Our Vision
As a non-profit 501c3 approved organization, our mission is much broader than just having a premier women’s team. We believe that investing in the community is top priority. This can be accomplished in a much more effective and efficient way when we find like-minded partners.
In the spring of 2017, the KC Courage began offering coaching and mentorship to young refugee girls in NE Kansas City. In partnership with Global FC, we provided coaching the first ever refugee girls’ soccer team in Kansas and Missouri consisting of a group of 12 fourth through sixth graders representing nine different countries. In the fall of 2018, Valiente, a free training program for girls, was formed. As an organization, we are committed to investing in all youth from low income families by helping to provide access to quality sports opportunities, breaking the “pay to play model".
​
In addition to working with girls in the NE, the KC Courage has partnered with Youth RISE to engage and empower underserved populations of boys in the KC Metro. Youth RISE reaches many boys that have otherwise been labeled as “unreachable”. Through mentorship, they have provided opportunities to teach not only the sport of soccer, but the importance of education, interpersonal skills, teamwork, leadership, resilience and responsibility. Youth RISE serves 100+ boys that make up three soccer teams and is led by KC Courage player, Ann Murphy. A large number of these boys come from single-parent households in low socioeconomic neighborhoods surrounded by gang activities in and around the Kansas City area. Coach Murphy’s dedication to this program was recognized by the Positive Coaching Alliance in 2017 as a National Double-Goal Coach Award winner and as a 2018 MLS Works Community MVP Finalist.
​
​
2018 WPSL Home Games
Although the fan base for our WPSL team has been mostly families and friends of our players, we have seen an increase of interest in our team from the over 100 youth that we are involved with. Both the Global FC girls that we have coached and a number of Youth RISE Jaguars boys soccer players are frequent fans at our games. In an effort to have their continued support, we understand that we must make our games accessible to them. It is our mission to advocate for equity in opportunity across all socioeconomic communities. The offering of a WPSL Game in the Historic NE was the first ever of its kind. The KC Courage played a four game home schedule and split time between the new turf field at Northeast High School and Rockhurst University.
Kick-Around Camps
In an additional effort to reach out to underserved youth in the Olathe area, we have partnered with Mission Southside to offer several free soccer skills training opportunities for community kids once a week throughout the summer. These are another way to connect with the youth in the KC community to get them off the streets, encourage exercise and build positive relationships. We are also seeking in-kind donations to provide equipment and healthy snacks to participants.
​
