Sporting and US Soccer Studying US Soccer Facility in KCK

Since the opening of Sporting Park, Robb Heineman and Sporting KC have been angling to make Kansas City and Sporting Park the home for the US national team.  When asked about hosting World Cup qualifiers in KC, Heineman has jokingly, but in a serious tone said that he wants Kansas City to host all the games.  Now they've taken a big step to get there.

On Friday, Sporting KC announced that they were getting together with US Soccer to explore bringing a new national training and coaching development center to Kansas City, KS. The center would help to develop and train coaches, players, and referees of all ages. The project, which is estimated to cost $50 million would host US national team camps, coaching education, and referee development programing.

By tomorrow, Sporting is issuing a "Request for Proposals" to Wyandotte County land owners and real estate brokers to begin the process of finding the best location for the facility.

This announcement by itself is very big, it continues to show how Kansas City has become a major soccer community in the United Stats, the support for Sporting KC and the support that's been shown when the US plays here are two keys for that.  It also helps having a facility like Sporting Park available as well for games.  It'll become huge when they officially start breaking ground and building the facility.  It's amazing to think where this city was just 5 years ago when it came to professional soccer support and where it's at now. I am already looking forward to the facility being built and what it means not only for youth development at the national level, but also at the local level in Kansas City.