The saying “there’s no place like home” may be a cliché for some, but Dillon Clarke isn’t “some.”

Clarke, a young soccer player who laced up his cleats for Rampart High School and most recently the Colorado Springs Switchbacks as a USL Championship Academy signee, will play for Division-II University of Colorado at Colorado Springs despite having had conversations with Division-I programs such as Penn State and Villanova. He’s doing it in part because he loves “The 719.”

“I feel like a big part of this decision was playing for Colorado Springs. I love this city and I feel like playing here and playing at the local school just means a lot more,” he said.

He also has a second family he longs to continue training with when the Mountain Lions are in the offseason.

Clarke donned the Switchbacks’ white and silver for the final time at last week’s home game against Phoenix Rising FC. Sporting Director Stephen Hogan presented Clarke and his family with a framed jersey signed by teammates.

Sixteen months ago, when he was head coach of the club, Hogan signed Clarke to an Academy contract, which allowed the young defender to compete and train with Colorado Springs without forgoing NCAA eligibility. He played a full 120 minutes in Colorado Springs’ Lamar Hunt Open Cup match last year and was a late substitution in a win over Las Vegas as well.

“I was honestly just super happy, super thankful. It’s what I work for everyday,” Clarke said of his professional debut against Las Vegas. “So getting that moment, getting that shot, even just getting on the field meant a lot and it just drove me more to try and get on the field more. That didn’t happen, unfortunately, but I definitely feel like it pushed me to another level.”

A teenager who just graduated from Rampart earlier this year, Clarke of course didn’t log a ton of minutes for the professional soccer team downtown. But the impact he’s had on the Switchbacks and their plans for future academy signees has been massive.

“We now have a profile of what we want in the building, not soccer-wise, but the person and the energy and the enthusiasm, the banter with the lads, the freedom to be yourself and that’s Dillon Clarke,” Hogan said. “When I hugged him before the game the other night, I said, ‘this is your home forever.’ And he will be forever welcome in this building and in a few years? We don’t know.”

When he first started with Colorado Springs, he noted how seriously the athletes took the game as it’s how they make money and provide for themselves and their families. The players supported Clarke all the way, helping him during a difficult week of training or teaching him how to be mature and take care of his body.

He became close with many teammates but none more so that veteran midfielder Steven Echevarria, who has been with the Switchbacks since the 2021 season.

“Stevie was like my brother, man. When I’d have bad days, when I’d have good days, Stevie was always there,” Clarke said. “We would talk about everything. I could sit down and talk to Stevie for hours. I remember I wanted to work on getting more technical so I went out to grab a bite of food with Stevie and hang out and we talked for like three hours just about he upcoming season. … He’s a homie for sure.”

While the the knowledge and growth he has received training with the Switchbacks is invaluable, Clarke needs playing time to hone his game. College is an opportunity to get those needed minutes and finish his education.

But make no mistake, Clarke’s goal is to play soccer professionally, in Colorado Springs or elsewhere. He believes the physical nature of UCCS’ Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will give him the minutes and experience he needs to return to pro soccer.

“I feel like the game time will help a lot if I perform well and do what I’m supposed to and do my job,” he said. “I also feel like the RMAC is a very physical conference. A lot of big players and just strong guys in that conference. It’s kind of like the pro environment, it’s a lot of physicality just a super physical environment. And that’s what the coaches always talk about when I talked to (technical director) Alan (McCann) or someone is like becoming more physical, becoming bigger, stronger. So I feel like playing a whole season against guys like this, older guys and dealing with that is definitely going to for sure help me.”