‘Nothing is given’: RSL Unified team prepares for Colorado showdown

SANDY — Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids will contest the Rocky Mountain Cup on Saturday night at America First Field. But the rivalry will not end at the final whistle.

As the first-team players leave the pitch, another Rocky Mountain Cup battle will begin immediately after when RSL Unified hosts Colorado Rapids Unified in the opening leg of this year’s first-ever two-leg Special Olympics Unified Rocky Mountain Cup.

For the athletes taking the field, this is no ceremonial curtain call.

“This is a pinnacle for our athletes,” RSL vice president of community and player engagement Kyle Schroeder told KSL. “They’re getting to play inside professional stadiums. It’s the dream of everyone who plays the sport of soccer to reach that professional level.”

More than a community initiative

RSL Unified has been part of the club since 2016, growing alongside MLS and Special Olympics Unified Sports as the league expanded its commitment to inclusion and competition.

Unified teams bring together Special Olympics athletes and Unified Partners who train, travel, and compete side by side as teammates.

What began as a smaller initiative with varying formats and fewer participating clubs has evolved into an increasingly integrated part of soccer culture around the league.

“The professionalism of each team has increased,” Schroeder said. “The standardization of trying to get every team to play that 11v11 high-level soccer has really made a massive impact.”

This season, RSL and Colorado will meet in a two-leg home-and-away format for the Unified Rocky Mountain Cup, adding another layer to the rivalry that has evolved alongside both clubs’ Unified programs.

According to Schroeder, both organizations wanted the Unified sides to have a trophy and rivalry of their own.

“We got together with the Colorado Rapids and my counterparts over there and said, ‘Let’s have a Special Olympics Unified Rocky Mountain Cup as well,’” Schroeder said.

“We put a cup on the line, and it’s an extra motivating factor.”

Nothing is given

The matches themselves carry real stakes and real emotion for the players involved.

“Nothing is given and everything is earned out there on the field,” Schroeder said.

That mentality is visible during matches, but also throughout the preparation leading into them. RSL Unified players train weekly while balancing school, club soccer, extracurricular activities, family obligations, and travel from across Utah to participate in the program.

Families sacrifice weekends and commit to away travel to places like Dallas and Colorado so athletes can experience soccer at the professional level alongside the club they represent.

For many players, those moments matter deeply.

“They get the chance to represent their hometown club, to play on professional fields, to get the professional treatment of traveling to away games, playing in away stadiums, being on charters,” Schroeder said. “That’s such a unique experience, and I think it’s something people want to strive for.”

Winning matters deeply to these players. But Schroeder said competing the right way is equally emphasized throughout Unified Sports.

“There’s also still that line, and it goes back to the athlete oath of, ‘Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt,’” Schroeder said. “I think you’re really going to see that mentality, and it carries through all Special Olympics, but especially these Unified Games.”

Staying for the final whistle

Saturday’s match will also bring something else players notice immediately: the crowd.

“The Riot’s done a fantastic job of sticking around, playing drums, and getting chants going,” Schroeder said. “Like with any game, you can feel that heartbeat of the crowd, and I think that’s what makes soccer special.”

RSL’s first-team players have embraced the program as well. Schroeder said more than a dozen players stayed to support the Unified side during a recent trip to Dallas, with Diego Luna heavily involved in motivating players before and during the match.

“Diego Luna was the first one out of the locker room,” Schroeder said. “He was hyping up the players. He was right there in the halftime team talk and gave them that little bit of extra motivation.”

The match between RSL Unified and Colorado Rapids Unified will kick off on the field immediately following Saturday’s MLS Rocky Mountain Cup clash at America First Field.

And when the first final whistle blows, RSL supporters will have the chance to stay and support another group of athletes living out the same dream under the same lights, wearing the same crest, and competing for a Rocky Mountain Cup of their own.