Swope Soccer Village

• 1. Introduction

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  Swope Soccer Village sits on land inside Swope Park in Kansas City, Missouri. Before it became a soccer complex, the Kansas City Chiefs used this ground as a practice field. The team moved out when Arrowhead Stadium opened in 1972. What happened to that land afterward, and how did it end up hosting a team preparing for a World Cup decades later?

• 2. Nine Fields, One Complex

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  One natural grass field anchors the site as its stadium pitch. Two more natural grass fields are reserved for Sporting Kansas City's own training sessions. Six further fields carry artificial turf, set aside for local youth soccer clubs, bringing the property to nine playing surfaces in total.

  The whole complex runs as a public-private partnership between Kansas City's parks department and Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. Field reservations across the site are handled by Sporting Fields + Athletics.

  Within the village, the Children's Mercy Training Center is home to Sporting Kansas City II. It also houses all six of Sporting Kansas City's youth academy teams.

  That shared arrangement between the city, a professional club and youth leagues would soon expand well beyond its original footprint.

• 3. From Groundbreaking to Grand Opening

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  Sporting Kansas City, then still known as the Kansas City Wizards, broke ground on a training facility in Swope Park in 2007. The club dedicated that facility the same year, and finished a second phase of construction in 2008.

  A second, larger expansion followed years later, wrapping up in 2014 at a cost of $13.4 million in city funds.

  The main stadium itself opened earlier than the rest of the village, in November 2013, built to host the Big 12 women's soccer tournament.

  The full Swope Soccer Village did not open until September 2015. Sporting first handed day to day management to the Heartland Soccer Association, before Sporting Fields + Athletics later took over those duties.

  In 2022, the village grew again, adding 1,000 more parking spaces around the complex.

  By then the fields were drawing far more than club training sessions.

• 4. Tournament Host

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  From 2013 to 2019, the Big 12 Conference held its women's soccer tournament at the site each year. The complex also hosted the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's soccer championships, along with the Division III championships for both genders.

  Missouri's own high school girls state finals were played at Swope Soccer Village from 2016 to 2020.

  One professional team, however, would bring its own crowd and its own stadium history to Swope.

• 5. A Short-Lived Tenant

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  In January 2015, FC Kansas City of the National Women's Soccer League agreed to play its home games at the main stadium. The club also gained use of the training fields as part of the deal.

  To fit its fans, the stadium's capacity grew to 3,557 seats, using bleachers FC Kansas City had bought for its previous home, Durwood Soccer Stadium.

  FC Kansas City folded after the 2017 season, ending its stay at Swope.

  Years later, a very different kind of team would arrive to train on those same grounds.

• 6. World Cup Training Base

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  For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the England national football team trained at Swope Soccer Village for the full length of the tournament.

  Once that World Cup run ends, so does England's stay at the complex, closing this chapter in the village's history.