Photos: U18s vs FC Dallas

Check out the photo slideshow below from the Sporting Kansas City U18 Juniors match on Friday against FC Dallas in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Some great shots!

Photos courtesy of Lightner family

U16s draw vs FC Dallas

The Sporting Kansas City Juniors opened the spring season of the 2011-2012 U.S. Soccer Development Academy on Friday night at the Sporting Club Training Center in Swope Park. The U18's kicked off the doubleheader against FC Dallas, dropping a 3-0 result versus the Texas Division leaders. Sporting KC fell behind early after conceding a penalty kick and FC Dallas scored twice more in the first half for their 16th win in 19 USSDA matches.

The U16's fared better, sending the visitors home with a 2-2 draw. Jon Parry's squad led twice in the opening 45 minutes on goals from Rockhurst High School classmates. Luke Stanley opened the scoring on a penalty kick and Cole Stevenson put the Juniors back ahead 2-1 with his strike, but an FC Dallas penalty kick in the second half drew the teams level.

Sporting KC will continue the USSDA season at home next weekend when both teams face St. Louis Scott Gallagher Metro on Saturday. Mark your calendars, U18s kick off at 11:30am followed by U16s at 2:00pm!

Development Academy resumes

After playing their first six games in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy's 2011-2012 season in November/December, the Sporting Kansas City U16 and U18 teams will resume play in the USSDA tonight at home against fellow MLS foe FC Dallas!

The Under-18 Juniors, led by Paul Rideout, enter the match with a 4-2-0 record but they will be facing an FC Dallas squad that has already played 18 games this season with only one loss. Their match kicks off at 4:30pm at the Sporting Club Training Center in Swope Park.

The Under-16 Juniors, led by Jon Parry, will play after the U18's at Swope with kick off scheduled for 7pm. With a .500 record (2-2-2) through their first six games, the U16's will be out to start 2012 on a winning note against FC Dallas (7-4-7).

Both matches are free and open to the public. Come show your support for Sporting KC and catch a doubleheader of Development Academy action tonight between two Major League Soccer teams.

Piatczyc Selected for Showcase

Sporting Kansas City Junior Joey Piatczyc was selected as one of 78 developmental players to compete in the 2011 Winter Showcase's Academy Select Teams in Sarasota, Fla. The 78 players will be divided into four select teams by U.S. Soccer technical staff. The showcase will consist of two games for each team to be played at the Premier Sports Complex on December 3, 2011.

Earlier this year, Piatczyc made his debut for Sporting Kansas City in a Reserve League victory over Colorado Rapids. Piatczyc,who was born in 1996, is the youngest player to enter a Reserve match for Sporting Kansas City this season.

U16's and U18's USSDA Home Opener

Sporting Kansas City Juniors under-18s and under-16s competed in their home openers earlier this month against the Dallas Texans. The matches took place at Swope Park Training Center on Friday, Nov. 18.

The first game of the double header began at 4:30 p.m. and featured Sporting Kansas City U-18s versus a Texans side that had 1-3-4 record leading up to the match. The Texans came away with a road win, the victory marking their second of the season. The lone goal of the match belonged to Caleb Richardson in the 42nd minute.

Head Coach of Sporting Kansas City U-18s, Paul Rideout, said, “ I was delighted with the way we possessed the ball from back to front, but disappointed we did not turn it into goals”.

The U-16s kicked off at 7 p.m. against an undefeated Texans team. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Sporting Kansas City’s Debray Holliman notched the first goal of the game right before half time. The Texan’s Brandon Aubrey found the equalizer at the 60th minute mark.

The two academy teams will resume play this weekend as Sporting Kansas City head to Sarasota, Florida to face D.C. United, Baltimore Bays and Oakwood Soccer Club at the 2011 Winter Showcase at the Premier Sports Campus.

2011-12 USSDA schedules announced

Regular season schedules for the 2011-2012 U.S. Soccer Development Academy have been announced. Both our U16s and U18s SKC Juniors will again be members of the Central Conference of the Frontier Division, in a regular season spanning from November 2011 to June 2012. Both SKC Juniors teams will play 18 games in league play; 10 at home and 8 away.

For detailed schedules click on:
U16s
U18s

U16s and U18s at Swope this weekend

The Sporting KC U16 and U18 Juniors will continue their busy schedules with their third and fourth matches of the USSF Development Academy season this weekend.

All games will be played at Swope Park Training Center. Each squad will face Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre on Saturday and Real Colorado on Sunday. The schedule is listed below:

• Saturday, April 9th:
• U18s vs. Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre at 11:30 a.m. CT
• U16s vs. Colorado Rush AJ Auxerre at 2:00 p.m. CT
• Sunday, April 10th
• U18s vs. Real Colorado at 10:30 a.m. CT
• U16s vs. Real Colorado at 1:00 p.m. CT

With the varsity club on bye this week, now's the perfect time to check out the SKC Juniors.

Winter Showcase Wrap-Up

The U16 and U18 Juniors were bested by the New England Revolution academy teams on Monday at the Winter Showcase, but returned to Kansas City tonight with heads held high from a strong showing after five days in Phoenix (though I've got a feeling they might be missing the warm weather after stepping off the plane in KC).

Both academy teams went 1-1-1 in their three matches, drawing against Cosmos Academy East and defeating South Central Premier prior to Monday's matches. Their U.S. Soccer Development Academy seasons will resume in April, with 2/3 of the schedule still to be played. The U16s are 3-2-2 on the season, while the U18s sit in third place at 2-3-2.

To see some of the action from this weekend, fans can head over to TopDrawerSoccer.com to watch a portion of the U16s and part of the U18s matches on Friday against the Cosmos. The site also interviewed Lucas Throckmorton afterwards, so watch the video for his comments. Lastly, ussoccer.com will be streaming the U16s match against New England on Tuesday afternoon.

Derek Schrick's Top 10 Goal

Check out the first of Derek Schrick's two goals on Friday at the 1:36 mark of U.S. Soccer's Top 10 Goals from Day 1 of the Development Academy Winter Showcase.

Winter Showcase Day 2

Saturday saw a successful showing from both Sporting Kansas City Juniors academy teams as they swept South Central Premier from Connecticut. The u18's were firing on all cylinders and scored four goals in the second half to win 5-0 on goals from five different players. Christian Kirby opened the scoring on a corner kick in the 21st minute, Jordan Rideout doubled the lead with a spectacular diving header in the 56th minute, Raymond Lee added another in the 68th, Garrett Pulliam struck on a header in the 75th minute and Michael Oakley finished the scoring in the 89th. U16 goalkeeper Jacole Turner earned the shutout, as regular starter Jon Kempin was unavailable due to his participation in the 1992/93 Academy Select match earlier in the day (Kempin started and played the first half for the Academy Select blue, pictured above).

The u16s followed with a 1-0 victory in the nightcap under the lights at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix. Eduardo Moreno's goal in the second half stood up as the game's only tally and goalkeeper Evan Wright posted the shutout in goal for the Juniors. The u16's remain in first place in the Frontier Division of the Central Conference with the win.

Both teams will finish the Winter Showcase with matches against the New England Revolution on Monday at 11:15am (local time). The u16's match will stream on ussoccer.com, with more details available here.

Day One of Winter Showcase

The u16 and u18 Juniors arrived in Phoenix on Thursday for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Winter Showcase and began play today. Both teams faced Cosmos Academy East, whose u16s and u18s were in first place in the Liberty Division with perfect 2-0-0 records entering the match.

The Sporting u18s kicked off first and came back to earn a 1-1 draw. After a scoreless first half, Luckas Throckmorton scored the Juniors goal on an assist from Shane Bowlen. The u16s followed with a draw of their own, tying the Cosmos 2-2. Derek Schrick twice gave the Juniors a lead, first on an assist from David Leichty and then later firing home his own rebound.

The u16 and u18 Juniors will play their second games tomorrow against another team from the East Conference, South Central Premier.

U18's goalkeeper Jon Kempin will have an extra match to participate in on Saturday, as he was selected for the 1992/1993 Academy Select showcase match. Out of all 78 Academy Teams in attendance at this weekend's event, Kempin is part of a very elite group of players identified for the game.

We'll have another post up soon about Kempin, who has been representing more than just Sporting Kansas City as of late.

Start of US Soccer Development Academy

Paul Rideout and the U18's take the field on Saturday

One season ends, another begins. The U16's and U18's began practicing less than two weeks ago following the completion of their high school seasons, and they already have two games to report on.

The two squads were in Dallas this weekend as they opened their 2010-11 US Soccer Development Academy schedule against two of the top teams in Texas: FC Dallas and Andromeda. On Saturday, the Juniors faced fellow MLS academy foes FC Dallas who had the advantage of starting their season two months ago, having already played six games.

U18's were back in action against Andromeda on Sunday

The U18's lost 3-1 in a competitive contest played in the morning's crisp, windy conditions. Despite falling behind 2-0 at halftime, the Wizards fought back to cut the lead in half on a goal from Jordan Rideout in the 82nd minute and came close to tying it up with a shot from Lucas Throckmorton in the 88th minute that forced a solid save by the FCD goalkeeper.

U16's warming up prior to their win on Sunday

The U16's earned a 1-1 draw in their match, taking an early lead on an opportunistic strike from Tarlue Doe in the 12th minute. David Leichty started the scoring sequence with a shot from distance and Doe was well-positioned to power in the rebound from close range. Wizards goalkeeper Evan Wright made two great saves to protect the 1-0 lead but FCD came back to salvage a point with an equalizer in the 59th minute.

Sunday saw the two teams take the tollway to Plano, where Andromeda awaited. The U18's suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat but showed resilience and heart in playing down a man in the second half, continuing to create chances up until the final whistle. The U16's were 2-1 winners, scoring twice in the second half to complete a convincing comeback. Nate Opperman tied it at 1-1 with a perfectly placed shot on a breakaway and Eric DeJulio got the game winner, heading home a free kick taken by Leichty.

Jon Parry and the U16's went unbeaten on the weekend

The U16's unbeaten start to the season has them in an early tie with Real Colorado for first place in the Frontier Division of the Central Conference. Both teams will return to Texas next weekend to face Solar on Saturday and the Dallas Texans on Sunday, as they continue the 21-game schedule in the 2010-11 season.

While we have the chance, we also want to wish best of luck to KCW Juniors Daniel Hare, Derek Schrick, Cole Stevenson and Luke Stanley who will be playing for Rockhurst in the Missouri Class 3 state semifinals on Friday in St. Louis. Rockhurst advanced on penalty kicks over Park Hill on Saturday, with the Juniors own Ray Lee recording a goal and an assist for the Trojans.

U16s Top Chivas USA, Head Home

Today, our U16s defeated Chivas USA 2-0, but unfortunately the boys are heading home without a place in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Round of 8. Lucas Throckmorton opened the scoring in just the 2nd minute, banging home a shot off the post. Then in the 10th minute, Derek Schrick chipped the goalkeeper from 50 yards. Jon Kempin held on for his second straight shutout, but unfortunately the result was not enough to advance.

Heading into the day, we needed the Baltimore Bays (who we lost to 2-1 Friday) to lose (and for goal differential to then end up in our favor) for us to advance. Baltimore took care of business against the Dallas Texans and were one of only two clubs to go a perfect 3-0-0 at the event. Take a look at the full, final standings here.

Former First Team Head Coach Bob Gansler watched today's game. The boys put on a great performance for our first year in the Development Academy. Teams around the country fully respect the KCW Juniors.

KCW Juniors Try-Outs

Last week we had try-outs for our U18 and U16 teams at Swope Training Facility. It was a great turn out, which made picking the teams extremely difficult. We had over 90 players show up for the U16s and over 50 players for the U18s. These two teams will again participate in the US Soccer Federation Development Academy.

The 2010-2011 rosters are posted here. We are excited to start training with the new teams very soon. The next couple months will be a mix of time off, possibly a summer tournament and the start of high school season.

Juniors Win to Open DA Play

The KCW Juniors U-16 and U-18 squads both won their first-ever U.S. Soccer Development Academy matches Saturday outside of Houston with victories over teams from Texas Rush. The U-16s won 1-0, while the U-18s twice came from behind to win 3-2. The U-16 team then registered a come-from-behind 1-1 tie Sunday against Dallas Texans Houston, while the U-18 team lost 2-0 to a team from the same club. Jordan Rideout scored both goals on the weekend for the U-16s, including the first Developmental Academy goal in KCW Juniors history. Mbulunji Mhango had two goals and Michael Oakley scored one goal for the U-18s.

Winter Showcase set for Dec. 4-8 in Phoenix

The 2009 Development Academy Winter Showcase and Nike International Friendlies are set for Dec. 4-8 at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Phoenix, Ariz. All 154 teams representing 77 Development Academy clubs will participate in 234 games during the extended weekend, while six Under-17 international matches will highlight Friday, Saturday and Monday.

*Nike International Friendlies to Coincide with Showcase, Featuring the U.S., Netherlands, Portugal and Brazil U-17 Men’s National Teams

*Three U.S. Games to be Televised Live on Fox Soccer Channel at 7 p.m. MT on Dec. 4, Dec. 5 and Dec. 7

*A Total of 240 Games to Take Place During Five Days at Reach 11 Sports Complex

For the full article on U.S. Soccer, click here.

Development Academy-What is it?

Our U15/16 and U17/18 teams play is the U.S. Development Academy. Check out the video for a full description.