The KCW Juniors are set to make their club debut later this month in the first-ever Soccer United Marketing Cup scheduled for July 13-19 at the Dick's Sporting Goods Park complex in Commerce City, Colorado in conjunction with the 2007 MLS All-Star game vs Celtic FC. The tournament final will be played inside Dick's Sporting Goods Park the morning prior to the MLS All-Star game scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.
"We're excited to kick off our program in this great event put together by Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing," KCW Juniors Youth Director Chris Cissell Said. "Having just put together our squad, the tournament will be challenging, but we are all about meeting challenges head on."
Twenty members of the KCW Juniors U-17 team are set to travel to represent the Wizards against 10 other MLS clubs. The 12-team pool is comprised of the U-17 teams of all MLS Clubs excluding Toronto FC and the New England Revolution and with two teams representing the Colorado Rapids. The tournament format will feature three groups of four with the group winners and the best second place team advancing to the semi-finals which take place on Tuesday, July 17. The champion will take home the SUM U-17 Cup and earns the opportunity to participate in the 2008 Torneo Quixote in Spain.
"I'm excited to get out and compete with the boys," KCW Juniors Head Coach Paul Rideout said. "I believe we have put together a good group, so now it's time to see where we stand against the other MLS youth teams."
The Juniors are in a group with the Chivas USA, Red Bull New York and FC Dallas youth squads. Pool play takes place July 13-July 16. The semifinals are scheduled for July 17. The finals will take place the morning of July 19 on the field at DSG Park.
KCW Juniors U-17 Schedule:
Chivas USA - July 13, 8:30 p.m. CT
Red Bull New York - July 14, 6 p.m. CT
FC Dallas - July 16, 8 p.m. CT
Semifinals - July 17, 8 p.m. CT
Finals - July 19, 11 a.m. CT
KCW Juniors U-17 Travel Roster:
Player # Pos High School
Krueger, Christian 1 GK Rockhurst
Trees, Austin 2 D Rockhurst
Galvan, Fernando 3 D North Kansas City
Nechvatal, Pete 4 D Oak Park
Knoll, Taylor 5 M Wichita Southeast
Sweetin, Alex 6 M Rockhurst
Bauer, Ethan 7 F Olathe South
Schneider, Luke 8 D Rockhurst
Ellis, Kevin 9 F Oak Park
Wassmer, Jeremy 10 M Olathe East
Christenson, Zane 11 M Blue Springs South
Male, Alex 12 F Rockhurst
Foglio, Patrick 13 M Lee's Summit West
Cobb, Aaron 14 D St. Thomas Aquinas
Cunningham, Danny 15 D Rockhurst
Appel, Aaron 16 M Manhattan
Duke, Christian 17 M Shawnee Mission South
Martin, Kyle 18 GK Shawnee Mission North
Hamil, Laeth 19 M Olathe East
Tally, Neil 20 F St. Thomas Aquinas
