Sporting Kansas City opened the 2017 preseason, presented by Children’s Mercy, on Tuesday at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. First thing on the docket was the beep test.
With seven new signings, two MLS SuperDraft selections and nine Swope Park Rangers in attendance at camp, Sporting KC Head Fitness Coach Mateus Manoel split the players into groups. Those groups were not divided by seniority, however, so each group had a mixture of veterans and newer players.
Swope Park Rangers captain and Kansas City native Christian Duke was the pace-setter for the first group and remains undefeated in the fitness test having recorded the best score in 2014, 2015 and now again in 2017. Sporting KC's 2017 first round draft pick Colton Storm left a good first impression on Manager Peter Vermes with a second place overall finish.
Veteran Seth Sinovic finished top five for the seventh straight year and attributed his consistency to his offseason regimen and “pushing yourself a little further than you think you can.” Sinovic’s pacing landed him a fourth place finish overall with a pair of newcomers - Christian Volesky and Cameron Iwasa - finishing 3rd and 5th respectively. Volesky, most recently with the Rochester Rhinos of the USL is familiar with the Kino Sports Complex having played for PDL club FC Tucson in 2014.
Sporting Kansas City continued the preseason with a double session on Wednesday that included one weight training session and one on-field session.
