“Kicks Off” in Town of Taos, NM
Highest Altitude FIFA 2 Star Training Facility in the World
Taos, New Mexico (USA) – The Town of Taos has announced Taos Eco Park’s 2nd Annual NCAA & Club Soccer Showcase will be held on consecutive weekends in April on Saturday, April 14 and Saturday, April 21, in beautiful Taos, NM. This year Taos Eco Park will be hosting women’s and men’s NCAA soccer teams, as well as girls and boys club soccer teams at its state-of-the-art multi-purpose FIFA 2 Star synthetic turf field complex.
The 2nd Annual NCAA & Club Soccer Showcase is an all ages event that is fun for the whole family with a carnival atmosphere that includes hot air balloon rides, Taos High School Culinary Arts food tent and high altitude Taos Eco Tourism education exhibits with the llamas from Wild Earth Adventures, river rafting by Los Rios River Runners, the nationally acclaimed Taos High School Earthletes, exhibiting soil and water conservation education, New Spin Tops or “trampo” demonstrations, music between soccer games, and other fun sports/recreation/youth offerings.
In addition to the live action of the soccer games on the field, the games will be broadcast on live streaming internet at Taos-Sports.com and include a media tent with live streaming internet of post-game player interviews and live radio remote broadcasts.
Parking and admission are free on both weekends.
The two weekend event begins Saturday, April 14, with Women’s NCAA and Girls Club soccer teams. The first game begins with Adams State College Women’s Soccer being challenged by a very talented New Mexico Rush ’96 Girls club team.
Immediately following the first game is a round robin spring exhibition format featuring the Colorado based NCAA Air Force Academy and Ft. Lewis College Women’s Soccer teams, along with New Mexico based NCAA Highlands University’s Women’s Soccer and Rio Vista FC’s ’94 Eagles Girls club team.
The final game on Saturday, April 14, will be a men’s NCAA exhibition game under the lights between Adams State College Men’s Soccer and Rio Vista United ’94 Boys soccer teams.
Game Schedule, Saturday, April 14:
- Game 1 – 8:00-9:30 a.m. – Adams Sate College Women v. New Mexico Rush ‘96 Girls
- Game 2 – 10:00-11:30 a.m. – Air Force Academy Women v. Ft. Lewis College Women
- Game 3 – Noon-1:30 p.m. – Ft. Lewis College Women v. Rio Vista FC ‘94 Eagles Girls
- Game 4 – 2:00-3:30 p.m. – Air Force Academy Women v. Highlands University Women
- Game 5 – 4:00-5:30 p.m. – Highlands University Women v. Rio Vista FC ‘94 Eagles Girls
- Game 6 – 6:00-8:00 p.m. – Adams State College Men v. Rio Vista United ’94 Boys
On Saturday, April 21, the focus turns to the premier boy’s club soccer teams from New Mexico. The Albuquerque based club soccer teams New Mexico Rush SC and Rio Vista FC will visit Taos for the second consecutive year to showcase their highly talented youth soccer clubs.
Following the youth club games will be the Taos Eco Park’s 1st Anniversary Celebration Ceremony, including elected officials from the Town of Taos, Taos Municipal Schools, Taos Pueblo, State of New Mexico and honored guests, followed by a Color Guard presentation by the NM National Guard.
The main event will feature NCAA Men’s Soccer power houses University of New Mexico Lobos v. Air Force Academy Falcons at 3:30 p.m., Saturday, April 21, in a battle for regional supremacy.
Game Schedule, Saturday, April 21:
- Game 1 – 8:00-9:30 a.m. – Rio Vista FC Copa ’96 Boys v. Rio Vista FC ’97 Boys
- Game 2 – 10:00-11:30 a.m. – Rio Vista FC ’95 Boys v. Rio Vista United 2 Boys
- Game 3 – Noon-1:30 p.m. – Rio Vista United ’94 Boys v. New Mexico Rush Argonauts ‘94 Boys
- 2nd Anniversary Celebration Ceremony – 2:30-3:30 p.m. – Color Guard, Team Introductions
- Game 4 – 3:30-5:30 p.m. – University of New Mexico Lobos Men v. Air Force Academy Falcons Men
- Game 5 – 6:00-8:00pm – Espanola Cobras v. Colorado Springs Hustlers FC
The event is being hosted by the Town of Taos and Taos Sports Alliance, in coordination with Taos Eco Park’s partners Holy Cross Hospital, Shaw Sportexe and Rush Soccer.
The Town of Taos and Taos Municipal School District built the Eco Park as a joint initiative to improve the area’s quality of life/youth and adult recreation offerings, while creating yet another economic driver for northern New Mexico visitation. In addition to training club, professional and international soccer teams, Taos Eco Park was built as a multi-purpose complex for the youth of the Taos community and as training grounds for other field sports such as lacrosse, rugby and American football.
Taos Eco Park’s synthetic turf system, manufactured by Shaw/Sportexe, is constructed using a blend of grass-like fibers, composite backing and a mix of sand and rubber infill.
The Taos Eco Park FIFA 2 Star Field Certification is posted on the official FIFA website at www.fifa.com as a world class, high altitude training facility at 7,000 feet in elevation.
Taos Eco Park is located at 940 Salazar Road, Taos, NM 87571
For more information or to reserve programming at Taos Eco Park, please contact: Joel Israel, Executive Director, Taos Sports Alliance, at joel@taossportsalliance.com.