Sources confirm to The Equalizer that Kansas City will be one of the cities to host CONCACAF Women’s World Cup qualifying in October. Sporting Park will be the host venue for the city.
Sporting Kansas City and U.S. Soccer are set to make major announcement on Wednesday, although the news on qualifying is unlikely to be part of the announcement.
Wednesday evening, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, officials from Wyandotte County, Kansas, and Sporting KC executives are set to make a major announcement. Speculation on the announcement centers around a new U.S. Soccer National Training Center.
Located near to Sporting KC’s home in Kansas City, Kan., the 100,000 sq. ft. facility would include as many as seven full-sized fields and one indoor full-size field. The new facility, which was listed as ‘Village East STAR Bond Project District’ on a recent submission to the Wyandotte County planning commission, would open in 2015.
FC Kansas City is not involved initially in bringing the facility to Kansas City, but there are major implications for the team. Club officials see the project as something that will help them to attract talent to the team, while keeping their stars ‘close to home’ while they are performing their national team duties.
Although not likely to be part of today’s announcement, sources say that Kansas City will not have to wait for the facility to open to see the U.S. women’s national team in action. It is expected that a CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifier will be held at Sporting Park in October.
The Philadelphia Union, who play at PPL Park in Chester, Penn., are the only team to have confirmed interest in hosting the qualifying tournament, which will take place in multiple U.S. cities.
Sporting Kansas City plays Manchester City F.C. on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET, with the official announcement of the U.S. National Training Center scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
