Category: Sporting KC

Sporting KC will hold the team’s 2015 open tryouts on June 13-14 at Swope Soccer Village, 6310 Lewis Road, in Kansas City, Mo.

According to the club, online registration is now open and will be available to the first 200 players who are 18 years or older.

The club first organized open tryouts in the buildup to the team’s inaugural season in 1996. More recently, Sporting KC has welcomed prospective professionals each year since 2008 when two players, Nelson Pizarro and Kevin Souter, were signed by manager Peter Vermes and went on to appear in 14 matches across all competitions.

Participants must pay all expenses including registration fee and travel costs, but discounted hotel rooms are available for out-of-town players.

For more information, visit the 2015 Open Tryouts webpage on SportingKC.com.

Sporting KC also is offering youth camps this year, and registration is now open.

Sporting KC is offering a series of youth camps for the next generation of soccer players in the region.

Camp registration is now open at SportingKC.com/camps, including the upcoming Speed and Agility Camp every Wednesday from April 1 to May 6 (six weeks) at Swope Soccer Village.

For more information on the youth camps available to boys and girls, visit SportingKC.com.
– Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City announced on Tuesday that the club has agreed to lend midfielder Mikey Lopez to the team’s USL affiliate OKC Energy FC.

Lopez returns on loan to the USL, where he recorded one goal and one assist in 14 appearances split between Orlando City SC (nine games) and OKC Energy FC (five games) a year ago.

The 22-year-old midfielder also logged eight MLS appearances for Sporting Kansas City in 2014 during a breakout second professional season.

Lopez was the ACC Freshman of the Year in his first of two seasons at the University of North Carolina before being selected in the first round of the 2013 MLS SuperDraft as a Generation adidas signing. He represented the United States at the 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey and made his professional debut during the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

OKC Energy FC serves as Sporting Kansas City’s exclusive USL affiliate in 2015 as part of a multi-year agreement announced in January. The club – coached by former Sporting KC captain and MLS champion Jimmy Nielsen — was named USL’s Rookie Franchise of the Year in 2014.

OKC Energy FC will move into a brand new training facility and recently renovated home stadium this season with a roster that also features three former Sporting KC players, Cyprian Hedrick, Michael Thomas and Christian Duke.

OKC Energy FC kicks off its 2015 schedule on Saturday with an in-state match-up against Tulsa Roughnecks FC, one of 12 new expansion sides in the 24-team USL.
– Story from Sporting KC

Sporting Kansas City defender Erik Palmer-Brown was named to the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team for a training camp from March 23 to 30 in England, U.S. Soccer announced.

Head coach Tab Ramos selected 20 players for the team’s first foreign training camp of the year, which will include a scrimmage against Tottenham Hotspur’s Under-21 team on March 27 in London followed by a match against England’s Under-21 Men’s National Team on March 29 at Home Park in Plymouth.

The squad will then reconvene from April 18 to 26 in Austria for games against Qatar’s and Croatia’s U-20 sides in preparation for this summer’s 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Palmer-Brown has appeared in seven matches for Sporting Kansas City across all competition, including the team’s 2015 season opener earlier this month. A Lee’s Summit, Mo., native, Palmer-Brown is a product of the Sporting Kansas City Academy and became the club’s third homegrown player, signing in August 2013.

The 17-year-old most recently represented the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team in September 2014 during a training camp in Argentina. The trip was his second full camp at the age level after appearing in four victories for the U-20’s en route to reaching the Dallas Cup final in April 2014.

Palmer-Brown attended the U.S. Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla., and was named one of five finalists for U.S. Soccer’s 2013 Young Male Athlete of the Year. Last year, The Guardian chose Palmer-Brown as one of the world’s top 40 players at his age in the publication’s “Next Generation 2014” list released in October.

– Story from Sporting KC