USL’s Swope Park Rangers Focus On Developing Youth Talent and Win

USL’s Swope Park Rangers are part of the Sporting Kansas City family and fit perfectly between the MLS team and the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, providing an opportunity bridge to further develop talent. Even with the pressure to make it to the USL Playoffs, Swope Park Rangers remain true to the value of earning more than just a single win on the pitch.

The Swope Park Rangers (14-11-8, 50pts) earned the opportunity to battle at the USL Cup Playoffs after their important victory against the LA Galaxy II (10-16-7, 37pts).

Clinching the berth as the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, Swope takes on Sacramento Republic FC on Saturday, October 20 in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. This will be the Rangers’ third straight season to reach the postseason.

Recap: Dominating the Galaxy

Swope hosted the Southern California USL team on October 14 and consistently overshadowed their guests who were unable to find a positive result for the 2018 Regular Season finale.

Swope held on to possession with a slight lead (53.6% to 46.45%) over the LA Galaxy II but won significantly more aerial duels, netting an impressive 5-1 final score.

Wan Kuzain opened the scoring for Swope in the 28th minute followed by Kharlton Belmar, Felipe Hernandez, Hadji Barry, and Wilson Harris — all showing off their talents and finding the back of the net. Amer Didic and Felipe Hernandez assisted.

Jorge Hernández scored the lone goal for the Galaxy.

Soccer Today Interview with Swope Park Rangers’ Head Coach Paulo Nagamura

Diane Scavuzzo: Sporting Kansas City is known for its focus on player development and for providing opportunities for players to advance. You had quite a few Sporting Kansas City Academy players who have been training and playing with your team. How are they performing? 

Paulo Nagamura: Very well. It’s interesting because sometimes people don’t understand what Swope Park Rangers is all about. They just think it’s another team in the USL. 

We have an objective here at Swope Park Rangers and the primary objective is to develop young guys that we have within the club.

I believe the young guys who have earned opportunities with Swope Park Rangers have evolved a lot this year. They have been adapting to the speed of the play at the level of USL. So I believe if we can keep evolving these players, a lot of them can be future professionals, hopefully for our league and for our club. 

Diane Scavuzzo: When an Academy player joins your USL squad, does it take them a long time to get up to speed?

Paulo Nagamura: Peter Vermes, Technical Director of Swope Park Rangers as well as Manager of MLS’ Sporting Kansas City has the Academy, Swope Park Rangers, and the First Team all playing the same style of play and following the same principle. 

So, it’s easier for the players to adapt to each level that they change to — they only have to focus on the speed of the play and the decision making because they already know the style of the play. We hope this makes the transition smoother and easier for players coming from Academy to Swope Park Rangers and on to the First Team. 

Diane Scavuzzo: How would you describe the difference in the speed of play from the Academy, Swope and the First Team? 

Paulo Nagamura: The speed of the game is basically the speed of decision making — the higher the level you play, the faster the game is and the less time you have to make decisions. It is definitely one of those things that the young players have to adapt in order to move a level. 

Diane Scavuzzo: Congratulations on advancing to the USL Playoffs. 

Paulo Nagamura: Thank you. In the match against the LA Galaxy II, I think the guys had a very solid performance on both sides of the ball defensively and offensively. The team is performing well, and we are heading to the playoffs on a high note.

Photo Credit: Nick Smith