Sporting Kansas City established The Victory Project in 2013 to help children through all of life's challenges by uniting players, staff, fans and partners across the region.
In 2023, The Victory Project celebrated 10 years of community impact with numerous events and initiatives highlighted in the club's monthly community reports and detailed below in conjunction with Giving Tuesday on November 28:
- The Victory Project welcomed 22 matchday honorees as special guests in the Victory Suite at Children's Mercy Park as part of an all-access VIP experience that includes a stay at Great Wolf Lodge, a stadium tour, meet-and-greets with the team and a customized jersey. In addition, The Victory Project hosted a group of over 300 individuals featuring 57 past matchday honorees and their family members for the club's annual Kick Childhood Cancer match.
- The Victory Project renovated the Sporting Kansas City-themed Gaming Room, Family Room and Kids Room inside Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City's Bernstein House with new gaming stations, play structures, toys, furniture, flooring, lighting and paint.
- The Victory Project conducted monthly appearances by Sporting Kansas City players at Children's Mercy Kansas City to visit with pediatric patients and participate in interactive activities inside the hospital.
- The Victory Project is committed to connecting all kids to the sport of soccer and has distributed more than $60,000 this year in Soccer Assist Grants to ensure access for players and teams to participate, regardless of financial barriers.
- The Victory Project awarded Emerging Sports Leader Scholarships - in the amount of $5,000 each - to four local high school seniors to continue their education: Lily Sowle (Rockhurst University), Paul Wiggins (Metropolitan Community College), Caden Pinter (Kansas State University) and Amisi Mpole (Park University).
- The Victory Project donated hundreds of tickets to Sporting Kansas City home matches at Children's Mercy Park to local partners, non-profits, charities, philanthrophic foundations and community organizations serving the metropolitan area.
- The Victory Project teamed up with the U.S. Soccer Foundation and other partners to fund two new soccer mini-pitches in Central Park in an effort to improve the health and well-being of the region's youth through soccer.
- The Victory Project gifted the Kansas State School for the Blind and the KC Blind All-Stars Foundation more than $32,000 to fund the first blind soccer field in the Midwest, which will open in 2024.
- The Victory Project, in partnership with Variety Children’s Charity of Greater Kansas City, celebrated the official grand opening of the first outdoor power soccer court in Kansas City at the state-of-the-art Central Bank Sporting Complex.
- The Victory Project, in partnership with Unified Sports and Special Olympics Kansas, organized a soccer match for athletes from local Unified Schools at Children's Mercy Park. The matchday experience included World Cup veteran Graham Zusi as a surprise guest teammate, personalized jerseys from adidas and postgame autographs with Sporting KC players.
- In addition, The Victory Project sponsored two Special Olympics athletes - Matt Braithwaite and Joe Toland - to represent the club at the 2023 Special Olympics Unified Sports All-Star Game at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland which also featured an on-field recognition at the 2023 MLS All-Star Game.
To learn more and to donate to The Victory Project, visit VictoryKC.org or follow and @VictoryProjectKC on Facebook and Instagram.
