Category: Kansas City Missouri

Pro basketball team plays preseason game tonight; new coach is from KCK

A professional basketball team, the Kansas City Tornadoes, will play a preseason game at 7 p.m. tonight, Jan. 2, at the HyVee Arena, 1800 Genessee, Kansas City, Missouri.

Admission is free to this preseason game tonight.

Ed Corporal, who is from Kansas City, Kansas, will be the coach for the 2019 season, which has home openers at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, and Saturday, Jan. 12, at the HyVee Arena against the Raleigh Firebirds.

Otis Birdsong is the president of the Kansas City Tornadoes.

“It’s a whole new ball game for the Kansas City Tornadoes 2019 season, with a new Coach Ed Corporal, new players, and we are looking forward to playing at the Hy-Vee Arena, formerly Kemper Arena, that was once the home of the Kansas City Kings. The Tornadoes consists of players from colleges across the country, to continue their basketball careers and move on to the next level,” said Otis Birdsong, president, The Kansas City Tornadoes.

During their first season, the Kansas City Tornadoes were in the North American Premier Basketball League, which recently became The Basketball League. The Basketball League will focus on all teams contributing to their communities. The Tornadoes will compete with eight teams that will expand to 14 teams in the 2019 season.

World War I Christmas Truce observed in tournament

Competitive League champions at the Truce Tournament on Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo from National World War I Museum)

Soccer enthusiasts from around the region paid homage to the World War I Christmas Truce on Wednesday by participating in the sixth annual Truce Tournament held by Sporting Club, the National WWI Museum and Memorial and The Soccer Lot.

Approximately 200 participants from 30 teams in the area competed in a 3v3 soccer tournament, including MLS All-Star Kei Kamara, while hundreds of additional soccer fans attended the English Premier League Boxing Day Watch Party on large screens inside the National WWI Museum and Memorial.

MWFC Reserves claimed the Truce Tournament title in the Competitive Division. In the Recreational Division, the Miracles of the Marne won the title, with Fools on the Field taking the Beer Division crown.

The Truce Tournament is a tribute to the Christmas Truce of 1914 in which the battles of World War I on the Western and Eastern Fronts temporarily subsided. Members of both sides laid down their arms in a time of war to celebrate a day of peace by venturing out to “No Man’s Land” to exchange gifts, sing carols and play soccer.

“The Christmas Truce was a remarkable event during the world’s first truly global conflict,” said National WWI Museum and Memorial President and CEO Matthew Naylor. “There are substantial lessons to be learned from those soldiers who displayed an unbelievable amount of humanity in the midst of horrific warfare and the Truce Tournament allows us to recognize and understand how the Great War continues to effect the global community to this day.”


Recreation League champions at the Truce Tournament on Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo from National World War I Museum)

Annual Christmas Truce soccer tournament to be held Dec. 26

Sporting KC, the National World War I Museum and Memorial and The Soccer Lot will hold the sixth annual Truce Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 26, to commemorate the World War I Christmas Truce.

A 3v3 soccer tournament will be played at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 26 on the southeast lawn at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri.

A free English Premier League Watch Party starting at 8 a.m., and a FIFA19 Playstation tournament also are part of the activities. The watch party includes food and beverages for sale. In addition to the soccer tournament, there will be an after-party at 2 p.m. at The Soccer Lot.

The event commemorates the Christmas Truce of 1914, in which the battles of World War I on the Western and Eastern fronts temporarily subsided. Members of both sides laid down their arms in a time of war to celebrate a day of peace by venturing out to “No Man’s Land” to exchange gifts, sing carols and play soccer.

The event also highlights the National World War I Museum and Memorial’s online exhibition, The Christmas Truce, Winter 1914, which features essays from renowned scholars about the remarkable event, dozens of first-hand accounts from soldiers on the front lines and a feature allowing anyone to declare their own truce and share via social media.

Registration for the soccer and FIFA19 tournaments is closed, but patrons can RSVP for the free EPL Watch Party, which features a British pub-themed atmosphere and the ability to watch matches on the Museum and Memorial’s 29-foot and 10-foot screens. Breakfast foods, beverages and cocktails will be available for purchase. For more information or to RSVP, visit thetrucekc.com.

  • Information from Sporting KC