When Sporting Kansas City opens the 2016-17 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League next month, they will be the second Sporting KC team this year to compete in the most prestigious international competition in North America. The Sporting KC Academy U-13s are currently in Mexico for the Scotiabank CONCACAF Under-13 Championship, which opens Saturday at the Universidad Intercontinental in Mexico City.
Although the tournament is comprised of players born in 2003 as well as players born in late 2002, Sporting Kansas City will send a mix of players at the U-12 and U-13 level that includes two players born in 2004 and 2005. The team will be led by SKC Academy U-12 head coach Matt Trump.
“This is a huge deal for our club,” Trump said. “Although winning the tournament would be great, this is all part of the process that we want to develop with the Sporting KC Academy. This is a great opportunity to get our kids international experience that they would not normally get.”
Along with Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact, Sporting Kansas City is one of three Major League Soccer teams to have an Academy side competing in this year’s tournament. D.C. United competed last year in the inaugural edition of the competition.
Sporting KC was paired in Group C with Pungarabato Guerrero (Mexico), Chorrillo FC (Panama) and C.D. Santa Ana (El Salvador). The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Despite this being the first international competition for the group, the Sporting KC Academy has had much success winning domestic trophies at this level. The SKC Academy won Kansas State Cup at the U-12 age group in 2015 and the U-13 and U-14 age group this year.
“We feel confident,” center back Caden Nicholson said. “We have been preparing for this tournament for the past few weeks and are excited to go down there and show the other teams the way Sporting Kansas City plays.”
Trump emphasized that much of the work done at the Academy level is consistent with the first team including the philosophy of how to approach each match. Although he will not be able to watch game tape on any of the opponents ahead of time, he feels comfortable with the way his team approaches each match.
“We want to dictate the way the game plays out and make sure we are in control,” Trump said. “We want to be on the front foot and play attack-minded soccer. At the end of the day, we want to be the ones that other teams have to prepare for.”
So how will domestic success translate to international success for the young side? Goalkeeper Tommy Williams believes the experience playing high-level tournaments can only help the team in Mexico.
“We know how to win when the stakes are high and we are very good under pressure,” he said. “We’ve come back in big games during tournament play before and we know how to come together as a team.”
Sporting Kansas City will open the tournament on Saturday against Santa Ana. They will then play Pungarabato Guerrero on Sunday before concluding the group stage Monday against Chorrillo.
Supporters are encouraged to follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter and Instagram for more details and for photos and videos throughout the tournament.
