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Swope Park Rangers sign Josh Chong and Jahon Rad

Two more SKC Academy members sign academy contracts.

Thad Bell

On Friday, just before they’d be needed on the weekend, the Swope Park Rangers announced two new signings from the SKC Academy. They added winger Gyuwon Joshua Chong and defensive midfielder Jahon Rad.

Rad, who is just 17-years-old, is probably a familiar name and there are a couple reasons for that. His twin brother Kaveh Rad is already on an academy contract with SPR. Additionally, Jahon was on a SPR academy contract in 2018 as well and he already made his professional debut.

Rad and his brother moved from the Capital Area RailHawks Academy ahead of the 2016-17 USSDA season. The Rad brothers follow Sporting Kansas City’s tradition of scouting Homegrown territory not assigned to anyone. They are both from North Carolina like Sporting KC’s Gianluca Busio and Jaylin Lindsey.

Chong is just 18-years-old and he’s had two stints with the Sporting KC Academy. Originally he moved to KC from Lynchburg, Virginia in 2013. He rejoined the academy in 2018 and has since made 33 appearances and added seven goals. He’s been on both the U-17s and U-19s since rejoining SKC’s academy.

In between his time with the SKC Academy he played with European Soccer Institute in Kansas. Chong is a Korean American who was born in Seoul, South Korea.

Both Chong and Rad were in the 18 for the Rangers 5-1 loss on Saturday against future MLS expansion club Nashville SC (video highlights). Rad made the start at defensive midfielder with the two primary options, Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal and Ayyoub Allach both out with injuries. Camden Riley has also played that role but was needed at center back with Graham Smith in the lineup with the first team.

Chong was in the 18 but was an unused substitute on Saturday against Nashville. The Rangers are back in action at Children’s Mercy Park on Sunday, May 19, 2019 against Atlanta United 2.

Below is the full Swope Park Rangers roster, not including any loan players from SKC. The average age of the roster as of today is 20 years, one month and six days old.

SPR Roster - 5/13/19

# Name Position DOB Prior Club Joined
# Name Position DOB Prior Club Joined
85 Felipe Hernandez MID 6/8/1998 SKC Academy 1/6/2017
49 Will Little MID/FB 4/9/1998 SKC Academy 1/6/2017
77 Camilo Benitez Wing 8/16/1999 SKC Academy 2/9/2018
72 Justin Bilyeu LB 2/3/1994 New York Red Bulls (MLS) 5/7/2018
96 Wilson Harris CF 11/28/1999 SKC Academy 7/3/2018
95 Rassambek Akhmatov MID 5/31/1996 FC Miami City (USL League Two) 8/3/2018
91 Ethan Vanacore-Decker FWD 10/6/1994 North County United (USL League Two) 8/10/2018
98 Ayyoub Allach MID 1/28/1998 Lierse SK (Belgium) 1/4/2019
39 Jerome Ngom Mbekeli RW 9/30/1998 MFK Vyskov (Czech Republic) 1/4/2019
92 Alexsander Andrade MID/LB 9/6/1998 Athletico Paranaense (Brazil) 1/31/2019
43 Mark Segbers RB 4/18/1996 New England Revolution (MLS) 2/6/2019
53 Killian Colombie LW 11/2/1995 Iona College (New York) 2/12/2019
44 Camden Riley MID/DEF 8/20/1996 University of the Pacific (Cali) 2/20/2019
79 William Opoku Mensah FWD 1/3/1996 Karela United (Ghana) 3/6/2019
31 Brooks Thompson GK 6/13/2002 SKC Academy 3/7/2019
60 Mo Abualnadi* CB 2/8/2001 SKC Academy 3/8/2019
64 Jake Davis* MID 1/3/2002 SKC Academy 3/8/2019
80 Sean Karani* FWD 12/14/2000 SKC Academy 3/8/2019
67 Max Trejo* GK 4/10/2002 SKC Academy 4/4/2019
50 Dylan Hooper* CB 11/13/2003 SKC Academy 4/4/2019
48 Kaveh Rad* DEF 6/13/2001 SKC Academy 4/4/2019
47 Tucker Lepley* MID 1/17/2002 SKC Academy 4/4/2019
45 John Pulskamp GK 4/19/2001 LA Galaxy Academy 4/5/2019
54 Gyuwon Joshua Chung* FWD 1/29/2001 SKC Academy 5/10/2019
84 Jahon Rad* MID 6/13/2001 SKC Academy 5/10/2019
* = player on academy contract