Comets preseason commences for 2023-24

The Kansas City Comets have begun their preseason training camp ahead of the 2023-24 MASL campaign.

Preseason kicked off on Monday morning at KC Soccer Dome, the longtime training facility of the Comets located five minutes north of Downtown Kansas City.

Stefan Stokic and his staff are excited to get training camp going after preparing for his first season as head coach over the offseason.

"It's been a long wait," he said. "I'm just excited and happy to have all the guys here and be able to work with them on the field. All summer long it's been putting the pieces together, but what I love the most is being on the field and coaching."

He will have two training sessions per day for the first two weeks of preseason before turning more attention to the season opener on Nov. 26 against the Milwaukee Wave.

Stokic explained that the Comets will mix experience with youth to implement a playing style they hope can win the Eastern Conference and a Ron Newman Cup.

"It's going to be a process, especially for the new guys that have never played the indoor game. We also have some good veteran leadership. It will take time to get the team to learn and understand our style of play. I just have to be patient, but I'm really excited with what we have on the field and can't wait for it to finally fall into place."

The Comets are eager to get back in front of last season's MASL attendance leaders. A strengthened defense and a more efficient offense will re-energize the Comets throughout the season.

"We'd like to give the fans an exciting style of play. We want to be a high-pace and high-pressuring team and a team that wants to go out there and win every game for the best fans in the league."

Here are some other preseason training camp updates:

● Players facing visa issues are Junior Kazeem, Akins Banton and Christian Anderaos; They are hopeful to be eligible to play by mid to late January

● Benji Monreal has signed a three-year extension; he will only be eligible for games played in Mexico this season

● Goalkeeper Steven Tekesky has been released; that leaves four goalkeepers on the roster consisting of Nicolau Neto, Chris 'Tito' Favela, Chris Frederick and Phillip Ejimadu

● All three of the Comets' selections from the 2023 MASL Pro Player Combine Draft are in camp including Juan Esteban Gomez, Antonio De La Torre and Ramazani Juma

● Zach Reget and Chad Vandergriffe will miss the first week of camp as they represent the United States in the 2023 Minifootball World Cup in the United Arab Emirates

● The Comets have also invited two additional players to camp as trialists