Jonathan Kempin - Player of the Week

Jonathan Kempin was honored by U.S. Soccer Federation's Development Academy for the week Nov. 23 as player of the week.

Kempin’s shut out victory over Texas Rush AJ Auxerre and a 1-1 draw with Texas SC DTH helped the Kansas City Wizards secure four points from their opening weekend of play. The goalkeeper had standout performances in both matches, including a key save on a penalty kick against Texas Rush AJ Auxerre. Kempin will feature on an Academy Select team at the upcoming Winter Showcase and the the Kansas City Wizards at their first Showcase event.

Kempin is a 6'2'' Junior at Blue Valley North High School. He resides in Lenexa KS and has been part of the Juniors programs since 2008; before joining the KCW Juniors he spent a year in Bradenton, FL with the USSF U17 Residential Program and played for KCFC.

Cold in KC

When the temperatures start to drop in Kansas City our Juniors are forced to find other alternatives rather than training outside. For example, today is a high of 19 degrees which means the boys can't be outside or they may turn into icesicles. So we wanted to give you a little glimpse at what they do to stay in shape when the temperature drop below freezing. The boys use a newer training system called TRX which is Suspension Training at its finest as well as fancy treadmills from Woodway.

The teams also participate in workouts like this after a hard weekend of games in the form of "regeneration" which is more stretching and losening up the muscles. In turn, if they did not have a match over the weekend, Monday would be fully dedicated to fitness.

Kansas All-State Honors

Kansas Soccer Coaches Association
Class 6A All-State
1st Team 2009

Forwards(7)
Ben Coyle Sr. OlatheEast (U18 Wizards)
Jordan Rideout Jr. BlueValley North (U16 Wizards)

Midfielders(6)
Nick Golden Sr. WashburnRural (U18 Wizards)
Konnor Knoll Jr. WichitaSoutheast (U16 Wizards)
Jordan Saybounkham Sr. WichitaSoutheast (U18 Wizards)

Kansas Soccer Coaches Association
Class 6A All-State
Honorable Mention 2009

Forwards(11)
Brad Barclay Sr. OlatheSouth (U18 Wizards)
Garret Pulliam So. BlueValley West (U16 Wizards)
Lucas Throckmorton Jr. ShawneeMission East (U16 Wizards)
Alex Pilsl Sr. OlatheSouth (U18 Wizards)

Kansas Soccer Coaches Association
Class 5A All-State
1st Team 2009

Midfielders(9)
Jordan Zarse Sr. SaintThomas Aquinas (U18 Wizards)
Defenders(8)
Sean Latz Sr. SaintThomas Aquinas (U18 Wizards)
Goalkeepers(2)
Colby Martin Sr. SaintThomas Aquinas (U18 Wizards)

Kansas Soccer Coaches Association
Class 5A All-State
Honorable Mention 2009

Forwards/Midfielders(16)
Emilio Quezada Jr. SaintThomas Aquinas (U16 Wizards)

U16's fight hard against Real So Cal

Our U16's had a hard fought match yesterday. They played Real So Cal from the San Fernado Valley in Cali. The first half was very even, a lot of back and forth but no real chances by either team. The Juniors possessed the ball better in the second half but it wasn't enough as they made a mistake in their offensive third. Real So Cal capitalized quick and made an offensive transition that resulted in a goal in the 68th minute. The score remained 0-1 throughout the 80 minutes and the U16's came away with a record of 2-1-0 in the Winter Showcase.

Check out Chris Brown's goal; it made the Day 3 Highlights.

U18's stay Consistent

The U18's played their final game on Monday at 1:15pm against Crossfire Premier out of Redmond, Washington, which is just East of Seattle.. At kick off there was torrential rains and this continued throughout the whole match. Note: It has not rained in Phoenix in over four months. At half time the score was still 0-0 and this was proving to be a very even match up. About 10 minutes into the second half Crossfire got on the board first with a near post volley. We battled back and in the 89th min. Tony Young got on the end of a cross from Brandon Fricke to tie the match at 1-1, which was the final. So at least our U18's were consistent...they tied every match at the Winter Showcase.

Jonathan Kempin makes Academy Select Team

As you know the Juniors are in Phoenix right now at the Third annual Winter Showcase and our U16's Gk made the "Academy Select Team". In addition to the four national teams, eight Development Academy Select Teams will be featured throughout the weekend. Four teams comprised of players born in 1993, three with players born in 1994 and one made up of players born in 1991 and 1992 will play together across the weekend. Development Academy Select Teams are comprised of 130 total players who were chosen by youth national team coaches and U.S. Soccer’s youth national team scouting network. They will have a unique opportunity to play alongside some of the top players in their age group while competing against either an Academy club team or another Select Team. To see a list of all those you made the Select Teams, click here.

Juniors continue to find Success

Yesterday both teams played Rickmond Kickers in Day 3 of the Winter Showcase. The U16's opened up the scoring in the 31st minute with a header from Eric Moore. Moore received a great cross from Lucas Throckmorton and was able to finish it in good form. In the 44th minute we drew a free kick that was taken by Eric DeJulio. Chris Brown was able to get on the end of it and helped secure a 2-0 victory.

The U18's once again tied, but the game was not without scoring, excitement, and struggles along the way. They kicked off with a depleted squad as four of the players fell victim to potential food poisoning and a few others out with injuries. The juniors went up 2-0 with the first goal By Brandon Fricke from about 18yds out. The second goal was a PK taken by Will Witherspoon. The Richmond Kickers then came back with two goals, one of which was an unbelievable chip over our keeper and the other was a free kick. With about 10 minutes remaining Richmond scored again with a bullet to put them in the lead. In the 90th minute Witherspoon was able to find the net again to tie the match 3-3.

On another note USA tied Brazil 1-1.

Juniors off to a solid start at Showcase

U16's Eric Moore (left of our GK) scored in the 79th Minute


Our Juniors were both in action today in sunny but chilly Phoenix, AZ at the Development Academy Winter Showcase. They both faced teams from Seaside United from Hampton NH. The U16's kicked off at 10am and completely dominated the match. Seaside's GK was unbelievable and defiantly kept them in the match. In the 60th minute Eric Moore subed in at left midfielder and scored the lone goal in the 79th minute. He received a cross inside the 18 from our right defender, Konnor Knoll, and then took a touch inside to finish from 12 yards out. So the final was 1-0 and tomorrow is all about stretching/resting and free time to work on homework.

The U18's kicked off directly after at 12pm and ended up playing 90mins to a 0-0 draw. The Wizards dominated most of this game as well, but were unable to find the net. Again our coaches were very complimentary to Seaside's U18 GK for his strong play today. Our leading scorer, Mhango Mbulunji, and another impact player, Tony Young, were both subed out with injuries at halftime. Hopefully they will have time to rest and be ready to play on Sunday.

Both team will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 6th against Richmond Kickers. In the meantime the boys will enjoy a great game tomorrow night (Saturday) which will feature the U17 US National Team vs U17 Brazil National Team.