Sporting Kansas City may not yet be midway through the 2011 MLS regular season, but the Sporting Kansas City Juniors teams are coming to the end of their respective campaigns. By and large, they’re doing it in style.
Both the U13 and U15 sides claimed State Cup titles this month, meaning they will both advance to the Region II Championships in Fox Cities, Wisconsin beginning on June 24th.
While the two younger Juniors teams compete at the regional level, the U16 Sporting Kansas City Juniors will take part in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy playoffs in Frisco, Texas against the very best youth programs from around the country. The U16s qualified for the playoffs by virtue of finishing in second place in the Frontier Division this spring.
The U18 Sporting Kansas City Juniors will also be in action in Frisco, TX for the 2011 Development Academy spring showcase at the Pizza Hut Park complex.
The U13s claimed the Missouri State Cup crown on Friday morning against St. Louis Scott Gallagher Navy by a 5-1 scoreline. Level at 1-1 headed into halftime, Dustin Ottesen’s side erupted for four second half goals on their way to a 5-1 win. Over three matches, the U13s scored 14 goals, while conceding just one.
According to Ottesen, there’s no reason for the road to stop here.
"I told our boys at beginning of year, we’re as good as any team in the region. I feel even stronger about that now after our performance in State Cup and I feel that we could really be a team that is good enough to win the region as well."
While the U13s competed in Missouri, the U15s took part in the Kansas tournament due to the majority of the side residing in Kansas. Three matches was all it took to claim the crown, culminating in a 3-0 win over the Kansas Rush in the final at the Overland Park Soccer Complex.
Following the conclusion of the tournament, coach Jon Parry, also director of coaching for the entire Sporting Kansas City Juniors program, spoke about the importance of success at the state level.
“These are the top championships we can play for, so it's very important for us to perform well in these tournaments,”
Parry also remarked that style needs to accompany substance, keeping with the overarching goal of developing players for the future.
“The team showed they are very capable of playing great soccer and we'll look to continue that at the Region II Championships to represent Kansas as state champions."
