Sporting Kansas City announced on Wednesday the addition of an under-13 Academy team -- the fifth competitive age group available in the club's youth development program (U12, U13, U14, U16, U18) -- for the 2015-16 season.

“The addition of a U13 team is an important step in the growth of our Academy," said Jon Parry, the Sporting KC Academy Director of Coaching. "As we strive to be a world-class academy, the U13 team will help further each player’s development and provide another platform in the creation of the future homegrown player.”

The initial round of tryouts for the under-13 Sporting KC Academy team will be held from 6-8 p.m. CT on Wednesday, May 6th or Thursday, May 7th at Swope Soccer Village (6310 Lewis Road) in Kansas City, Missouri. Registration is free and open to all players born in 2002. Select players will then be invited to return for further evaluation on Tuesday, May 18 and Wednesday, May 19.

In addition, the Sporting Kansas City Academy will host tryouts for the remaining four youth teams next month:

Under-12 (born in 2003-2005): May 6-7 and May 20-21

Under-14 (born in 2001): May 13-14 and May 18-19

Under-16 (born in 1999 or 2000): May 11-13

Under-18 (born in 1997 or 1998): May 11-12

Since being formed in 2007, the SKC Academy has produced three Homegrown players for Sporting Kansas City's senior team (Jon Kempin, Erik Palmer-Brown and Kevin Ellis) in addition to numerous other professional players. Two former Sporting KC Academy players -- Brandon Fricke and Raymond Lee -- were selected by Major League Soccer teams in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft earlier this year, while seven of the Academy's high school seniors will continue their careeer at the NCAA Division I level this fall.

WATCH: U12's goal on ESPN FC this week

Moreover, several players in the Sporting Kansas City Academy have represented the United States on the international stage in 2015. Nine of the 27 players chosen to the United States first-ever boys youth futsal national teams came from the Sporting KC Academy, while Jaylin Lindsey and Cameron Duke attended the U.S. Under-15 Boys' National Team training camp last month.

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