2/5/2023

“We are excited to announce our partnership with Sunflower State FC through 2023. Sunflower are an NPSL and WPSL club based in Overland Park, KS that serve as Kansas City’s premier semi-professional team. We have partnered with them to give opportunities for players at our tournaments to play over summer at the highest level available to them,” Max Roberts, Diversity for Change KC Founder/President, said. 

The partnership follows a successful run of winter tournaments that featured many of the most talented players to come out of Kansas City in recent years. 

“Due to Sunflower’s initiatives of being involved in the community, we've made a partnership with Diversity for Change KC to give back more locally. We think it will help young soccer players realize their true value in the Kansas City area. It has always been our goal to be able to invest in good local causes,” said Joseph Lipoff, Sunflower State FC Owner/CEO. 

Sunflower State FC are coming off a third place finish in the NPSL heartland conference and turn their goals to achieving a first place finish this summer. On the women's side, they look forward to their inaugural WPSL season following success in the UWS 2. 

Sunflower are hosting tryouts on March 18th and are proud to provide playing opportunities to a vast group of players. Sunflower also still have internship opportunities available. Details for this include working in marketing, social media, gameday operations, commentating, streaming, sponsorships, merchandising, analytics, and financial accounting. If any of these are of interest or you are looking for experience and credit hours then contact jlipoffsunflowerstatefc@gmail.com. 

“I’m very excited about the opportunities that will arise from this partnership. We hope to bring value to everyone and with the help of Sunflower State FC we are confident we can do that and more. We’re also excited about the opportunities for people to play for a high level NPSL team in Sunflower State FC,” Elyes Ellouz, Diversity for Change KC Co-Founder, said. 

This strategic agreement will reach beyond the field and provide a scholarship towards college tuition for a graduating high school senior in the Kansas City area. The scholarship involves Youth Rise KC, an inner-city organization that provides mentorship and empowers youth through sport. 

“It’s exciting to partner with Sunflower State FC and see the quality of players that they will get from our tournaments,” Bashir Khalil, Diversity for Change KC Events Director/Vice-President, said. “We look forward to growing Diversity for Change KC as we learn and benefit from Sunflower’s experiences and platform.” 

As Diversity for Change KC has continued to grow since it was created in 2019, this partnership with Sunflower State FC is another big step forward towards increasing cultural awareness in the Kansas City community through soccer.