Quintilla loan shows added benefit of Swope Park Rangers

Sporting Kansas City announced they were loaning Spanish midfielder Jordi Quintilla down to the Swope Park Rangers yesterday. This shows another of the many benefits of Sporting KC having their own USL affiliate and it being in Kansas City.

"It's good for Jordi," Swope Park manager Marc Dos Santos explained. "If you think about last year when a player didn't travel because he wasn't going to be in the eighteen, he would be training for a week without the first team. A player that one week healthy, goes without training with the group, without traveling, without playing with group, it was tough training with the fitness coach."

With Sporting Kansas City having two road games out west, they did not return home after the San Jose match so Quintilla would have had a full seven days training without the larger group environment. The benefit is not only for guys who are out of the eighteen, but players that are on the road back from injury as well. Both Chance Myers and Paulo Nagamura are working on fitness and timing coming off injuries and were able to practice with the Rangers. Having other pros that train in a similar fashion available with the first team gone will pay off with both of them potentially being ready for first team action sooner.

"Jordi is motivated, he knows he didn't travel, he isn't with the team but he knows he can train with a good group in a competitive way and have a competitive game on Wednesday," Dos Santos added. "It's very positive for guys from the first team that stay back."

A competitive game on Wednesday? Does that mean Jordi will start?

"He will start," Dos Santos confirmed.