Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC
Full name	Northern Colorado Hailstorm Football Club
Founded	January 12, 2021; 3 years ago
Stadium	4Rivers Equipment Stadium
Capacity	2,500
Owners	Jeff and Casey Katofsky ; Ryan Spilborghs
Head coach	Éamon Zayed
League	USL League One
2023	3rd out of 12; Playoffs: Semifinals
Website	Club website
	Current season

Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC is an American professional soccer team based in Windsor, Colorado. The club was founded in 2021, and made its competitive debut in 2022. The team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid, and is owned by the Katofsky family and the Future Legends ownership group.^[1]

History

Soccer in Colorado

There are three other professional soccer teams in the state of Colorado. Colorado Rapids play in Major League Soccer, Colorado Springs Switchbacks play in USL Championship and Colorado Rapids 2 play in MLS Next Pro.

Inaugural season

Because USL League One had an uneven number of teams for the 2022 season, Northern Colorado played the first competitive match in its history in the U.S. Open Cup on April 6 of that year, against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks. Despite losing Irvin Parra to a red card in the 27th minute, the Hailstorm won 1–0 in extra time, with Jerry Desdunes scoring their first-ever goal in the 96th.^[2] On April 9, 2022, Ethan Vanacore-Decker scored the first league goal for the Hailstorm play during their inaugural USL League One match which finished in a 1–1 draw with Richmond Kickers.^[3] In just its fourth ever competitive match, the Hailstorm defeated Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake away from home by a score of 1–0 on April 20, 2022, to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open Cup.^[4]^[5] The Hailstorm were eliminated from cup competition on May 11, 2022 by fellow League One opponents Union Omaha by a score of 2-0 in the round of 32. The Hailstorm played their first home game against North Carolina FC on June 8, 2022, after 10 games (including cup matches) on the road while awaiting a home venue in Colorado. The game took place at Jackson Stadium, on the campus of the University of Northern Colorado, since the completion of TicketSmarter Stadium was delayed. The game saw Irvin Parra score the Hailstorm's first home goal in spectacular fashion, making #2 on ESPN's top ten list that evening.^[6] The Hailstorm would go on the finish the match in a 1-1 draw.

Stadium

The team will play their home games at TicketSmarter Stadium located at the Future Legends Complex, a 118-acre multi-sport complex that was scheduled to open in 2022. The complex is expected to have 10 baseball fields and 12 soccer pitches.^[7] The team will share the complex with a minor-league baseball team, the Northern Colorado Owlz.^[8] The Owlz and Hailstorm "will play in a secondary location while construction concludes."^[9]

Due to construction delays, caused by an months-long investigation into the possible presence of a historical site in June 2021,^[10] the team obtained permission from the University of Northern Colorado (UNC, in Greeley, Colorado) to use their soccer facility, Jackson Stadium throughout the month of June, 2022.^[11] Due the resumption of inter-collegiate soccer at UNC, the team then obtained permission from Colorado State University (CSU, in Fort Collins, Colorado) to use Canvas Stadium, an artificial turf college football stadium with a capacity of 40,000+ throughout the month of July, 2022.^[12]

Players and staff

Current roster

As of May 9, 2024^[13]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	USA	Lalo Delgado
2	DF	USA	Brecc Evans
4	DF	ESP	David García
5	DF	ENG	Johnny Fenwick
6	MF	GER	Jackson Dietrich
7	MF	TRI	Real Gill
8	MF	GHA	Enock Kwakwa
10	FW	USA	Irvin Parra
11	MF	USA	Marky Hernández
12	GK	USA	Russell Shealy
13	DF	NGA	Lucky Opara


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	JPN	Haruki Yamazaki
15	MF	USA	Patrick Langlois
16	MF	USA	Destan Norman
19	FW	SCO	Billy King
20	FW	USA	Ethan Hoard
23	FW	USA	Jake Keegan (on loan from One Knoxville)
27	DF	CUB	Bruno Rendón
30	MF	USA	Chelo Martinez
34	MF	USA	Danny Robles
47	MF	USA	McCain Clarke
66	DF	TRI	Noah Powder

Front office and Technical staff

Front Office Staff^[14]
President / General Manager	Jason Ficca
Assistant General Manager	James Hilepo
Director of Marketing and Communications	Damian Foley
Director of Partnerships and Sales
Digital Media Manager	Nathan Martinez
Technical Staff
Head coach	Éamon Zayed
Assistant coach	Colin Falvey
Goalkeeping coach	Tim Murray

Record

Year-by-year

As of October 28, 2023

Season	USL League One								Playoffs	US Open Cup	Top Scorer ¹		Head Coach
Season	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Pts	Pos	Playoffs	US Open Cup	Player	Goals	Head Coach
2022	30	11	10	9	42	38	42	7th	Did not qualify	R4	Irvin Parra	11	Éamon Zayed
2023	32	18	6	8	59	37	62	3rd	Semifinals	R3	Trevor Amann	26	Éamon Zayed