On the backside of a low-slung business complex between Interstate 35 and West Pennway Street in Kansas City, Missouri, a stream of men carrying cleats, towels and gym bags files through a set of double doors.
Inside are two turf soccer fields, 30 yards long. On each are pickup games between teams made up of professors, entrepreneurs and college students.
Waiting along one wall last week, 24-year-old Justin Wright twisted his dreadlocks. At a towering 6 feet, 5 inches tall, Wright is a former defender for the Metropolitan Community College men’s soccer team.
“I’m not playing anywhere right now,” he says, adding these games are a kind of physical therapy for him. But he’s taking it slowly. “ I’ve had two knee surgeries, so I’m kind of testing it out right now.”
These pickup games attract all levels of talent, Wright says, and the buzz around the World Cup has ignited interest in the Kansas City pickup scene.
“I feel like there's gonna be a lot more, different people from, like, different places around the world, coming to Kansas City," says Wright. “A lot of good … players are coming up here, so the competitions are good.”
Felix G., another regular local competitor, says he appreciates the geographical diversity, and the style of play foreigners bring from their home countries.
“You see a lot of Latin Americans, a few European people,” he says, decked out in a pink jersey after an intense match. “Street soccer, a lot of futsal technique, a lot of technical aspects, people that grew up (playing) in a club, people that grew up in school — and it really adds to the excitement.”
Felix says visitors will likely be looking for pickup games to blow off steam between matches, and he hopes the brand Kansas City has promoted will inspire guests to seek out the many opportunities there are for pickup games.
Some meet-ups are free while others involve groups that can charge a fee. The Soccer Lot charges $7 per person, and others are as high as $10. And the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department has over two dozen soccer fields where anyone with reservations can play.
“When you want to look for it, you’ll find it,” Wright says. “There definitely are a lot of groups online, a lot of pick up places around the city, a lot with parks and recreation.”
A melting pot
KC2026, the organizing arm of Kansas City’s World Cup plans, claims nearly 650,000 people will come to celebrate and watch the World Cup in the metro, and a monthlong FIFA Fan Festival will be taking place on the lawn of the Liberty Memorial, just a couple of blocks away from The Soccer Lot facilities. Though it’s not officially a FIFA affiliate, the business is in a good position to receive visitors from outside of Kansas City and the U.S.
The Soccer Lot opened in 2016, and brought “five-a-side” soccer to Kansas City. The style features five players on each team, with games lasting just a few minutes to keep team rotations high.
Two of the three owners of the facility are Sporting KC alumni: former midfielder Christian Duke and former Director of Coaching Chris Dean. Many staff members are former collegiate players, including Camden Wiseman, who was a goalkeeper for Baker University and who now serves as The Soccer Lot’s facilities operation manager.
Just weeks before the World Cup matches, he says local amateur players are feeling the soccer mania.
“They're just excited to kind of see everything, just soccer in general,” said Wiseman. “Like, what teams are going to show up, what kind of people are we going to get? The overall experience of everybody that I talked to is just excitement.”
And while most of their front staff are bilingual, Wiseman says language won’t really be a barrier.
“Soccer has a way of almost hurdling that, because it's a universal language,” Wiseman says. “I think that's why it's beautiful, because the ball doesn't discriminate. You can pass to anybody, and I think that's what makes it perfect.”
Despite the more laid-back vibe and style of these pickup games, Wiseman believes that even players from more formal, organized leagues, with referees who adhere to strict rules, can ultimately benefit from the setting.
“(There are) a couple guys who will hard foul, but most of the time the group will kind of band together and be like: ‘Hey, you need to calm down a little bit. We're here to have fun,’” he says. “I think being comfortable with being uncomfortable is probably one of the best things you can do, and I think that's what we kind of build here.”
Hoping to expand the soccer scene
There are some at The Soccer Lot who think this batch of amateur players will be tough opponents for any international players who visit during the World Cup.
Justin Wright, for instance, is a star, and he knows it. If there were a draft for talent here, Wright would be the first one picked.
“I mean, it's definitely going to be a good challenge,” he says, brimming with confidence. “People here, they know how to play. They play hard and aggressively, so it's really good competition here.”
As Felix G. acknowledges, fresh off the field drenched in sweat, the World Cup is a great opportunity to build intercultural exchanges through soccer, and create lasting bonds based on the shared love of sport.
“If you guys enjoy Kansas City, you guys are always welcome back to play,” Felix says. “And then come visit us, because it's a great city and, you know, we want to build that community for soccer.”
