Basement Brothers: Sophomore Alex Tiedt’s family hosts out-of-state teen soccer players for the Sporting KC Academy that teach him three life lessons

Then-fifth-grader Alex Tiedt knew the paved concrete pathway to Swope Park Soccer Village like he knew the thump of a soccer ball against his cleats. He and his mom had walked past the announcement bulletin board plastered with posters between the parking lot and turf fields countless times without stopping after tournaments and practices. But after this game, one poster was much larger than the others — they had to stop and read.

Become a Sporting KC host family.

The pair talked about it the whole car ride home. Sporting KC Academy’s elite youth soccer team was looking for local families to host out-of-state teen players in their homes. 11-year-old Tiedt thought it would be cool to have a “brother.” His mom and dad saw an opportunity for him and his little sister Anna to have an older role model in the house. 

That conversation would lead to three teenage boys — all gifted soccer players with wildly different personalities — living in their basement one at a time over the course of five years.

The Tiedts contacted Sporting KC through the information on the poster, and their house passed an inspection soon after. The Sporting KC representative told them to expect a three-to-six month wait until a new player would need a host family.

One week later they received a call that a player was ready to move in. 

14-year-old Gianluca Busio was flown out from his home in North Carolina to meet the Tiedts. Busio’s mom came out with a big, foil “thank you” balloon, whereas Busio himself thanked them quietly. Tiedt’s family liked Busio’s mature disposition and friendly smile and fully committed to taking him in for the next four years. His reserved personality rubbed off on Tiedt.

“I used to say whatever was on my mind,” Tiedt said. “I basically had no filter before meeting [Busio]. He had a filter.”

Tiedt watched Busio with his teammates and friends and noticed that he was thoughtful and “never hurt anyone’s feelings” — something Tiedt admires even after Busio moved out. 

18-year-old Clarence Weah — the second player the Tiedts hosted — was not quiet. From Minnesota, he had detailed stories of tequila-filled college parties and late nights that he brought home to Tiedt after weekends out.

“[Weah] would tell me these stories, and I was just like, ‘Bro I’m 12,’” Tiedt said. 

Weah would clock in for soccer practices and took his sport seriously but still managed to have fun. Six months later, Weah moved out. Not before showing Tiedt the importance of living in the moment and spending time with friends.

The Tiedt’s weren’t originally sure if they wanted to commit to hosting another player, but were convinced after meeting 15-year-old Macielo Tschantret from Maryland this year. He has been living with them for the past three months. 

“He’s very dedicated and does a lot more schoolwork than me,” Tiedt said. “I’ll be watching TV while he’s in the basement studying.”

Now-sophomore Tiedt and Tschantret, who goes to Rockhurst, have different friend groups even though they’re in the same grade. Still, Tiedt admires Tschantret’s work ethic and is motivated to study more. Tschantret will be staying with Tiedt until August and potentially longer if he continues to play on the Sporting KC Academy team. They see each other at Tiedt family dinners, after school and on the weekends — just like Busio and Weah in years past.

“I thought they would mostly be in their basement all the time, but they’ve been pretty good friends to me,” Tiedt said.