When the US Men’s National Team came into town for their World Cup qualifier against Guatemala, the excitement and anticipation was palpable among Kansas City soccer fans. However, based off the amount of feedback we received, it became increasingly apparent that this was a feeling that had also spread across the entire Sporting Club Network.
Because of the excellent relationship between the Sporting Club Network and US Soccer, a select number of our coaches from Network clubs got the opportunity to attend an exclusive meet & greet with US Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann prior to the USMNT Open Training at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Sunday, October 14th. Doug and Jake Burris (Overland Park Soccer Club), Marcus and Darik Dudley (Kaw Valley Soccer Association), and Colby and Alex Williams (Prodigy Soccer Club in Topeka) were three of the Network families lucky enough to have this opportunity.
We’re incredibly pleased to say that the Sporting Club Network’s reach went even further during the week of that World Cup Qualifier. When McDonald’s (a joint sponsor of US Soccer and Sporting KC) hosted a clinic at our Swope Park Training Facility the day before the match, a third of the spots were opened to Sporting Club Network members. Two lucky kids from our Academy Affiliate club, Sporting Lincoln FC, in Lincoln, Nebraska were selected to participate in the clinic, but that wasn’t it. Yushin Gossin and Trinity Babcock (pictured below in front of Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey, respectively) were fortunate enough to then be selected as Player Escorts for the US Men’s National Team as they came out onto the field for the national anthems before the match against Guatemala.
Jon Gossin, Yushin’s father, shared with us this incredible experience: “That was a pretty amazing moment for us as parents, seeing (Yushin) out there on the field. VERY emotional… we’ll never forget that and just how lucky we are to be a part of Sporting”. To say we here at Sporting Kansas City and the Sporting Club Network are ecstatic and proud of such a comment would certainly be an understatement. We’ll continue to provide as many memorable experiences like this as possible, and we have plenty of exciting events coming up in 2013 to make that happen.
For more information on the Sporting Club Network, please contact Liam O’Connell at loconnell@sportingkc.com or 913 951 3571. And to view more pictures from some of our Network’s involvement around the USMNT game, take a look at the slideshow below:
