The Sporting Kansas City Academy has added two coaches to the team’s technical staff ahead of the 2015-16 season with the hiring of Declan Jogi to lead the U-13’s in their inaugural season and Josh Gardner as the new head coach of the U-14’s.

Jogi holds a USSF “B” coaching license and was formerly a professional player in both the United States and Zimbabwe. Prior to joining the Sporting KC Academy, Jogi was the Director of Coaching with FC Dallas TRI and Fusion FC in Tennessee, where he was also on the state’s Olympic Development Program staff.

“Declan is being brought in as a coach, but also as a technician,” Sporting Kansas City Manager Peter Vermes said. “He's excellent in teaching the basic technical foundation for the players and that’s an area that we want to improve on moving forward. He's going to be a big asset in the development of our overall academy player pool.”

Gardner holds a USSF “A” coaching license and 11 years of professional playing experience, including seven seasons in Major League Soccer and two with Sporting Kansas City. Gardner was most recently a coach with Sporting KC Academy Affiliate SPORTING Blue Valley.

“The great thing about adding a person like Josh to the staff is the fact that he was a professional player in the League,” Vermes said. “He's gone through the system in the United States — starting as a youth player and then eventually becoming an MLS player. And he's been in this club, which is an important thing. He's got first-hand experience of the ethos and the culture of what we're trying to create and it really helps when the young players have a chance to talk and learn from an ex-professional player. Adding him is going to be a great benefit to the overall development of these kids.”

Along with the addition of Jogi and Gardner, the Sporting KC Academy has also hired two new full-time positions to support the youth development teams with Mike Boisselle serving as an athletic trainer and Marcus Siler working as an equipment manager.

Sporting KC Academy Staff

Jon Parry – Academy Director, U-16 Head Coach

Istvan Urbanyi – U-18 Head Coach

Josh Gardner – U-14 Head Coach

Declan Jogi – U-13 Head Coach

Matt Trumpp – U-12 Head Coach

Alan Mayer – GK Coach

Josh McAllister – Fitness Coach

Jon Farrell – Team Administrator

Mike Boisselle – Athletic Trainer

Marcus Siler – Equipment Manager

The Sporting KC Academy formed in 2007 and features five fully-funded teams from the under-12 through under-18 age groups that train at Swope Soccer Village and compete at the highest levels. Last month, the Sporting KC Academy became the first boys team from the state of Kansas to win a US Youth Soccer National Championships title.

Three Sporting KC Academy products are members of Sporting KC’s senior team roster through Major League Soccer’s Homegrown Player initiative. Kevin Ellis leads the trio with three goals and four assists in 48 appearances across all competitions, while 18-year-old Erik Palmer-Brown started for the United States at the 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup and goalkeeper Jon Kempin joined the full U.S. Men’s National Team this year.

For more information, visit SportingKC.com/Academy or follow @SKCAcademy on Twitter and Instagram.