Kirk Urso was recently honored with the Illinois Youth Soccer Career Achievement Award along with Birmingham City defender Jonathan Spector. The award was started in 2013 and given to Illinois Youth Soccer alumni who have achieved great success on the soccer field while also making an impact off the field. Kirk and Jonathan join Brian McBride as the only recipients of the award.
"We have known Kirk since he started participating in our Illinois Olympic Development Program (ODP) process," said Mary Jane Bender of the Illinois Youth Soccer Association. "He was not only a talented, hard-working and disciplined soccer player but a very kind and thoughtful person. While Kirk was in residence at the U.S. Training Camp in Bradenton, he welcomed our Illinois ODP team players who came to play his National Team and even joined us for dinner to their great delight. He volunteered in our Illinois Soccer for Success program for at-risk children living in Chicago’s inner city. He participated as a coach-in-training in our Illinois ODP camps and was a role model to the younger players. Kirk always had a smile on his face and is the personification of sportsmanship.
"He made the U.S. soccer community a better place."
Urso was drafted 10th overall in the 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft by the Crew and made 6 appearances in his rookie season before passing away suddenly on August 5, 2012 due to a congenital heart defect.
