According to KSDK out of St. Louis, the Wizards home and home series with St. Louis is set, and with a twist. The first leg will be in KC at the Wizards Swope Park training complex March 20th at 2pm. The return leg will be two weeks later on April 3rd at AB Soccer Park at 7pm. Not only will the Wizards and ACSTL be playing, but the teams are also setting up a "Supporters Showdown" to have the fans of the two teams play after each of the games. The winner on aggregate will get themselves a trophy presented to the captain. So the fans can get their boots out and have some fun as well.
"Missouri's two men's professional soccer franchises..."
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how the the Wizards and the various media side step around the Wizards play in Kansas City, Kansas. Their stadium is in Kansas. Their offices are in Leawood, Kansas. They are now a Kansas team. Their uniforms say "Kansas City" but there is no "Missouri" on it.
They have a training facility in Missouri, but they also train in Arizona...
@ Ron Bishop
ReplyDeleteWho cares!!! What a geek you are to be worrying about stupid things like that!!!
Missouri's 2 pro soccer teams! YES! Get over it...
wow ron way to understate the Wizards facility in swope by comparing it to their preseason training in AZ. The difference is the swope facility is permanent.
ReplyDeleteYou know, up until now I thought Bishop was an intelligent dude - but really dude: WTF was this rant all about? Have you ever even been to their swope facility?
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm a geek (Start Trek, computers, etc..) and I have been the Wizards training facility in Swope Park.
ReplyDeleteWhile the facility is nice, it could definitely be better. The Wizards know that. The Overland Park Soccer Complex is newer, nicer, better located and pulling in colleges and tournaments. That's money, exposure, and interaction OnGoal could be getting also. I expect the soccer complex OnGoal builds near the new stadium to be even better than than the OP one. It will be difficult for the Wizards to stay in Swope Park, when nicer facilities will be available to them. Facilities that will really tie them into the bigger soccer picture.
Recent articles in The Star point toward the Wizards working more on the Kansas side -
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/08/1798763_p4/kc-area-scores-big-with-youth.html
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/16/1817719/wizards-press-kc-over-swope-park.html
Of course, the Wizards represent the Kansas City area, region, etc. So for area fans, it's not a big deal. But Missouri, and KCMO are letting the Wizards (and the additional soccer benefits) slip away. In a short time, the only thing they'll have to offer the Wizards is Arrowhead - since it offers a venue for larger special events, like the World Cup or the Classico they had last year.
OnGoal and The Wizards have an opportunity to tap into the local, regional sports scene in a way, the Royals, the Chiefs, basketball, and NASCAR can't. You don't see any of those sports businesses interacting through facility use and support the way the Wizards do.
^That is much more of a "rant" :)
Ron,
ReplyDeleteThe Wizards training facility and the OP complex are two completely different things. The Swope facility is for the Wizards while the OP complex is going to be similar to the youth fields the Wizards are building. You can't compare the two equally.
MIke - I agree. The OP Complex and the Swope Training Facility server different purposes.
ReplyDeleteBut I think they can take both purposes and combine them in the complex they build by West Village. Especially if they can't better the facilities in Swope Park, why not take out two birds with one stone. OnGoal and the Wizards might not have planned that before, but they also planned on building in KCMO.
It would be like building football fields near the Chiefs training facility, which is located right near Arrowhead. That would create a football atmosphere; for youth and adult- except there are no organizations or local structure in football to build and support these.
There is the local support and structure in soccer. There are youth leagues, adult leagues, college. - the KU women and the various local leagues playing at CAB. MU Soccer has been out at the OP complex.
Put in a complex for various levels (all the way to a fields on par with UMKC and the OP Complex) along with the training facilities for Wizards and visiting teams. This would really create a connection between the Wizards and KC area soccer and fans.