The National Premier Soccer League has announced that the Kansas City Sol has joined the league as an expansion team.
The club, which calls Parkville, Mo. home, will begin play this season.
“The NPSL is growing throughout the heartland of the USA, and we are pleased to add Kansas City Sol as a 2023 expansion team,” NPSL managing director Cindy Spera said in a statement. “The club has ties to the community, a strong and experienced ownership group, and is business minded with a passion for the game. We expect great success from the Sol and look forward to watching them thrive with the NPSL.”
The team will be led by Huw Williams and Tom Lyons.
Williams, who will serve as the Sol’s head coach and general manager has experience at the highest levels of the professional game. He spent time as head coach and GM of Kansas City Current (National Women’s Soccer League). A two-time NWSL champion, he also served as assistant coach and GM of FC Kansas City (NWSL).
“We hope to bring a competitive team on the field and bring our special Kansas City hospitality to all visiting teams,” Williams said in a statement. “We especially like the idea of developing local and regional rivalries.”
Lyons has been one of the biggest supporters and investors of youth soccer in Kansas City since the 1980s. He is the majority owner of GSI Sports, a soccer camp and soccer tournament organization, with Williams. Lyons is the co-founder of Title Boxing Club and owner of Global Connections Inc., Beso Del Sol (Dunedin, Fla.), Lodge of the Blue (Breckenridge, Colo.), and White Oak Lodge Resort (Gatlinburg, Tenn.).
Home matches will be played at Julian Field in Parkville, Mo. Built in 1998, 1,500-seat Julian Field is home to Park University men’s and women’s soccer and features one of the best natural-grass playing surfaces in small college soccer.
The facility has hosted multiple American Midwest Conference and Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference postseason games, as well as postseason tournaments in NAIA Region IV. In 2009, the field was home to Manchester United’s youth clinic when the team played at Arrowhead Stadium. Julian Field also has hosted a Kansas City Wizards exhibition contest as well as practices for the Canadian women’s national team.
Supporters can follow the club on Facebook (@KCSOLNPSL), Instagram (@kcSolNPSL), and Twitter (@KCSolNPSL).
“We are pleased that the Sol have joined the NPSL, and we are confident that they will be a great addition to the league,” NPSL director of membership development Dina Case said in a statement. “The NPSL expansion committee has been focused on bringing in strong ownership groups that will continue to elevate the league. The Sol certainly fits that bill, and we look forward to them having much success on and off the field.”
