a league-high CBS broadcast audience.
Weidner Field History
Weidner Field is a $50M soccer-specific stadium located in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. Having opened on April 24, 2021, it is home to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC who compete in the second level of U.S. men’s professional soccer, the USL Championship (USLC). The playing area is 360′ long by 225′ wide. While designed for soccer with a seating capacity of 8,000, the stadium is capable of hosting other types of events reaching a capacity as high as 15,000. Sitting at an altitude of roughly 6,035 feet (1,839 m) above sea level, the facility has the highest elevation of any stadium used by a professional team in the American soccer pyramid. It replaces the former Weidner Field, now known as Martin ‘Ed’ Ragain Field, a smaller soccer stadium on the east side of the city.
The stadium was part of a collection of projects led by the City of Colorado Springs known as City for Champions including the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum, Ed Robson Arena, William J Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center, and Air Force Academy Visitor Center. Weidner Field was designed to energize the downtown area, spur adjacent real estate investment, increase tourism, and bring a sprawling community together. Plans for the new stadium were officially unveiled in July 2018. Design details were revealed in July 2019, and the ceremonial groundbreaking took place that December.
Naming rights are held by Weidner Apartment Homes, an owner in the Club and sponsored the naming rights for the former stadium. The “Weidner Field” name was officially transferred from the old stadium to the new venue on October 15, 2020.
