Sporting KC has consistently been postseason contenders with numerous winning seasons since 2011 in Major League Soccer. Sporting KC has won four US Open Cup championships and captured MLS Cup in 2000 and 2013. The team’s home games are played at Children’s Mercy Park in front of some of the loudest and most loyal fans, including the Blue Cauldron Supporters section, which makes the stadium an absolute fortress. Sporting KC’s continued success goes much further beyond the atmosphere of game day or marketing of the brand. Their continued success for the foreseeable future lies in their homegrown system.
Peter Vermes has been at the helm of the Senior team since the rebranding of the franchise in 2006. It would be absurd to not include him in the conversation of what is working at the club. The longest-tenured head coach and potentially the most successful in MLS history. Without a doubt, Vermes was instrumental in fostering the right environment for Kansas City’s first homegrown turned MLS star and USMNT player in Matt Besler. There will always be the need for players like Johnny Russell and Gerso Fernandes but KC is starting to dial in on a formula for a consistent supporting cast of homegrown players. Similar to Money Ball in baseball, it is possibly the only way for a small market team to survive in not only the MLS landscape but in competing with the United States sports landscape as a whole.
Sporting KC had a slight downturn in 2019, plagued with injuries and misfortune. One of just two times the team didn’t post a winning record after the move to Children’s Mercy Park. With aging star Graham Zusi, Matt Besler, and Roger Espinoza all 33 + years of age, the club will look towards the homegrown talent more than ever.
Sporting’s homegrown system cast one of the widest recruiting nets in the nation from top to bottom. With the senior team atop, below them you have Sporting II (formally the Swope Park Rangers) of USL Championship, followed by the Academy in Overland Park, KS. It doesn’t stop there though, stemming down from the Academy are affiliated clubs in youth soccer that span the Central Plains from Nebraska and Iowa down through Kansas and Missouri to Arkansas and Oklahoma. Exposure will only increase for these young talented hopefuls with the creation of the Sporting KC Player Development Academy focusing on U13-14 players as well as coach recommendations from affiliates to the DA academy teams.
Sporting KC has always incorporated homegrown players into the first team; however, this year’s roster is bolstered with eight between the ages of 17-22, who are expected to make an impact this season. One of those homegrown players, Midfielder, Cameron Duke is a great example of what they are doing right. A local product out of Overland Park, KS, Duke came up through the club ranks starting in U12. In addition to being a Sporting player, he has represented the USYNT throughout his youth career. Expect to see more of Duke this season as he has already contributed in four games and got his first professional start on September 2nd in a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. Other players to keep an eye out for, as they are already contributing in the 2020 season, are Gianluca Busio and Jaylin Lindsey.
Midfielder Busio, one of the youngest signings in club history at 15, has done well this season with a goal and three assists and is just now 18 years of age. Lindsey, who has been a U20 USMNT regular has one assist to his credit from his defensive position.
There is no shortage of homegrowns in the KC system, Sporting KC II is just chalked full of them. I believe they have the receipt to succeed. Not to mention the potential to re-invest in the youth as they export players to Europe like they have in the past, Erik Palmer-Brown is one that comes to mind, A Manchester City player, currently on loan in Austria. For this reason, I believe Kansas City will always be in the conversation for the MLS Cup!
