Sporting Announces '11 Pre-Season Schedule

Sporting Kansas City unveiled details of the team’s 2011 pre-season schedule on Wednesday, beginning with the team’s first day of training in Kansas City on January 25th. For the second straight pre-season, the team will then travel to Phoenix, Arizona for two separate stretches of training at the Reach 11 Sports Complex.

Sporting Kansas City will have nearly eight weeks of preparation for the start of the 2011 campaign, with the team’s season opener coming on March 19th at Chivas USA. The highly anticipated 2011 season will feature the opening of KC Soccer Stadium on June 9th, as Sporting Kansas City faces the Chicago Fire in the team’s inaugural match at their state-of-the-art, $180 million home ground currently under construction in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Reach 11 Sports Complex in suburban Phoenix will again serve as the team’s pre-season training destination after Sporting first selected the site one year ago. The 33-acre complex opened in 2007 and features 18 lighted fields. The U16 and U18 Sporting Kansas City Juniors recently competed at the facility in the 2010 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Winter Showcase.

As in previous years, Kansas City will play exhibition matches against other Major League Soccer clubs while based in the Arizona capital. Further details, including scheduled dates and opponents, will be made available in coming weeks. In 2010, nine teams from across MLS joined Kansas City in Arizona.

Sporting Kansas City and Major League Soccer are entering their 16th season in 2011, which will feature two new expansion teams in the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers, as every club plays each team twice in a 34-game season. The 2011 adidas MLS Player Combine will be held January 7th –11th in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, followed by the 2011 MLS SuperDraft in Baltimore, Maryland on January 13th.

See below for the 2011 pre-season schedule, subject to change.

Sporting Kansas City 2011 Pre-Season Schedule:
Jan. 24th – Entrance physicals at Swope Park Training Facility
Jan. 25th-28th – Training in Kansas City
Jan. 31st – Team departs for Phoenix
Feb. 16th – Team returns to Kansas City
Feb. 21st – Team departs for Phoenix
March 14th – Team returns to Kansas City
March 19th – Season opener at Chivas USA