Nineteen. That's how many days until Sporting Kansas City heads to Tucson to kick off their 2016 preseason, presented by Children's Mercy. In the meantime, there is a lot of activity on the Major League Soccer front to get ready for the new campaign. Here are a few key dates to note:
January 7
Major League Soccer will unveil the entire 2016 schedule on Thursday. We already know that Sporting KC will open the season on the road against the Seattle Sounders before playing Vancouver Whitecaps FC the following weekend in the home opener.
January 7-12
MLS will again host the annual Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale. Sixty players will participate at the Combine, looking to impress the MLS coaches on hand. The 60 players were recently split into four teams. Former Kansas City Wizards assistant coach and current University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee head coach Kris Kelderman will manage one of the squads.
January 14
We are ten days away from the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. This year's draft will be held in Baltimore in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. Sporting KC holds the No. 11 pick in the first, third and fourth rounds. The club traded its 2016 second round pick in December 2013 for goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum. Last year, Sporting Kansas City selected Connor Hallisey, Saad Abdul-Salaam and Amadou Dia in the first round of the SuperDraft.
January 23
Sporting Kansas City will head to Tucson for two separate two-week stints. The first will run from Jan. 23 - Feb. 8. The club will then return from Feb. 14-28. The second leg includes the Desert Diamond Cup, which features matches against Columbus Crew SC, New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids.
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