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Sporting KC adds homegrown center back Kaveh Rad

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Posted at 7:59 PM, Apr 06, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-06 20:59:40-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sporting Kansas City added another homegrown player to its roster.

Tuesday, the club signed 19-year-old defender Kaveh Rad.

Rad was a member of the Sporting KC Academy and spent the past two seasons impressing with Sporting KC's minor league affiliate, Sporting KC II, in the USL Championship.

The North Carolina native signed a two-year deal through 2022 with options for 2023 and 2024.

"I was extremely excited because I've been working really hard to get up to this point," Rad said "I'm overcome with emotion at that point and happy for my family because they only want to see me succeed."

Rad went to Arizona for spring training with the senior team and started three of four games.

Sporting Kansas City now has 11 players on the senior roster that were developed in the club’s Academy, the most in all of Major League Soccer.

Rad and his twin brother Jahon moved from Durham, North Carolina, to Kansas City, Missouri, to join the Sporting KC Academy in 2016. Jahon is a midfielder and signed his first professional contract with Sporting KC II earlier this year.