Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC announced Monday that the club had been loaned by Philip Mayaka, Sebastian Anderson, Abraham Rodriguez, Matt Hundley and Michael Edwards from the Colorado Rapids until the USL Championship, MLS and the American Football Federation were approved.
Pursuant to the recall right incorporated into the loan agreement, the Rapids reserve the right to recall players at any time during the regular MLS season, subject to the MLS rosters compliance guidelines.
“We’re excited to bring so much quality to our squad with this announcement,” said Switchbacks coach Brendan Burke. “We are well positioned with our preparations for the season and these five players will definitely help to improve the training environment. Our employees look forward to working with Sebastian, Michael, Matt, Philip and Abe. “
Philip Mayaka was voted third overall in Clemson’s SuperDraft MLS 2021. In 2019 he was named an ACC freshman and semi-finalist in the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is awarded annually to the best male and female college football players. The native Kenyan from Nairobi was an important part of the Clemson team of the ACC tournament championship 2020.
Sebastian Anderson graduated from the Rapids Academy and signed a local player contract with the Rapids in April 2019 to become the youngest member in Rapids history. At 16, Anderson was the youngest player to make his debut for the club, and he was also the youngest player to score an MLS goal for Colorado. The native Colorado American made six MLS and four USL championship appearances in his young career.
Abraham Rodriguez joins the Switchbacks after appearing in 21 USL championship games in the past two years. The local Rapids player made his Switchbacks debut against Phoenix Rising on March 30, 2019. In that game, Rodriguez scored eleven saves, including a penalty for being named USL Championship Player of the Week and becoming the second youngest player to win the award. The 18-year-old from Thornton was also recognized as one of the U20s of the USL Championship in 2019.
Matt Hundley is back for his second stint with the Switchbacks after being loaned to the club in 2019 to play 29 games and score one goal. The Littleton native spent the 2020 season on loan with Memphis 901 FC in the USL Championship, scoring two goals in 10 games. Hundley was the Rapids Academy’s 10th product to sign a local deal with the Rapids in January 2019.
Michael Edwards joined the Rapids earlier this month from Germany’s VfL Wolfsburg after Colorado received its local priority from DC United. The 20-year-old central defender played 14 games for the Wolfsburg U-19s before being promoted to Wolfsburg II in the Regionalliga Nord, Germany’s fourth division, in July 2019. Edwards played 17 games for the reserve side, all departures and trained with the Bundesliga team Wolfsburg during his time at the club.
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