Sporting KC rename Swope Park Rangers USL Championship side as Sporting Kansas City II

Charles Boehm

Sporting Kansas City announced a rebranding of their USL Championship side on Monday, changing the team’s name from Swope Park Rangers to Sporting Kansas City II ahead of the 2020 season.

Framing the change as “the next step in aligning the Sporting Kansas City player pathway from the academy to the first team,” Sporting turn the page on a four-year run for the SPR name, which originated as an idea of a member of the front-office staff but lost some of its meaning when the USL team relocated from Sporting’s training facility in Swope Park, Missouri to Children’s Mercy Park.

“With the emergence of Sporting Kansas City II, all members of our player pathway will effectively represent the same club, whether they compete in MLS, the USL or the Academy,” said Sporting manager and sporting director Peter Vermes in a statement. “The development of young talent is a crucial part of our organization’s vision, and we are excited about the role Sporting II will continue to play moving forward.”

Coached by former Sporting midfielder Paulo Nagamura, Swope Park Rangers have fielded 15 Sporting KC academy products this season, accounting for almost 40% of the team’s minutes and 53% of its goalscoring. SPR currently sit second-to-last in the USL Championship's Eastern Conference with a 6-17-7 record, and have three more games to play in 2019.

Until this season, SPR were perennial title contenders in the second division, reaching the USL Cup final in 2016 and 2017 before falling to New York Red Bulls II and Louisville City FC, respectively, and advancing to the conference semifinals stage last year. Notably, their first-ever head coach was Marc Dos Santos, who’s now in charge of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

SPR/Sporting Kansas City II are one of 10 MLS-operated teams in the USL Championship at present, along with those run by Atlanta, Philadelphia, D.C. United, RBNY, the LA Galaxy, Portland, Real Salt Lake, Houston and Seattle.

Another another five MLS clubs (Chicago, Colorado, Montreal, NYCFC and San Jose) maintain affiliation partnerships with independent USL Championship members. FC Dallas, Orlando City and Toronto FC field teams in the new USL League One (third-tier) competition, currently in the final stages of its inaugural season, where Chicago and Minnesota United also have partner clubs.