Player Personnel, Scouting & Roster Management Webinar Recap
On February 12th, Academy Affiliate directors, administrators, and coaches received an exclusive look into the realm of player acquisition and management for Sporting Kansas City. Meghan Cameron, (Assistant Director, Player Personnel) and Brian Bliss, (Technical Director & Vice President, Player Personnel) came together to virtually present: Player Personnel, Scouting & Roster Management at Sporting KC. Registration was offered to only Academy Affiliate personnel at no cost to attendees.
Meghan and Brian, key members on the Sporting KC first team technical staff, took a dive into the evolution of the SKC roster through the years beginning in 2017. After winning the US Open Cup in 2017 and earning the Club’s 7th major trophy, Sporting KC clinched a berth in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League. This marked the beginning of the Club’s renewed mission to win the CCL tournament and earn a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup. With such high expectations came serious acquisitions regarding player personnel in order to put Sporting KC in a successful position to reach their objectives. Meghan and Brian were at the forefront of taking on this challenge. Through their work, Sporting KC acquired several new players during this time, including Johnny Russell, Yohan Croizet, and Gerso Fernandez.
The presentation also highlighted more recent acquisitions, such as Brooks Thompson, Ozzie Cisneros, and Greyson Barber, going into depth about the different pathways that each player took to reach the Sporting KC first team. Meghan and Brian also touched on players who have navigated the pathway from Academy Affiliate clubs to the first team, Felipe Hernandez (Sporting Nashville), Cam Duke (Sporting Blue Valley). Attendees were also given a layout of all the different bridges between Academy Affiliates and the Sporting KC Academy, such as All Star Experiences, Centers of Excellence, Sporting Development League, Regional Pool, and Affiliate Market Experiences just to name a few.
Our next webinar, which will be exclusive to Academy Affiliate directors, administrators, and coaches, will be taking place in the Spring. Information regarding date, time, guest speaker(s), and content will be pushed out as soon as details are finalized.
For more information on Academy Affiliates and the benefits of becoming a member, please visit sportingkcyouth.com/academyaffiliates.