Some of the country's best youth talent was on display Saturday and Sunday as Sporting Kansas City hosted the inaugural Patterson Cup and Sporting Next-Gen Invitational at Wyandotte Sporting Fields in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Sporting Next-Gen Invitational consisted of 96 teams from across the region at the boys and girls U-8 through U-12 levels. Held in conjunction with the event was the Patterson Cup, an elite U-12 boys tournament featuring six of Major League Soccer's top youth academies—namely Sporting Kansas City, Atlanta United FC, Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC.
The Patterson Cup is named after Sporting KC co-owner Neal Patterson and his wife Jeanne, both of whom lost their lives to cancer in 2017.