COMETS BID FAREWELL TO KEVIN ELLIS

KANSAS CITY (Feb. 21, 2022) – The Kansas City Comets announced today that forward Kevin Ellis has informed the club of his intention to step away from the team effective immediately, officially ending his professional indoor soccer career.

The Kansas City native and former Sporting Kansas City product has played 3 ½ MASL seasons for the Comets. Over that time, Ellis recorded 40 goals and 17 assists in 41 games, including the postseason and preseason Central Cup Tournaments. This season, Ellis had scored 7 goals in the 7 regular season games in which he appeared.

Notifying Comets Head Coach, Leo Gibson via text, Ellis spoke of the wear and tear his body was taking and also his inability to give the team his 100% best effort.

“The Comets are definitely a much better team with Kevin Ellis on it, but if he feels that he can no longer mentally or physically muster the effort needed to contribute to the team, then we certainly wish him well,” said Comets Managing Partner, Brian Budzinski. “It’s unfortunate that Kevin has decided to make this decision mid-season while the team is in first place and poised for what we believe will be a tremendous postseason run.”

Ellis came up through the Sporting Kansas City Juniors Academy ranks and got his call up in 2011, making his MLS debut in 2013. His most productive MLS season was in 2015, when he started 26 of his 27 appearances, earning Team of the Week honors in Week 23. Ellis appeared in a total of 90 games over his eight-year MLS career, spending seven seasons with Sporting Kansas City, then splitting time with the Chicago Fire and D.C. United during the 2018 campaign.

After re-signing with the Comets before this season, Ellis had this to say about the upcoming 2021-22 campaign: “I am excited to get going. We have a team capable of winning it all this year.”

Ellis appeared in 41 out of a possible 61 games during his time with the Comets.