On Thursday, Overland Park’s Stanley Elementary School welcomed back one of its biggest alums ever.
Almost 23 years after passing through the halls of Stanley as a proud Wildcat, Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler returned to his old stomping grounds for a school assembly involving current students, teachers and Sporting mascot Blue.
During his visit, Besler—who later attended Blue Valley West High School and the University of Notre Dame before landing at Sporting as a rookie in 2009—interacted with kids in the school’s gymnasium and popped around to other areas of the school, as well.
Sporting’s captain made sure to capture the best moments on his smartphone, snapping a photo beside the classic painting of Stanley’s famous Stan Lee Wildcat while also coming across a treasured piece of art that has surely grown in value year by year.
Indeed, an Instagram post from Besler showed a timeless piece of art that the defender himself crafted in fourth grade—some 24 years ago. The illustration (shown below) contains two impressively drawn and colored logos, one of the Kansas City Wiz—who were a member of Major League Soccer’s inaugural 1996 season at the time—and one of the Kansas City Attack professional indoor soccer team, now known as the Comets.
We give Besler an A+ for the artwork and for his social media posts chronicling Thursday’s awesome experience.
