The impact of the continued closure of a local sports complex extends beyond the financial and legal challenges and mutli-state court battles now dominating the Future Legends site in Windsor.
Youth sports, and opportunities for youth sports, have been affected and altered by the 2 ½-month shutdown of the 118-acre space, which was billed as a premium youth sports venue when it was established four years ago by owner Jeff Katofsky.
The Future Legends website says the facility represents “the next evolution of youth sports venues, offering an experience unlike any other to athletes and their families.”
The planned dream has not become a reality to this point. Construction, which was to include dormitories, hotels and retail space, was never completed. Future Legends has been caught up in financial disputes dating to the first few months of work in 2021.
Fields have been closed since late April as part of Future Legends’ dispute with the town of Windsor. The stadium and the inflated domed indoor facility are also closed. The shutdowns forced at least two local youth sports organizations to find other facilities or to redesign its own identity.
“The only thing hurt in all of this is the kids and families of all of the sports,” Triple Threat Basketball club director Todd Matkin said.
Jeff Katofsky, founder of Future Legends, discusses ongoing construction during a February 2022 tour of the complex in Windsor. (Trevor Reid/Greeley Tribune file photo)Future Legends spokesman Jordan Freemyer said Tuesday more than 100 youth sports teams have used the facilities over the past few years. The teams have participated in multiple sports, including basketball, flag football, soccer, softball and volleyball, according to Freemyer.
The Northern Colorado Owlz, an independent league baseball team and one of three minor-league professional clubs based at the complex, resigned from the Pioneer Baseball League earlier this month. With no reasons offered for the move by either the PBL or Future Legends, the Owlz relocated to Colorado Springs to finish their season under another name.
The soccer teams, the men’s Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC and the women’s Northern Colorado Rain FC, both joined new leagues for 2025. The teams previously played in the multi-tiered United Soccer League. The Hailstorm were in the USL League One. The Rain played its first year in 2024 in the pre-professional USL W League.
The USL was reported to have removed the Hailstorm from the league, according to BizWest, an independent news outlet covering business in Northern Colorado.
Earlier this year, a Windsor-based youth soccer club rebranded for the second time in about a year after separating from Future Legends ownership. Rebranding includes switching to new uniforms and logos.
Now known as Windsor Athletic Football Club, the club describes itself as a grassroots youth soccer club dedicated to players’ development for boys and girls ages 3 to 19, according to windsorathleticfc.com.
The club started about four years ago as the Warriors Athletic Football Club. Founded by Windsor residents and friends James Walters and Ceri Jones, the Warriors club grew to 32 teams for about 500 players from ages U-8 to U-19.
Northern Colorado Hailstorm manager Eamon Zayed, right, watches his club during a 2023 match against Union Omaha at Future Legends Complex in Windsor (Jim Rydbom/Greeley Tribune file photo).In spring 2024, the Warriors were renamed and rebranded as the Northern Colorado Lightning Academy when the partnership began with Future Legends.
The Lightning name was selected to maintain the weather-themed nickname of Future Legends soccer teams. The youth Lightning Academy also adopted the colors and crest of the Hailstorm and Rain. The club was geared to players from the U-5 to U-19 age groups.
Walters was the executive director of the Lightning, and Jones was the academy president. Walters estimated the Lightning would accommodate about 750 kids on 45 teams with 65 coaches as of fall 2024.
Future Legends is holding on to the Lightning Academy name. Freemyer said Tuesday there will soon be an announcement on the future of the academy.
Walters said the new Windsor Athletic club wants to be respectful in discussing its separation from Future Legends and to avoid agitating the relationship.
“Obviously, what has happened over there has been of concern,” Walters said. “It’s inevitably resulted in some challenges for us that we didn’t anticipate. What we’re not going to do publicly in any way, shape or form is to throw fuel on the fire over there and add to the controversy. Suffice to say, we feel like we want to go in a different direction.”
Walters said one of the unanticipated challenges with the switch to Windsor Athletic FC was additional expenses for families who have to buy new uniforms. Players previously had to have new uniforms last year when the club joined with Future Legends.
Walters said new team uniforms can cost up to about $600. Windsor Athletic earlier this year was working to keep uniform costs as low as possible.
Walters added even with the challenges of another change, he didn’t regret connecting with Future Legends to form the academy.
“It was a great experience,” Walters said. “It was interesting. We learned a lot. But most importantly, we’ve identified truly who are we, why do we do this, where are we going and what are the most important features of running a soccer club.”
Future Legends’ fields were a significant benefit of working with the organization, Walters said. Field space in Northern Colorado, as with gym space, can be hard to locate and secure, both Walters and Matkin said.
Walters said the soccer club will return to working with the town of Windsor and the Weld RE-4 School District on the use of fields.
“We’ve always had a very nice relationship with them that we’re absolutely thrilled to be formalizing again,” Walters said. “We stepped away from that dynamic when we went to Future Legends because it made sense with the pitches we had there.”
Matkin said the majority of Triple Threat’s season was complete by the time the Future Legends facilities closed. Matkin said the club had to scramble to find other gym space in the Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland and Windsor areas.
“Challenging at this point in the year,” Matkin said, adding gym space in the region is at a premium.
Triple Threat started working with Future Legends about 18 months ago. The youth club rented space at the complex in the previous five months, before signing on with Future Legends. Matkin said the relationship began through Triple Threat’s strong boys and girls programs and the “recognition our program had built up from local, state and national successes.”
Triple Threat is a select and competitive basketball program for athletes from Northern Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. There are teams for players from third through 11th grades. The club’s program is designed for athletes who want to play beyond high school and who are interested in exposure while growing as players.
“In the grand scheme of things, Northern Colorado has needed something like this for years,” Matkin said of Future Legends. “I grew up in Northern Colorado, and I would’ve loved to have had this facility.”
The Future Legends Complex remains closed as of earlier this month based on a ruling by a Weld County District Court judge. The facility, though, is not closed permanently and its future remains in doubt as Katofsky works through the legal challenges.
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