Bend it Like Boulder: World's First Carbon Neutral Soccer Team Kicks Global Warming

Boulder, <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Colorado – Soccer’s got a whole new cool in Colorado where the header-happy Boulder Rapids Reserve (BRR) scores a first goal in its summer 2007 season: Kicking global warming.  BRR recently declared itself the first carbon-neutral soccer team in the world with an assist from local corporate sponsor Ben Bressler, founder and director of Natural Habitat Adventures.  Fresh from taking his ecotour company carbon neutral, Bressler opted to give BRR a green edge over the competition, including a season-opener carbon neutral tailgate party (can you say solar stoves and tofu burgers?) and incentives for fans who bus it or pedal to the game – no stretch in eco-friendly Boulder – as well as the requisite carbon offsets.  But BRR soccer is more than mere wind: The newly green gladiators draft elite college players as part of United Soccer Leagues’ Premier Development League where the seven-year-old club finished its 2006 season (14-2) as champs of the highly competitive Heartland Division; former star forward John Cunliffe was drafted 7th overall by L.A.’s Chivas USA in January’s MLS SuperDraft, and former forward Robbie Findley turned Beckham teammate with an LA Galaxy draft. Talk about renewable energy.  For information on Boulder Rapids Reserve’s May – July 2007 schedule, visit www.RapidsReserve.com.