Sporting Club Network announces Spring 2016 SKC Academy Affiliate League

Earlier this year, the Sporting Club Network, with the support of its Academy Affiliate clubs, announced the formation of the SKC Academy Affiliate League (SKCAAL). With the launch of this league, Sporting Kansas City provided these Academy Affiliates a one-of-a-kind regional competition, exclusive to the teams within these clubs.  During the first edition of the SKCAAL, three play weekends were held in Kansas City, MO, Des Moines, IA, and St. Louis, MO with affiliate teams from at least eight different Midwestern states competing on-field together.

Building off of the success from this first season of the SKCAAL, the league will be adjusting the competition structure, namely by introducing conference-play and the addition of two more weekends of play. By splitting the Academy Affiliate map into North & South conferences, it allows the majority of our affiliates to still participate in an exclusive, regional competition, while ideally limiting the travel demands of the teams & families involved. In short, teams will compete in two conference play weekends based on geographical location (four total conference play weekends). From there, all teams come together for a League Finale weekend in Kansas City, hosted at Swope Soccer Village, the home training grounds of Sporting KC. 

Another key change to the new and improved SKCAAL is Sporting KC managing all aspects of the league, from securing playing sites, to scheduling all matches, to even assigning referees & medical coverage throughout the event. Once registered, participating teams only need to worry about their individual travel arrangements, allowing coaches & club directors to maximize their time focusing on training & development of these affiliate players.  

In addition, each SKCAAL play weekend will have Sporting KC representation on-site, creating that many more opportunities to have full-time staff in each affiliate market for further programming & player identification. With that, below is a quick recap of the dates and locations of the five SKCAAL play weekends set to occur during the Spring 2016 youth soccer season. Please note: registration will open on www.SportingKC.com/SKCAAL on Tuesday January 5^th, & will close on Friday, January 29^th.

SKCAAL: Spring 2016 Dates & Locations

1. South-1 Host: Sporting St. Louis Rangers
   1. Dates: March 26-27
   2. Location: St. Louis, MO
   3. Complex: SportPort
2. North-1 Host: Sporting Columbia SC
   1. Dates: April 9-10
   2. Location: Columbia, MO
   3. Complex: Cosmo Park
3. South-2 Host: Sporting Arkansas
   1. Dates: April 16-17
   2. Location: Bentonville, AR
   3. Complex: Cosmo Park
4. North-2 Host: Omaha FC
   1. Dates: April 16-17
   2. Location: Omaha, NE
   3. Complexes:
      1. Discovery Fields
      2. University of Nebraska – Omaha
5. League Finale Host: Sporting Kansas City
   1. Dates: May 14-15
   2. Location: Kansas City, MO
   3. Complex: Swope Soccer Village

For more information on the SKC Academy Affiliate League & to register to participate in January, visit www.SportingKC.com/SKCAAL. In addition, for further updates on SKC’s Academy Affiliate program, as well as other news, contests, and more from Sporting KC’s Youth Development Department, be sure to follow the Sporting Club Network on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook.