Photo Slideshow: U13 Juniors

The Sporting Kansas City Under-13 Juniors reached the championship match of the 2011 Midwest Kickoff Classic on Sunday at the Overland Park Soccer Complex, finishing runners-up in the local tourney. Check out the photo slideshow below for images of the club's youngest academy team in action:

Photos provided by Peter Wilkinson

Midwest Kickoff Classic Results

The Sporting Kansas City Under-13 and Under-14 Juniors each reached the championship match of their respective groups at the 2011 Midwest Kickoff Classic on Sunday at the Overland Park Soccer Complex. With both teams competing at the highest level available at the tournament -- Boys U14/15 Gold -- the Under-14 Juniors went unbeaten (outscoring their opponents 13-0 in the team's three group stage games) en route to a 2-1 win in the final over Sporting BVSC 97/98.

The Under-13 Juniors earned a 4-0 win over MYSA KC Fusion Fury Academy 98/99 and 3-1 victory against Sporting BVSC 98/99 before falling 4-2 in the final in their second loss of the tournament to Nebraska's Columbus 97/98 Chaos. Check out the video compilation below to see the U13's goal scorers on the weekend:

U13s & U14s at Midwest Kickoff Classic

The Sporting Kansas City Under-13 and Under-14 Juniors will compete at the Midwest Kickoff Classic  this weekend at the Overland Park Soccer Complex. Both teams will compete in the Under-14/Under-15 Gold Boys age division, the highest level offered at the tournament. Their schedules are as follows (subject to change):

Under-13 Sporting KC Juniors

• vs. MYSA KC Fusion Fury Academy at 8:45pm tonight on Field 7
• vs. Sporting BVSC 98/99 at 6:45pm on Saturday on Field 6
• vs. Columbus 97/98 Chaos at 10:00am on Sunday on Field 6
• Click here for Results and Standings 

Under-14 Sporting KC Juniors

• vs. KC United Galaxy at 8:45pm tonight on Field 3
• vs. Sporting BVSC 97/98 at 5:30pm on Saturday on Field 2
• vs. Cholita Strikers 98 at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday on Field 4
• Click here for Results and Standings

Good luck Juniors!

Seo-In Kim at FC Barcelona Camp

Sporting KC academy player Seo-In Kim recently returned from an elite training camp at FC Barcelona in Spain. See a few pics from his time at the famed Nou Camp training ground below and read the report on SportingMembership.com for more details.

Click here to read what Kim had to say about the experience...

Piatczyc & Stewart see reserve action; U14s take Denver Cup

Through five matches of the 2011 MLS Reserve League, a total of seven members of the Sporting KC Juniors program had seen playing time. Today, in the sixth match of the league schedule against the Colorado Rapids, two more got their chance.

Joey Piatczyc and Clay Stewart entered in the 83rd and 89th minutes respectively in Sporting Kansas City's 1-0 win over Colorado this morning.

Piatczyc (born in 1996) is the youngest player to feature for the reserves this season, most recently completing the season with Sporting's U15 side. Piatczyc's selection comes after impressing with the group that Jon Parry brought to the U17 Generation adidas Cup.
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In other Juniors news, Dustin Ottesen's U14 side were named champions of the 2011 Denver Cup this past weekend. The 14s topped bracket A, scoring 12 goals in four matches, finishing ahead of the likes of Real Colorado and Colorado Rush en route to their first title of the new season.

Juniors at U14 National Team ID Camp

Congratulations to Sporting Kansas City Juniors Seth Hudson and John Leisman who were invited to the United States Under-14 Boys National Team Identification Camp, which began yesterday at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Seth and John are among 80 players selected by head coach Manny Schellscheidt and the week-long camp brings together the nations top players with 1998/1999 birthdates to train twice a day in an elite environment. The Under-14 Boys National Team is the youngest national team in the U.S. Youth National Team system and is the first step in identifying and developing players for the future.

For the full list of players and more information on the ID Camp, click here for the official announcement by U.S. Soccer.

Photos from victory over Chicago

One last photo slideshow from the U17 Generation adidas Cup in Frisco, Texas as the Sporting Kansas City Juniors closed out the tournament with a 3-0 win over the Chicago Fire. The photos have been provided all tournament by the FC Dallas communications department and photographer Rick Yeatts -- thanks guys!