Sporting KC signs 18-year-old Kayden Pierre as club’s MLS-leading 12th Homegrown Player
Sporting Kansas City on Tuesday signed 18-year-old outside back Kayden Pierre as an MLS Homegrown Player, the club’s 12th Homegrown Player currently on the roster.
That’s the most Homegrown Players currently on any single Major League Soccer team.
Pierre signed a four-year MLS contract through 2024, with an option for 2025, becoming the 18th Homegrown to emerge from the Sporting Kansas City Academy.
The other academy products now playing for Sporting’s top squad are Grayson Barber, Gianluca Busio, Ozzie Cisneros, Cam Duke, Tyler Freeman, Wilson Harris, Felipe Hernandez, Jaylin Lindsey, Kaveh Rad, Daniel Salloi and Brooks Thompson.
Born and raised in Rochester Hills, Mich., Pierre joined the Sporting KC Academy in 2018. He represented Sporting at the U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels, making upwards of 60 academy appearances and guiding the U-17s to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs in 2019.
In KC, he has lived with a host family through a program supported by the Audi Goals Drive Progress initiative.
Pierre can play both left back and right. His pro debut came last fall, when he signed an amateur academy contract for Sporting Kansas City II. He started two of three USL Championship appearances under head coach Paulo Nagamura, including a 90-minute outing in a dramatic 2-1 road victory over Indy Eleven on Sept. 30.
In 205 minutes of USL Championship action last year, Pierre recorded four interceptions and 10 clearances while winning 77% of his duels and completing 89% of his passes, including three chances created.
Pierre enjoyed a strong 2021 preseason campaign with the Sporting KC first team this spring in Arizona, featuring in all four friendlies and logging 176 minutes as an outside back. He most recently started in Sporting Kansas City II’s 2021 season opener Saturday, playing the full 90 minutes at right back in a 2-0 loss to FC Tulsa.
Pierre has also competed for the U.S. U-14 and U-16 national teams. He participated in multiple U-14 training camps from 2016-17 before shifting to the U-16s for training camps in 2018-19.
This story was originally published May 4, 2021 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Sporting KC signs 18-year-old Kayden Pierre as club’s MLS-leading 12th Homegrown Player."