Some news that Sporting KC released earlier today regarding the Juniors and upcoming Open Tryouts.
Last week I posted about the Sporting KC Juniors that I'd been able to find that had signed for colleges. Today Sporting KC came out with a full list of those Juniors players that have signed to play at the collegiate level.
Along with Daniel Hare (DF) (Loyola Chicago), Derek Schrick (MF) (SMU), Taylor Walter (MF) (Colgate), Eric De Julio (DF) (Creighton), Andrew Brown (FW) (Bradley), Nate Opperman (FW) (Evansville), David Isaacks (MF) (Rhode Island), Evan Wright (GK) (St. Louis), and Andrew Lightner (DF) (Dayton) all of whom I'd mentioned in my previous article, 8 other Sporting KC players have committed their future to a college.
Joining De Julio at Creighton will be Chris Tuso (MF). Shane Woods (FW) will be going to Drury University. Drew Wilson (MF) will be going to Fort Hays State, while Andrew Miller (DF) is headed to the NAIA semifinalist Baker University. Finally 4 players are headed to Barton County Community College. Included in the list of players following Kevin Ellis' path to Barton is Eduardo Moreno (FW), who was invited to a U17 game at Bradenton back in December of 2010. Also joining the Cougars are Garrett Pulliam (FW), Jacole Turner (GK), and Isai Gutierrez (FW).
I believe all these players have been in the system long enough for KC to potential call any of them up as potential future home grown players, so definitely a few guys to keep your eyes on.
Open Tryouts
Also released today, the team announced that they will once again be hosting open tryouts. Unlike previous years when the tryouts have been held in preseason though, this year, the open tryouts will take place June 9th and 10th. Again the tryouts will be held at the Swope Park training facility. They're only allowing the first 300 people who register and cost between $200 and $208. The finalists will be given the chance to train with the first team and try to pull a Kevin Souter or Nelson Pizarro and make the KC roster.
With the tryouts being held midseason though I have to wonder how likely it is for any of the guys that tryout this year to actually make the team. It just seems a little odd to have the tryouts now, but that could be because I'm used to them being in February.
It's possible tryouts are scheduled for June so that heading into them, the team will know if it has particular depth needs due to in-season injuries. Also, some of the guys that they could potentially add (like college players or people in training with other teams) might have an easier time getting to KC in the summer than they would in February.
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