Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes
On welcoming Tyler Freeman into the club…
It’s obviously an exciting time for him, his family and the club. Our pro pathway is something that we have committed a lot of resources to. It’s something that we’re excited about from the perspective that it is yielding the players that we were hoping that it would. We’re excited to announce Tyler. We congratulate him because he’s taking the first step. As I told him yesterday when we had a long talk, there’s a lot of work to be done. Just because you sign a contract doesn’t mean you’re a pro. It takes time and I think that he has the commitment and the work ethic to find a way to make it to the first team, which is the dream of all the players in our Academy. The pro player pathway is working. We’re excited about the players that it is yielding and hopefully we continue to push players out such as Tyler.
On his transition into the professional ranks…
When you look at Gianluca Busio, when you look at Jaylin Lindsey and you look at Wan Kuzain, that acclimation period was so fast for those guys. A lot has to do with their attitude and the way that they’ve worked. They’ve also made it a priority for them to make sure that they figure out a way to fit into the group and show the guys that they’re going to work hard every day and they’re going to do everything they can to become the best pros that they can. I don’t see any difference in that kind of routine for Tyler. It’s going to be the same…Even with those guys I just mentioned, because of our structure you have the senior team, you have the reserve team in the USL with the Swope Park Rangers, you have the U-19s and you have the U-17s. He’s still eligible to play for all of those teams. The objective is for us to continue to keep growing the player. We have all of those different competitive levels at our disposal to keep growing and developing each one of those players. That’s the beauty of the structure that we have.
On the team’s pro pathway…
Before we signed them, you can keep talking about it all day long. ‘Hey, this is our pro pathway’ and all those things. But now you see it in front of your eyes with all of those different players that have come in and gotten real minutes. Right now, when you look at our club, we are fourth on the list with most homegrown minutes for this season. For a team the size of our club, not having the dense population of an LA or New York or a lot of other cities, for us to be fourth on the list of homegrown minutes says a lot about not only the players that we’re bringing through and the development of our staff from the Academy to the Swope Park Rangers to the senior team, but also the commitment of our organization to make sure that we’re developing those players, bringing them along and giving them the opportunities. There are a lot of Academy kids that are here today that are in support of this because they realize the opportunity is real. It’s not just us talking about it.
On progressing as a professional…
Whether you want to say the development of the player or player development. I know that they sound the same but there’s a difference in the two. Ninety percent of that responsibility falls on the player. Player development, 90% of that is player driven. So he has a big responsibility. Signing your name to a piece of paper doesn’t make you a pro. We have four core values. They’re all important and one of them is called a winning mentality. And the definition of that is pursuing excellence in everything that you do…This is a profession. In a profession, you’re constantly trying to be the best that you can be. You are working at it every single day in everything that you do. If you do that, that’s how you become a professional soccer player.
Sporting Kansas City Academy Director of Coaching Jon Parry
On Tyler Freeman’s potential…
I think we’ve got one of the best Academy staffs in the country. Tyler has been able to benefit from that over the last three years in our Academy. We’re very excited for him. I think he has the potential to be one of the best kids to ever come out of our Academy. He’s a tremendous 1v1 player. He can score goals. He makes the final pass. He’s going to be very exciting to watch. We’re excited to see him continue through our pro pathway.
On his qualities as a player…
Our staff saw him play here in a local league at Heartland. The kid was always scoring goals. He has an edge to him, which anybody that has played with him or coached him – they know that about him, which I think is a really strong quality. He just catches your eye. He’s got really good style when he’s on the field. Something we talk about as an Academy staff when we try to identify kids is how they carry themselves and how they are with their teammates. Those were the qualities that stood out to us.
Sporting Kansas City forward Tyler Freeman
On signing his first professional contract…
I’ve been really fortunate to have a great support system. Everybody has really helped me: my parents, all the coaches I’ve played for, everybody that has been a part of this journey with me. I owe it all to you guys. All I ever wanted to be is a professional soccer player for my hometown club Sporting KC. To have that opportunity means everything to me and I can’t wait to get started.
On chasing the dream to become a Homegrown Player…
Last year, I saw Gianluca (Busio) and Jaylin (Lindsey) sign. So (Sporting) is signing all these Academy products and I was like, ‘Wow. I really want that to happen for me.’
On joining his hometown team…
I’ve always been a big fan. I went to games. This is my hometown team. To have the opportunity now to play for them, it means everything. I can’t wait to get started.
