On July 31st, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks announced that they had signed Colorado Rapids Development Academy players Darren Yapi (forward) and Vladimir Walent (defender) to USL Academy contracts.
Yapi, 15, joined the DA in 2016 as a U12 player and has scored 63 goals since. He got called up to to the U17 USMNT for the UEFA Development Tournament in February 2020 and spent time with the first team in California during the 2020 preseason. Switchbacks Head Coach Alan Koch said, “Darren is an excellent young athlete that has been training with us for the last few weeks.