The KCW Juniors U-16 and U-18 teams will play their first-ever U.S. Soccer Development Academy matches over the weekend. Both teams face Texas Rush AJ Auxerre Saturday and Texas SC DTH Sunday in the suburbs outside of Houston, Texas. Kansas City Wizards ownership group OnGoal created the Juniors program in 2007 as part of the MLS youth development initiative. Click to continue reading...

PV and President Robb Heineman at today's presser. Photo courtesy of Gary Rohman/Getty.
Peter Vermes will retain both the Technical Director and Head Coaching roles going forward, with the new title of Manager encompassing both responsibilities. We announced the move today at our Swope Park Training Center, streaming the event live on Justin. Click to continue reading...

Watch live video from Hillcrest Road on Justin.tv
Beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT (or just before), you'll be able to watch the press conference announcing our next Head Coach live from our Swope Park Training Center. This is the first experiment with Justin.TV, so we'll see how it goes.
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Peter Vermes is now the head coach of the Kansas City Wizards. (Getty Images)

I guess Peter Vermes liked coaching enough after all. Today the Kansas City Wizards are set to remove the interim tag from Vermes title and name him their full time head coach.

The Wizards will formally announce Vermes as the club's head coach at a press conference later today at the Wizards Swope Park Training Complex.

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Tomorrow at the Wizards Swope Park Training Complex, the team will announce their new head coach in a press conference at 2:30 pm. There's been speculation on who the new head coach would be since the end of the season. With many of the other favorites only recently finishing their season (Preki), or still being in the playoffs (Spencer, Hamlett, Sarachan), I think the announcement is not going to be very surprising. Click to continue reading...

Brent Latham from ESPN Soccernet checks in with a story on the U.S. U-17 team for the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria. A good portion of the team the U.S. is taking to Africa played here at our Swope Park Training Center last week, falling to a team made mostly of KCW Reserves 3-0.
In full national team news, Jermaine Jones has been cleared by FIFA to play for the United States after initially representing Germany in three friendlies. Click to continue reading...

The U-17s shaking hands with the Wizards prior to today's match.
Scoring Summary:
KC – Roger Espinoza (unassisted) 32'
KC – Herculez Gomez (unassisted) 47'
KC – Kevin Souter (unassisted) 88'
(October 13, 2009) – The Kansas City Wizards topped the United States Under-17 Men's National Team 3-0 Tuesday night in rainy weather at Kansas City's Swope Park Training Center. Click to continue reading...

The Swope Park Rangers (the Wizards reserves) defeated the US Under 17 national team tonight out at the Swope Park training complex 3-0 on goals by Roger Espinoza, Herculez Gomez, and Kevin Souter. The Rangers dominated their younger opponents for much of the game, but the 17's still did well throughout, having their moments. Click to continue reading...

If you can't make it out to Swope Park tonight (or aren't going to due to the weather), check out our official Twitter page for in-game updates. Visit www.twitter.com/hillcrest_road for more information.
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The US U-17s are playing the Wizards reserves tonight at the Wizards Swope Park Training Facility. They will be on the turf field with the lights. Open to the public, free of charge and a good chance to see some of the future stars. Hillcrest Road has the U-17s roster. See you there!! Click to continue reading...

Next Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT, the U.S. U-17 National Team will take on our KCW Reserves (Swope Park Rangers) on Field 3 (the turf field) at our Swope Park Training Center. The general public is welcome to attend, and Peter Vermes will be speaking to area soccer coaches before the match starts at 6:30 p. Click to continue reading...

Yesterday I posted about the US U17 team training in KC in their preparations for the U17 World Cup and how there was likely to be a game while the they were here. Today on Bigsoccer, Robb posted again saying that the game would be Tuesday out at Swope Park.
I've gotten some more information on the game. Click to continue reading...

Today will be a busy day in KC Soccerland as the Season Ticket Holder Event takes place at our Swope Park Training Center beginning at 4:30 p.m. CT. The Jimmy Conrad Show then airs live on Sports Radio 810 WHB from 7-8 p.m. CT, followed by the Clasico Bud Light between Club America and Chivas Guadalajara at 8:30 p. Click to continue reading...

Today, both Club America and Chivas Guadalajara trained at our Swope Park Training Center ahead of tomorrow's Clasico Bud Light at Arrowhead Stadium. We will reiterate again that tomorrow's game will be a big zoo, so please don't rely on walk-up tickets. If you're interested in coming to the game, give us a call at 913. Click to continue reading...

We are holding a season ticket holder event at our Swope Park Training Center from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm before the Clásico Bud Light match on Wednesday, at 8:30 p.m. CT between Club America and Chivas Guadalajara.
Wizards Season Ticket Holders will get the opportunity to:
-Watch the Wizards practice
-Take a tour of the Wizards training facility
-Mingle with Wizards players and coaches after practice
-Enjoy complimentary food and beverage
-Attend a briefing on the new stadium development with Wizards President and CEO of OnGoal, Robb Heineman
For directions to Swope:
View Larger Map
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Real Salt Lake comes into town this weekend after trouncing Chivas USA on Wednesday. That's a perfect recipe for disaster for a team like the Wizards that has scored ONE goal in it's last 6 games (7 if you count the loss vs. Seattle for the US Cup).

I didn't go out to Swope Park to watch practice this week so my lineup prognostication will probably a bit off (vs.

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After the Royals visited our Swope Park Training Center this afternoon, some of our guys went over to take a little early batting practice with the Royals. Check out the pictures below, and buy your KC Blue Sports Pack for tickets to tomorrow night's Royals game and Saturday night's Wizards game.
Davy Arnaud takes a swing in the batting cage. Click to continue reading...

Though it's a little blurry, here is a picture of Michael Kraus scoring the game-winning goal against his former club.
Our Swope Park Rangers topped the Creighton University Bluejays 4-2 this morning on the strength of goals from Adam Cristman (2), former Creighton standout Michael Kraus and Aaron Hohlbein. Click to continue reading...

The Swope Park Rangers started the fall portion of their "season" with a 4-2 win over the University of Creighton today out at the Swope Park training facility. You can follow the twitter updates of the game over at the Wizards twitter page. Here's the lineup that started the game.
Pardo
Leathers - Hohlbein - McKenzie - Marquess
Morsink
Myers - Zusi - Espinoza
Cristman - Thompson
From what I was told by people at the game, the Rangers had a few early chances, beating the keeper, but unable to beat the post. Click to continue reading...

The Swope Park Rangers take on Michael Kraus' Creighton University this morning at 11 a.m. at our Swope Park Training Center. We first told you of the game a few weeks back but wanted to make sure everyone knew this morning. If you're off of work this morning or know of a way to sneak out of the office early, we'll see you at Swope. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards once again defeated Kansas City's PDL team, the Brass today at the Swope Park training complex 7-1. KC started their first game under Peter Vermes with what could potentially be a starting lineup against Chicago a week from Sunday.
Hartman
Watson - Conrad - Hohlbein - Besler
Hirsig
Harrington - Jewsbury - Gomez
Zoltan - Wolff
Adam Cristman apparently missed the game due to being sick, while Davy Arnaud, Claudio Lopez, and Roger Espinoza are recovering from minor injuries. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards (and probably the Swope Park Rangers at some point) will face the Brass today at Swope Park at 10:30 a.m. If you can't make it out to the friendly, follow us over on Twitter (or look at our "tweet roll" on the right side of this page often) to see how it's going. http://www.twitter.com/hillcrest_road. Click to continue reading...

The KCW Reserves/Swope Park Rangers will get back at it this Friday at 10:30 a.m. CT at our Swope Park Training Center with a match against the Kansas City Brass. They will then be back in action Monday, August 24 with a match against Creighton at 11 a.m. CT. As Mike so eloquently stated, Friday's match will be the first opportunity to see the team under the direction of Peter Vermes as Interim Head Coach. Click to continue reading...

When looking on paper one would thick that Red Bull New York's Juan Carlos Osorio or FC Dallas's Schellas Hyndman might have won the sack race. Ah, but the sack race does not play out on paper but in board rooms. Here's the press release from Kansas City/MLSNet:

The Kansas City Wizards announced Monday that the team has dismissed Head Coach Curt Onalfo.

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From the Kansas City Wizards Front Office, the team announced Monday that the team has dismissed Head Coach Curt Onalfo. The Wizards will announce an Interim Head Coach Tuesday at the team's Swope Park Training Center after the players have been addressed following an off-day Monday. Click to continue reading...

Head Coach Curt Onalfo has been dismissed. We will announce the Interim Head Coach tomorrow after our morning training session once the players have been informed. We would like to thank Curt for his service to the team the last 2+ years. We wish him all the best in the future. Official advisory:
The Kansas City Wizards announced Monday that the team has dismissed Head Coach Curt Onalfo. Click to continue reading...

The Kansas City Wizards have struggled this season and it was announced Monday evening that they have fired head coach Curt Onalfo. An interim coach will be announced Tuesday. Here's the full press release from the team.

Kansas City Wizards dismiss head coach Curt Onalfo

(August 3, 2009) – The Kansas City Wizards announced Monday that the team has dismissed Head Coach Curt Onalfo.

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The Kansas City Wizards announced Monday that the team has dismissed Head Coach Curt Onalfo. The Wizards will announce an Interim Head Coach Tuesday at the team's Swope Park Training Center after the players have been addressed following an off-day Monday. "Our shareholder group is thankful for Curt Onalfo's service over the last two-and-a-half seasons, but we felt a change needed to be made," Click to continue reading...

It took more than it probably should have, but the KC Wizards advanced to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup after their penalty kick win over the Minnesota Thunder last night. Coach Onalfo made 9 changes to the lineup that started on Sunday against Santos Laguna. The only hold overs were Lance Watson and Roger Espinoza. Click to continue reading...

The Wizards get back to action on Tuesday in Minnesota when they take on the Thunder in the third round of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The Thunder has struggled this season, and sit at the bottom of the USL-1 table with a 1-7-4 record, 3 points behind Cleveland who is one spot above them in the table. Click to continue reading...

This went out in our weekly update this week, but we wanted to make sure everyone is aware. We'll be co-hosting a college showcase July 25-26 at our Swope Park Training Center and William Jewell College. Details:
The Kansas City Wizards, Raytown Soccer Club and William Jewell College will host the 2nd annual Kansas City College Showcase July 25-26. Click to continue reading...

Today was the weekly press conference for the Wizards at their Swope Park training facility. During the press conference, Coach Onalfo talked about the game against New England and the up coming SuperLiga games as well. Coach is planning to use his entire depth in the tournament and the team is definitely taking it seriously. Click to continue reading...

The KC Wizards and Swope Park Rangers took part in a scrimmage today against PDL side, the Des Moines Menace today at the Swope Park training complex. Unfortunately I didn't find out about the game until after it had already started so I missed the beginning of the game. In the first half though, the Wizards starters (minus Santiago Hirsig who was rested due to a minor injury) played against the Menace. Click to continue reading...

The Swope Park Rangers won again today, defeating the KC Brass 6-0 today. The lineup today was made up of all the players that didn't start yesterday against the Crew along with a few guest players. Here's the way the Rangers lined up to start the game:
Pardo
Leathers - Josh White - McKenzie - Marquess
Morsink
Harrington - Zusi - Souter
Thompson - Kraus
Both teams started off the game fairly even, with the game going back and forth. Click to continue reading...

Thanks to all the fans who came out for another sellout crowd at CommunityAmerica Ballpark even with the USA playing Honduras tonight in Chicago live on ESPN. The crowd was lively and supportive, though our boys didn't get the result tonight. Local product Andy Gruenebaum had a strong night for the crew, earning his first shutout in two seasons. Click to continue reading...