Sporting Have a New Affiliate

Today, Sporting KC confirmed the rumors that had come out on Wednesday this week. Sporting KC will have to affiliate teams in the US third division, the USL-Pro. Along with continuing their partnership with Orlando City for the final year of their two year deal, Sporting will also have an affiliation with expansion side, the Oklahoma City Energy.

The deal will see Sporting KC send four players on loan again, this time though, the two teams will get two players each from Sporting KC on loan. The move allows KC to not break their deal with Orlando City, but also allows them to prepare beyond 2014 as Orlando City will be moving up to MLS after next season. So in 2015, the Energy will be KC's only USL affiliate.

Sporting's newest affiliate also announced their coach today, and once again, the rumors were true as Sporting's recently retired captain and goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen. Nielsen moves right from the field to the sideline. He'll have quite a bit of work to do filling out the rest of his roster before the season. Already there's some speculation that Sporting's first home grown player, Jon Kempin will be heading down to OKC in 2014 and be the club's starting goalkeeper. We'll see if that ends up happening.