Sporting Kansas City earned multiple honors on Thursday during Major League Soccer’s 2017 Club Executive Awards Ceremony in Philadelphia, held at the Fillmore in conjunction with the 2018 MLS SuperDraft.
The year-end accolades recognize individuals and clubs for their excellent contributions off the pitch. Sporting KC earned the following awards for strong performance throughout the 2017 Major League Soccer season.
- Public Relations Team of the Year
- Supporter Management Team of the Year – Sporting KC, accepted by Wilson Temple (Senior Client Services Executive)
In addition, members of Sporting KC’s ticket sales staff were recipients of the following awards:
- President’s Club for Full Season Ticket Sales
- President’s Club for Full Season Ticket Renewals
- Bronze Award for Full Season Ticket Sales – Derek Thompson (Senior Account Executive)
Sporting KC were crowned champions of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the third time in six years and the fourth time overall, defeating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 in the 2017 final at Children’s Mercy Park. Manager Peter Vermes also guided the team to the MLS Cup Playoffs for a club-record seventh consecutive season. A stingy defense spurred Sporting Kansas City to another successful campaign, as the club’s 29 goals conceded during the regular season were eight fewer than any other team.
Goalkeeper Tim Melia and defender Ike Opara were named the best MLS players at their respective positions at the end of 2017, landing Goalkeeper of the Yearand Defender of the Year honors, respectively. Spanish midfielder Ilie added skill and stability as the club’s Newcomer of the Year, while fellow first-year winger Gerso finished atop Sporting KC’s scoring chart with 10 goals in all competitions.
Sporting KC welcomed 17 straight capacity crowds throughout the 2017 regular season, stretching the Children’s Mercy Park sellout streak to 104 MLS matches dating back to 2012.
Away from the stadium, Sporting Club unveiled the state-of-the-art Wyandotte Sporting Fields, a 52-acre youth soccer complex with 12 playing fields. Wyandotte Sporting Fields opened in May in conjunction with the launch of Sporting Fields + Athletics, a new entity owned and operated by Sporting Club that consists of Wyandotte Sporting Fields and Swope Soccer Village.
Less than a mile from Wyandotte Sporting Fields, the world-class National Training Center is nearing completion. The NTC will serve as the new training home of Sporting KC as well as the site of the U.S. Soccer National Coaching Education Center and the Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine Center at Village West.
