December 4, 2000

Denver Mile High Mustangs to compete In W-1 In 2001 replacing the Denver Diamonds

The W-League's newest franchise, the Mile High Mustangs, will kick off its inaugural season as a member of the W-1 Western Conference in 2001.

The Mustangs are one of six expansion teams slated for the seven-team conference and will be replacing the West's perennial power Denver Diamonds, which were terminated during the offseason after the club's owner and coach Tom Stone was hired as the Women's United Soccer Association's Atlanta Beat coach.

Mile High is owned by the Arvada Soccer Association, a non-profit organization that operates the Arvada United Soccer Club, and will be run by General Manager Brian Barkey, who has been with Arvada since March.

Barkey, born and raised in Colorado, has been coaching in the state for the past 15 years and oversees the 2,500-member youth soccer club, which ranges from age 5-18. In June, the 25-year-old Arvada Soccer Association, one of the state's largest, began researching the possibility of joining the W League, said Barkey.

"We saw that this would be a great opportunity to show good soccer to the younger girls in the area. When the opportunity arose, we jumped on it."

The Mustangs plan to make the W-League club the peak of its girls development program, which ranges from age 11-18 competitively, to improve the quality of talent coming out of the state.

"They are an energetic club that has vowed to carry on the tradition of excellence in Denver women's soccer," said Associate Commissioner David Askinas. "We are confident that the Mustangs will showcase some of the best young women's players in Denver."

Several of the former Diamonds players are expected to join the Mustangs in their inaugural campaign.

The club will be based in Arvada, a northwestern suburb of Denver, and will play at Brooks Field at the Colorado School of Mines. The stadium is literally located at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and has an ideal seating capacity of 4,000.