Chris
Keenan and Stephanie Keenan are the founders, owners, and operators
of the Kingdom. In their eleventh year of operating the Kingdom Organization,
the Keenan’s have a good balance between Chris’ soccer expertise
and Stephanie’s organizational and logistical strengths. The Keenan’s
have a unique partnership and perspective as they are also parents
of three children who have, or will be, participating in all of the
Kingdom
programs. They currently have one daughter in Kingdom Reserves, and
will have another daughter who will play Select next fall and spring.
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Kalamazoo Kingdom: Soccer Development
in Southwest Michigan
 Email
to a friend
 Player development is the cornerstone of the Kingdom’s vision
of advancing soccer in every community across Southwest Michigan. Since
its inception in 1995, the Kingdom has led the way in creating positive
environments focused on player development, from the age of 2 with
the Micro Kickers program, up to collegiate-aged athletes playing on
the Kingdom’s USL Premier Development League team.
Chris and Stephanie Keenan purchased the franchise rights for the Premier
Development team they named the “Kalamazoo Kingdom” in
1995, and fielded the first team in spring 1996, drawing over 2,000
fans per game. United Soccer Leagues honored the team after its first
season naming Kingdom the “Premier Development League Organization
of the Year.” In 2002, Stephanie Keenan was named “PDL
Executive of the Year.” Following the team’s 10th season
in 2005, Kingdom was inducted into the USL Hall of Fame.
Kingdom Soccer rolled out a youth camp program in 1997 that now attracts
more than 1,000 youth each summer. Kingdom Reserves Premier Youth Club
was launched in June 2003 with seven teams forming in the club’s
first year, which now includes 15 teams. In June, Kingdom will hold
tryouts for a new select-level youth soccer club, Kingdom Select in
Portage, Mattawan, Plainwell, and Galesburg.
In 2004, the Keenan’s realized their dream to offer sports programming
year round with the opening of Kingdom Indoor Center (KIC), which hosts
three sessions of indoor soccer, flag football and baseball over the
winter months.
Youth Programs- Ages 2-16
In June of 1997, Chris Keenan began the Kingdom camp program that brought
in over 400 campers in its first year. The youth soccer camps have
grown tremendously and now offer 26 instructional classes for ages
2 to 16: Micro Kickers, ages 2 & 3; Mini Kickers, ages 4 - 6;
Skill Builders, ages 7 – 13; Kingdom Elite, ages 8 – 16;
Goalkeeper training, ages 8 – 16; and the High School Camp.
Kingdom Youth Soccer Camp Director, Bryan Goyings is both an experienced
coach and player. He holds the National Youth License, which caters
to children U-12 and younger, and a USSF C License. While stressing
player development and improvement, Bryan also believes that fun
should be a pillar of youth soccer. He has four years of experience
playing soccer for Kalamazoo College and has experienced coaching
a number of youth teams in the Kalamazoo and Portage area. Coach
Bryan is the assistant boy’s varsity coach at Plainwell High
School and is the U-18 Reserves team coach, the current Premier League
Champions. Visit them at www.kicsports.net and register your child
today!
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