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Marco Rios is playing professional soccer for the Switchbacks at 17 years old

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Marco Rios is a midfielder for the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, he has appears in four games this year and he is only seventeen years old, which makes sense given that, for him, soccer is life,

"I was two years old, breaking doors in my house because I would just always use them as a backboard. I would just kick the ball at the at the doors and they would always just break," says Marco Rios. Rios is from Pueblo, he attended Pueblo Centennial high school for his freshman year before deciding to switch to an online school, and the become a pro, "It was just confidence. You know, I had confidence in myself. I believed in myself. My family has always been there for me. They've always been through the ups and downs and they've always just kept pushing. And that's where I find my passion to keep going,"

One minute, he's taking freshman English, the next, he's a professional soccer player. He was one of the three teenagers from Colorado who played for the Switchbacks in the U.S. Open cup. In June, in a game against Orange County, the teenager from Pueblo scored his first MLS goal, "We kind of made eye contact and I knew he was going to pass me the ball and that's where my excitement came in. And I was like, Oh, like, it's going to happen. It feels amazing. It truly makes you understand what it's like being a pro soccer player. To really experience what you see on TV is just something you just can't put words to. It's a lot of happiness," says Rios.

The goal proved to Rios that he belongs and his dreams are only getting bigger, "I truly want to do Mexican national soccer if I can. But other than like I would love to make it to the MLS," says Rios.

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Rob Namnoum

Rob is the Sports Director at KRDO-TV. He started working at KRDO in 1999. He has covered the NFL since 1998. Learn more about Rob here.

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