by Alan Hoskins
A tailgate party Wednesday will kick off the opening week of home athletic events at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
The tailgate party will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the pavilion adjacent to the south end of the KCKCC Field House and will be followed by KCKCC’s volleyball home opener against Hesston at 6:30 p.m. On Thursday, the Blue Devil soccer teams will be opening their home season, against Coffeyville at 5 p.m. (women) and 7 p.m. (men).
Ranked No. 12 in the first NJCCC Division II poll of the season, the Lady Blue Devil volleyball team will be seeking its sixth win in a row after dropping its season opener to No. 1 Parkland.
Free food, games and music will highlight Wednesday’s tailgate party which will also offer a chance for signup with the Blue Crew, a student body organization supporting all Blue Devil athletic teams.
“We’re inviting everyone to stay for the volleyball game,” said Andrica Wilcoxen, event organizer, who said several giveaways will be held during the volleyball game.
The Blue Crew will also be hosting KCKCC’s first Alumni Weekend Oct. 17-20, which will feature home soccer, softball and baseball.
Kansas City Kansas Community College will begin its third season of women’s soccer with its highest hopes yet.
“I’m excited. I’m really looking forward to this year,” said Alex Mendez, who is in his first year as assistant coach under third year head mentor Ruben Rodriguez. “I know this is going to be a better team than last year.”
The Lady Blue Devils will play host to Coffeyville in the home opener at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4. Coffeyville and the KCKCC men will follow at 7 p.m.
With six returning sophomores, the Lady Blue Devils will have more experience than the first two seasons. Four of the returnees are defenders, Zayra Gonzalez of Lincoln Prep, Torrie Wright of Killeen, Texas, Sonia Reyes of Harmon and Dania Gomez of Wyandotte. They’ll be joined by promising freshmen Chase Holle of Topeka West and Wendy Galvan of Schlagle.
Shayna Thomas of Shawnee Mission North and Krystal Uribe of Wyandotte return as defensive midfielders where they’ll be joined by freshman Emily Soetaert of Tonganoxie. Another Tonganoxie freshman, Madison Simmons, will occupy the attacking midfield position while the right and left midfield spots will be contested by three Kansas City, Mo., frosh, Karla Montes of Alta Vista, Cynthia Conchas of Lincoln Prep and Marissa Alaniz of Cristo Rey.
Friday Landford of Harmon has won the starting forward position while Kennedy Bizzell of Bonner Springs will be in goal, a position Blue Devil coaches believe will be much improved in 2014.
Mendez has been most pleased by the progress of his squad thus far.
“We’re really bonding together and playing as a team. Everyone gets along with each other and that’s important. The things we need to improve on are moving the ball better and playing quicker.”
The Lady Blue Devils have five home contests, all against Jayhawk Conference foes. Following Coffeyville Sept. 4, KCKCC will play host to Neosho County Sept. 23, Cowley Sept. 30, Butler County Oct. 10 and Pratt Oct. 17.
A graduate of Bishop Ward High School, Mendez played soccer at Park University and club soccer in Mexico. He has 15 years of coaching experience at the high school level at Shawnee Mission North and at the club level with the Kansas City Fusion.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s 24-man soccer team, the biggest in college history, will kick off the 2014 season Thursday, Sept. 4, with the Lady Blue Devils playing host to Coffeyville at 5 p.m. with the men following at 7 p.m. (KCKCC photo) by Alan Hoskins
Kansas City Kansas Community College will kick off the 2014 soccer season Thursday short on experience but long on numbers, versatility and optimism.
“We may be young on paper but I think we will be a team that will play at a higher level than our age may suggest,” said first-year assistant coach Burke Slusher.
Without a returning letterman, third-year head coach Ruben Rodriguez and Slusher will rebuild the Blue Devil men’s fortunes around the biggest recruiting class ever – 22 freshmen and two sophomores.
“As a whole, this is a pretty skillful group that can make up for a lack of experience by taking care of the ball,” Slusher said. “We’re solid at midfield and fast and with age comes additional speed and strength. We hope to make teams chase us.”
While in his first year at KCKCC, Slusher is certainly not without teaching experience. An assistant at William Jewell last year, he’s also coached the Kansas City Brass in the Premier Development League for the past 12 years.
Jayhawk Conference rival Coffeyville will be the foe in the 2014 home opening Thursday, Sept. 4. The women’s opener will kick off at 5 p.m. with the men to follow at 7 p.m. in just the second year of play on KCKCC’s new soccer field.
With a wealth of candidates, there’s competition at every starting position beginning with goal keeper where Javier DeLara of Harmon and Sean McCulloch of Park Hill South are waging a fierce battle for the opener..
Defensively, the Blue Devils are expected to build around freshmen Kelvin Ibarra of Cristo Rey, Great Ubochi of Ocoee, Fla., and Colin Dujakovich of Shawnee Mission North with Dylan Stroud of Shawnee Mission North, Lucas Franco of Bishop Miege and Jorge Ambriz of Dodge City all in the mix for starting positions. Other hopefuls include Nicholas Marquez of Bishop Miege, Joseph Gomez of Washington and Robert Glenn III of Bonner Springs.
Marcos Alejandro of Turner heads a deep midfield corps that also includes Isaias DeLaTorre and Juan Negrete of Dodge City, Chue Yang of Turner, Rony Naz Tum of Guymon, Okla.; and two players from England, Harry Williams of Derbyshire and Jahren Barrow of Nottingham. Other possibilities include Robert Gurrola of Schlagle, Quinton Schneck of Bonner Springs, Gustavo Siguad of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Carlos Wilches of Baristan, Venezuela.
“We’re strong at midfield where we hopefully can control the game,” Slusher noted.
Isai Gutierrez of Liberal and Mario Lopez of Dodge City are the forwards and could be used in tandem although some midfielders will be used as attackers.
“We could play from one to three forwards depending on the competition we’re playing,” Slusher said. “We’re lucky we have a very versatile group that can adjust to the competition we’re up against.”
Just five of KCKCC’s 11 contests are at home not counting playing in the Thunder Duck Tournament in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 3-4. In addition to Coffeyville Sept, 4, the Blue Devils will play host to Wentworth Military Academy Oct. 16, Neosho County Sept. 23, Cowley Sept. 30 and Pratt Oct. 17. All are evening contests.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at KCKCC.
