035: Adrian Zendejas of Sporting Kansas City

At just 23 years old, Adrian Zendejas has a full – and promising – career ahead of him. Currently Tim Melia’s backup at Sporting KC, he has experienced success at every level and for every club he’s competed.

In today’s episode, Adrian talks about his path to MLS and to professional goalkeeping, beginning with a standout youth career around San Diego, California. After a stint south of the border with the Xolos of Club Tijuana, he moved back to the states and joined Swope Park Rangers in 2016.

After two seasons with Swope – both ending agonizingly close to USL championships – Adrian found himself working with KC’s first team on a daily basis, backing up one of the top goalkeepers in the U.S., and earning his first two starts with the first team in 2018.

In today’s episode, we talk about the lessons that Adrian has learned between Chula Vista and Kansas City, about an epic 2017 penalty shootout – where he found himself saving and scoring the decisive penalties (see the link below), and about the value of playing and training with Tim Melia. I hope you enjoy the show!

Special thanks to Adrian Zendejas for joining me!