Sporting Kansas City welcomes all of Major League Soccer to Kansas City on Thursday for the 2012 MLS SuperDraft presented by adidas. Sporting Kansas City holds two allotted picks at the marquee event, which will be held in the Grand Ballroom at the Kansas City Convention Center in conjunction with the 2012 NSCAA Convention.
Sporting Kansas City controls the 16th overall and 30th overall selections in the current draft order for the two-round SuperDraft.
The 2012 MLS SuperDraft begins at 11:00 a.m. CT and will air live nationally onESPN2 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. CT, with the event also shown in it’s entirety on ESPN3.com.
The 2012 MLS SuperDraft is free and open to the public. Sporting Kansas City supporters are encouraged to arrive early due to limited seating and may utilize a two-hour free parking pass at the Auditorium Plaza Garage (limited to Convention parking only).
Fans can also follow the event as it transpires through the team’s online outlets at SportingKC.com and SportingMembership.com, and can get further up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter and Facebook.
All 19 MLS clubs will participate in the annual event, with the expansion Montreal Impact holding the first overall selection in the 2012 SuperDraft.
This year’s draft will consist of a maximum of 38 total picks from draft-eligible players, comprised of graduating college seniors, 2012 Generation adidas signings and select non-collegiate international players. Generation adidas is a joint program between Major League Soccer and adidas that is dedicated to developing domestic players who are underclassmen and are signed by the League for placement in the MLS SuperDraft.
Teams will be given four minutes to make their selections and each team is permitted a five-minute timeout at any point in the draft to extend their allotted selection window. There will also be a five-minute break between rounds.
Sporting Kansas City selected striker C.J. Sapong with the 10th overall pick in last year’s SuperDraft en route to Sapong earning MLS Rookie of the Year honors with five goals and five assists. Previous SuperDraft selections have produced key contributors for the club, including Teal Bunbury (2010), Graham Zusi (2009), Matt Besler (2009), Roger Espinoza (2008) and Chance Myers (2008) in recent years.
Combined, Sporting KC currently has 10 players on the club roster acquired through the MLS SuperDraft.
(Cover photo courtesy MLS: SuperDraft prospect Ethan Finley, Forward, Creighton University)
