It's official, history has been made, in the Rapids version of history anyway. Davy Armstrong is the first ever youth player to graduate from the Rapids Academy to the first team. Congratulations, Davy!
Davy played his high school ball with Rangeview, winning Colorado Player of the Year in 2008 as well as leading the minor league Colorado Fusion to a title. The man - a central midfielder - knows how to score and plays good all over the field.
The Rapids academy has been running for three years now, their star student Davy joined the force in late 2007, playing for the U-17 and U-18 Rapids teams while getting slapped with the MLS-recognized title of 'homegrown', keeping him away from the MLS Superdraft and keeping him inside the Rapids organization until the day he graduated - that day being today!
Here's a quote from Gary Smith, sounds like this kid is not only legit but is going to work out great in the Rapids system;
"At 18-years of age, Davy has already proved after training with our first team for a number of weeks this summer that he not only has the physical qualities that will certainly lend itself to progression and development in MLS, but technically he is also very proficient. More importantly, for a young player he has an outstanding attitude and mental focus to get the job done. I believe now that we have Davy in this environment full-time, we will see a much more polished and professional player ready for the first team."
Get him out there, Gary. We need that talent and how!