My Personal Journey: Kortne Ford
I, Kortne Ford, am extremely blessed and grateful for the opportunity to play both Division 1 and Professional soccer along my journey. Believe it or not, I was not always the best player on my youth teams growing up. In fact, I can remember at least 2-3 players that were better than me on EVERY single team I played for. So why did I make it...? My ego would tell you it was my own personal hard work and resilience... which is true, but not the full truth. The full truth, is that I was fortunate enough to have a mother that educated me on the proper steps that needed to be taken. More importantly, she helped me understand the timeline of when to take the next steps in this long and tedious process of chasing a full college scholarship; a dream that I set out for myself at an extremely young age.
Fact of the matter is, I watched extremely talented individuals miss the opportunity to play soccer in college strictly because their parents, and even coaches didn't understand the process. In many cases, High School and Club coaches aren't always educated on the necessary steps to earn a college scholarship either. The most common mistake made, is simply waiting too long to start this process. Most scholarships are completely gone by the athletes Junior year of High School. This process MUST begin prior to your Sophomore year in Highschool. Please take the time to read my personal story below, and I hope you can begin to picture what this process may look for your child.
My Process: Club to Pro
1996 - 2008 (Olathe, KS)
I was born and raised in Olathe, Kansas. As a young curious child, I wanted to be involved in every single sport possible. Fortunately, for most of my childhood, I was given the opportunity to play Soccer, Basketball, Football, Baseball, and Hockey. As I grew older, my mom continued to tell me how important it was to choose one or two sports to commit to. Shortly thereafter, I knew I wanted to commit to soccer. I started off playing for a local Club Soccer team called the "KC Rockets" coached by the infamous Augustine Ramiez. Next, I made the jump to the Kansas City Legends coached by Scott Vermillion. In 2008 (age 12), my mom and I moved to Colorado due to family issues. Just prior to our move to Colorado I had made the Kansas City Wizards academy team. For the soccer gurus out there, you would know that the KC Wizards were the MLS team name prior to the rebuild in 2012 renaming the team now known as Sporting KC.
2008 - 2011 (Move to Greeley, CO)
In 2009, shortly after moving to Colorado, my mom was initially diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer. At just 13 years old, she sat me down and explained the fact that we weren't going to be able to afford club soccer due to the cost of cancer treatment. At this time, she did all she could to scrape up enough money just to give me the opportunity to join a local recreational team, known as the "Greeley Bootleggers" at the time. This is where my real journey with soccer began.
Joining the Greeley Bootleggers was a real shot at my ego. I went from playing for one of the best Academy Level soccer teams in Kansas to one of the "lowest level" soccer teams in Colorado, but we had no other choice. The club director at the time, Lance Williams, fortunately helped me get a tryout with Colorado's ODP (Olympic Development Program) team. I went on to make the team. From that point forward, I had to work my way up the totem pole. I went from the Greeley Bootleggers to the ODP team, to joining Storm North, then progressing to Storm South, then progressing to Storm South WCDA, and finally the Colorado Rapids Academy.
2011 - 2013 (Highschool Days)
In 2012, I began playing with the Colorado Rapids Reserve team. This was a league where all of the pros who didn't play in the MLS game at the weekend would then play a game the following day. This gave me the chance to start playing against professional athletes at just 16 years old and boy oh boy... my ego was bigger than ever.
Up to this point in my soccer journey, it was fun, but nothing mattered... I hadn't earned anything yet. No contract and no college Scholarship. Up to this point, I was in the same exact boat as every other 15/16 year old soccer player in the country. This is when the real work started. Understanding when I could reach out to college coaches vs. when they could respond to me vs. when they could call me vs. when they could email me... etc. was all very confusing. Lots of time and research when into finding the perfect timing for all of these scenarios to give myself the best chance at earning a full ride scholarship.
2013-2014 (College Commitment)
My college search was extremely fun. I wrote down the names of every single college (DI, DII, and DIII) that were interested in me on a big white board and ultimately I got to make the decision. By the end of the process I was choosing between Stanford, Princeton, Santa Clara, Duke and Clemson. After going on my official visits, and being just days away from making my verbal commitment, the Colorado Rapids asked me if I wanted to skip College and sign a Homegrown Contract. With my mom being a high school teacher and placing a huge importance on getting my education, we made the decision that it was best for me to at least go to college for a year or two with plans to leave early after completing at least some of a degree.
After politely declining the professional contract I was advised to "Stay Close" by the Colorado Rapids. In all honesty, I had no idea what that meant. There was only one DI soccer program in the State of Colorado (University of Denver) and, my goodness, why would I go there when these other top 5 schools were on my list...? Well... long story short, head coach Jamie Franks got me on campus and just two days later I had made a verbal commitment to the University of Denver on a full scholarship.
2014-2016 (University of Denver)
There were a multitude of reasons for choosing the University of Denver. It was simply the obvious choice when taking all the variables into account for my PERSONAL situation. I put the word "personal" in all caps because every single athlete's choice will vary depending on the athlete's situation at hand. What is best for the athlete and his/her family...? That choice is different for every single family. No one's journey to earning a college scholarship is the same. I went on to play 2.5 seasons for the University of Denver and helped take the team to its first ever College Cup in 2016.
2016 - 2021
Shortly after we lost to Wake Forest in the College Cup, I signed my first professional Contract at the beginning of 2017 with the Colorado Rapids. More importantly, I went on and completed my degree during my rookie season with the Rapids. I played 5 years for the Colorado Rapids prior to returning home and signing a new contract with Sporting KC in 2021. Since then, I have gotten the chance to play with and against some of the idols I looked up to growing up while following my dreams.
2021 - 2024 (Sporting KC era)
I am proud to say that I was able to achieve my life long dreams of playing professionally for my hometown. Looking back, it was such a long difficult process. I did not achieve any of this due to luck, skill, athleticism, or talent. In reality, I was never the best player in the world, but I prided myself on the ability to be one of the hardest workers throughout the entirety of the process. Hard work and dedication paid dividends.
My goal is to learn YOUR family's aspirations and to help educate the athlete on what is necessary to achieve those dreams.
One last thing... I made my verbal commitment to University of Denver when I was 16 years old and at the very start of my Junior year of high school... and it was the LAST scholarship DU had to offer. It's NEVER too early to begin the process of chasing a collegiate scholarship. Why not start now... Lets do it together!!