Lexington Sporting Club settles differences with boys high school soccer community
Lexington Sporting Club announced an agreement with some of the city’s boys high school soccer stakeholders on Tuesday that appears to resolve a dispute festering between the parties since last summer.
In a joint statement with one of the high school community’s designated spokesmen, LSC unveiled a revised development path for the area’s top boys players that allows them to continue to their high school careers if they so choose while retaining their top-level “academy” status, reversing a policy implemented last year.
“We have been engaged in discussions with Lexington Sporting Club since last summer’s decision,” said Henry Clay athletic director Kristian Junker, who has spearheaded talks between LSC and a number of high school coaches over the last several months. “We strongly believe in the immense benefits of scholastic sports, and research supports this. We are pleased to move forward with this new partnership, which creates a pathway for students to continue playing in their local communities while pursuing high-level development.”
The controversy arose last June when LSC Academy, the youth development program tied to the United Soccer League professional club, told invitees to its top under-20 team that they would have to forego their high school seasons if they wanted to take part of the club’s new full-time training model.
The stipulation, a move that’s routine in many of the nation’s largest cities with Major League Soccer affiliated academies but was new to Lexington, drew immediate criticism and eventually a petition signed by Junker and more than 70 other high school coaches, athletic directors and principals pleading with LSC to reconsider.
New ‘hybrid model’ announced
On its face, LSC Academy’s new training model for top boys players does not appear much different from the one that drew the ire of high school coaches around Central Kentucky when several picked LSC Academy over their varsity teams.
LSC continues to offer a “full-time academy player” option that will require student-athletes to give up high school play.
But it’s also offering a “hybrid” option that allows academy invitees to play their high school seasons “while remaining part of LSC’s academy.”
“Over the last year, we’ve spent a lot of time listening to coaches and athletic directors to better understand how we can work together to support these student-athletes,” Lexington Sporting Club CEO Kim Shelton said in the club’s press release. “This partnership isn’t just about development, it’s about making sure players can have the best possible experience, whether that’s competing for their high school, playing at the highest club level, or striving for future collegiate and professional opportunities. We’re excited to continue strengthening our connection with local high schools and creating a soccer culture that benefits everyone in Lexington.”
Still, the explanation of the “hybrid model” contains language that indicates such high school players would be evaluated for placement upon their return to LSC’s academy.
In an official statement to the Herald-Leader last July, LSC presented a similar “reevaluation” scenario for players who chose high school play, but LSC did not indicate those players would be guaranteed to retain their “academy” status. Instead, they would have to try out again and could be placed on a lower-level club team in their age group.
That uncertainty led the majority of those academy invitees to pick LSC over high school play last summer, high school coaches said. Some of those same coaches seem satisfied with LSC’s new approach.
“They’re still going to offer the full-time academy stuff like they did this year, and some kids might still choose that,” said Henry Clay coach Jason Behler, whose team lost a couple of potential players to LSC Academy but went on to win the school’s fourth state soccer title. “But the fact that kids could choose to play for their high school and then, when the high school season is over, immediately you go back to the academy, I think, is reassuring.”
James Wray, head coach of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s six-time state champions, said talks with LSC officials in recent months have been much more collaborative than they were before the prior policy rocked his team and others.
“There’s some new leadership this year, and I feel like they have made good on what they said they were going to do in our various discussions,” Wray said. “I’m hopeful that those who choose to continue to play high school and enjoy their high school season won’t be punished and not be able to play for the academy. From what (LSC officials) have said they will be accepted straight into the academy after their high school season.”
High school games planned at LSC Stadium
In addition to the agreement on its player development program, LSC announced it would host a pair of boys high school varsity games this year and next at LSC Stadium, the club’s new $30 million venue.
Defending state champion Henry Clay will play six-time state champion Paul Laurence Dunbar there on Aug. 28 and perennial top-25 teams Lafayette and Frederick Douglass will take to the LSC pitch on Sept. 25.
Tuesday’s agreement could also help lead to LSC Stadium becoming host to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s boys and girls state soccer championships as early as this fall.
As part of tax incentive agreements with the city of Lexington in 2023, LSC agreed to host the boys and girls state tournaments at the stadium for 15 years, but a deal with the KHSAA to do so has not been hammered out.
KHSAA commissioner Julian Tackett spoke of the possibility of placing the state championships there at the organization’s Board of Control meeting last November, but he indicated that as long as the local high school soccer community was at odds with LSC, his staff would not move forward on the facility as a potential state site.
“We applaud our schools for being such strong advocates, as were we,” Tackett said about Tuesday’s announcement. “We look forward to continuing to explore options for use of the primary stadium for part of our series. ... We can begin those discussions in earnest and work toward fulfilling the commitment made by the city to possibly hosting our events in that facility.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 8:44 PM.
