Pastor Kurt Trempert is one of the longest standing volunteer chaplains for Soccer Chaplains United and he serves the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, a team that plays in the the USL-Championship, the second division of professional soccer in the U.S. The Switchbacks are an affiliate for the Colorado Rapids and so there is often a shuttling back and forth of players on loan between the two clubs, situated about an hour and half drive down Interstate-25. This year, Kurt enters into his seventh season as volunteer chaplain. He joins me, Rev Brad Kenney, on the From the Touchline podcast today ahead of the team's grand home opener this week (Friday) and the brand-new Weidner Field located in downtown Colorado Springs.

As the United Soccer League (USL) starts to ramp up its season this weekend, soccer across North America will finally be in full-swing. The USL manages the lower divisions of professional soccer in the U.S. and Canada and has many teams in smaller cities and markets. USL-Championship is the top tier of soccer below Major League Soccer (MLS). Today, on the From the Touchline podcast, Rev Brad is joined by 5 different USL-C chaplains! Robert Briggs, chaplain of Sacramento Republic; Greg Aydt, chaplain to Memphis 901 FC; Kurt Trempert, chaplain to Colorado Springs Switchbacks; Jubal McDaniel, chaplain to the Tacoma Defiance; and Erick Jiménez, chaplain to El Paso Locomotives FC are all on the podcast. Each chaplain shares a little

The United Soccer League (USL) this past week announced a rebranding and restructuring of its leagues. The USL will remain as a corporate identity with a re-envisioned logo (above). Meanwhile, the three tier will be Championship, League One, and League Two respectively.       While League Two has some clarity around this being the new version of the PDL (Player Development League) and a pre-professional league, it is not clear at this moment what teams will make up League One and Championship. Currently, Soccer Chaplains United has chaplains at four USL teams — Charlotte Independence, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, Nashville SC, and Rio Grande Valley Toros FC. It is possible that one or more of those teams could have

In May of this year, One Child Matters (OCM) sent a team of 11 workers, including the president of the organization, to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  The purpose of the trip was to witness the impact of child sponsorship firsthand and to deliver soccer equipment. This was the first time Soccer Chaplains United and One Child Matters have been able to partner.  These ministries were brought together by Soccer Chaplains United Chaplain Kurt Trempert, who chaplains the Colorado Springs Switchbacks based in Colorado Springs, CO.  By partnering with Soccer Chaplains United, we were able to provide an unexpected surprise for the children, who typically visit the Hope Center for a hot meal, help with their school work, spiritual teaching, and other activities.

I have learned in this ministry work, that sometimes as you go along, you pick up people interested in what you do. Sometimes they want to financially give, other times they want to get involved and that's exactly how we came across our new Community Coordinator for Colorado Springs, Cory Jones. Cory was part of a team that made a request of our Timothy Project. He and team members from  Mountain Springs Church and Beyond Survival, made their way to Swaziland with several bags of soccer gear. What followed was a pricking of his heart as he asked, what more can be done? I enjoy the very idea that I can support Soccer Chaplains United as they support local mission