Colorado Springs Switchbacks player named MVP
Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC forward, Hadji Barry, was announced today as the 2021 Most Valuable Player in the USL Championship league.
Barry has had an incredible season with the Switchbacks, resulting in being awarded the Golden Boot Award this season as well as being named to the USL Championship's All League First Team. With 25 goals to his 2021 record, he has tied the all time league record for most goals in a single season. Barry additionally notched 5 assists during the season, and averaged a goal every 115 minutes. Barry was instrumental in helping lead the Switchbacks to a playoff position and played in every game the Switchbacks had this season - coming in at 2,783 minutes.
"It really has been a great year playing for the Switchbacks and going to work every day with my teammates and coaching staff" said Barry when asked about the MVP announcement, "and I just want to thank [Coach] Brendan Burke a lot because he really has put a lot of faith and belief in me from the first day I arrived here and that really brought a different level of confidence in me with going into games and helping me perform at a high level. And a big thank you also to my teammates who go to battle every night with me and put me in great position to really succeed. I just want to take this time to really thank them all for all their contribution into the successful year that I’ve had."
President Nick Ragain spoke about how Barry's inspiring play style has drawn together a community of sports fans: "Fortune favors the bold, and bold perfectly describes Hadji's performance this year. His attacking play has drawn new fans to the sport and inspired this community."
Coach Brendan Burke also commented on how Barry's presence has changed the culture around the Switchbacks. "Hadji has very much become the face of the franchise for us which is so cool to see. Our style of play is exciting, the fans bring great energy to the stadium and Hadji, because of his diverse skill set as an attacking player, is very well suited to carry out our style of play." When asked about the legacy Hadji is creating with the Switchbacks, Coach Burke continued, "I have no doubt that Hadji will enter the all time top five in scoring and hopefully the top three. He has plenty of time to do it. He works with urgency every week, and we are significantly increasing the strength of the team around him and the staff that will work with him this off season."
