Retired soccer star Matt Besler returns to Sporting Kansas City in a new on-field role

Before Matt Besler was honored on the field at Children’s Mercy Park ahead of Sporting Kansas City’s home opener this month, he wasn’t sure how he’d feel when the big moment arrived.

After all, the former standout at Blue Valley West High School who went on to star with Notre Dame, Sporting KC and the U.S. Men’s National Team hadn’t been there for a while.

“I had mixed emotions coming back and I feel like I was scared coming back to put myself back in that situation,” Besler told The Star ahead of Sporting’s match against Real Salt Lake on Saturday. “But I’m really glad I did.”

The mixed emotions made sense. When Sporting chose to go in a different direction after the 2020 season, opting to not bring back the Overland Park native after a 12-year playing career here, Besler found a new home with another Major League Soccer club: Austin FC.

But that didn’t last long. After signing with the Texas team in January 2021 as a free agent, Besler retired last year — a concussion ended his MLS season, and then his career, prematurely. Until his return to the pitch in KCK this month, the most recent time he’d visited Children’s Mercy Park, a place where he made so many of his 348 career appearances with Sporting KC, he was suited up for the visiting team.

While his career as an MLS player has come to a close now, Besler plans to be back at Children’s Mercy Park on a more regular basis now, in a different capacity.

Besler was on hand Saturday to help the club honor local educator Dorothy Drake before kickoff of the Sporting-RSL match. Recognized as a “Blue KC Sporting Samaritan,” Drake came out of retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist students and teachers at Trailridge Elementary School in Lee’s Summit.

Drake and other Blue KC Sporting Samaritans are teachers or students who are nominated online for their selfless deeds. Those selected are typically honored during Sporting KC’s pre-game programming at the team’s home games. They receive a customized jersey, four suite-level tickets and a parking pass for the game.

The person nominating the Sporting Samaritan gets two tickets to the match, a parking pass and a gift card to the Sporting Style team store.

Besler began participating in the program as a player when it was launched in 2016. As a player, he’d fill much the same role as the one he occupied last weekend, leading the day’s honoree onto the field to be lauded before kickoff.

He took a hiatus when he was released here and signed with Austin, but now that he’s back in town, he has jumped at the opportunity to get involved again.

“It’s grown a little bit every year,” Besler said. “The first couple of years we were figuring out and learning on the fly. Looking back, it’s been great because we’ve been able to recognize so many teachers and students throughout Kansas City.”

Now that he has fewer game-day responsibilities and other duties throughout the week — being a professional soccer player makes for a busy schedule — Besler is enjoying the opportunity to reconnect with his old club ... and its fans.

“Obviously when you’re a player, you’re handcuffed a bit with your schedule and time commitments,” he said. “Now I feel like I can commit myself even more to the program.”

Besler encouraged Kansas Citians to nominate educators they know who are making a difference in the lives of their students. Nominations of outstanding teachers and students can be made at sportingkc.com/bluekc.

This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Retired soccer star Matt Besler returns to Sporting Kansas City in a new on-field role."