Life is full of lessons and when founder Ross Harris broke his arm, he saw a good opportunity to stay productive. The MWPL team has sought entry into the USOC in both 2024 & 2025 - balancing responsible growth with ambition.

Tell us the origin story of Woodland FC - when was it founded? By whom and what is its mission?
Woodland FC was founded in 2023 when our President/CEO, Ross Harris, broke his arm playing soccer and couldn't work for 6 weeks. Wanting to be a good example to his kids about being productive even while you have to stay at home, Ross decided to take his 30+ years of soccer experience and apply it to administration. Ross got the idea while driving down Woodland Dr, in West Shawnee KS, and thus the name Woodland FC was born. As a founding member of the Select League, Woodland FC entered and was strong out of the gate. They won the Select League title in 2024, runner up in 2025, and participated in US Open Cup qualifying in 2024 and 25. Soon, the Midwest Premier League came calling, and wanted Woodland to be the first team in Kansas to enter the league.

Woodland was founded with the mission of helping youth, college, and post college players have a club to call home to meet their varying goals in life. For youth, it's teaching them how to be incredible competitors, taking the lessons learned from soccer into all walks of life, whether as professional athletes one day, or as remarkable men/women who build a productive society. For our college and post college athletes, it's helping them continue their careers with better recruitment opportunities, sending players on to professional play, or helping players find the end of their competitive careers with memories they will cherish forever. We exist to benefit the fans, and players of Kansas City, and are proud to call Shawnee home.

Tell us about your badge and colors – how does it connect to the community?
Our colors are Orange, white, and blue, and homage to our founders' Dutch heritage. The Lion on our badge is a reference to the courage, honor, and commitment to excellence that embody the people of Shawnee. Our lion has a crown on his head, not to be a cruel tyrant, but to rule like a benevolent king, blessing the community and the people that come within our sphere of influence. We exist to make the community better, and have raised money for fans that have lost their homes in a fire, for families that are dealing with medical expenses through cancer battles, and have helped our fans when they've lost loved ones, by honoring them at our matches. We hold the most affordable youth camps and academies for our young players.

Ross has also helped at Trail Middle School in Lenexa teaching kids how to interview for jobs, and how to ask the right questions of employers. We don't exist to get rich, but to enrich the lives of the people of our city. One of the most enjoyable times you can have on a Summer weekend night is grabbing a chicken sandwich with the players at a Chick-fil-a meet and greet on Shawnee Mission Parkway before a match, or attending one of our incredible home matches at Mill Valley High School, or Pembroke Hill High School. You will not be disappointed. In Woodland's short 2.5 half year history, we've played 45 competitive matches, and have only lost 5 of them. We've only failed to score in 3 of our matches, ever. It's beautiful soccer for a beautiful city.

What league or leagues does your club participate in and why did you choose those to join?
2026 is Woodland FC's inaugural year participating in the newly-formed Gateway West Division in the Midwest Premier League (MWPL). Prior to that Woodland was a founding member of the Select League based in the Kansas City area. When we were approached by the MWPL, it was clear this was the best decision for the club and our players. The league leadership has done a tremendous job finding 50+ clubs across 8 states that share similar values on and off the pitch. That culminates to not only a very competitive league, but a league you feel confident has the best intentions for players.

Many clubs choose to sell hats, scarves or replica kits - how does your club keep the lights on and cover its league costs? How can interested people support you?
Woodland is managed by a volunteer staff. Those involved with our operations do it for the love of the game, desire to build something greater than themselves, and provide our community with a club they can be proud to support, on and off the pitch. We recently signed a multi-year partnership with Diaza Football and our team store can be found here.

Our community sponsors and partners play such a big role in allowing the club to experience the growth we have over 3 short years and we can't thank them enough for that. The biggest impact people can have on Woodland is to get involved. Whether it's attending match days, our community events and camps, or even following us on social media and sharing our posts, we want everyone to feel welcome and that this club is for them.

How did you finish last year and what are your goals for the 2026 season?
Last year, Woodland finished second in the Select League after winning the league in its inaugural 2024 season. Building on back-to-back successful seasons in our young history, we were able to achieve another club milestone; hosting a US Open Cup game.

As we look forward to 2026, entering a new league and a step up in competition, our goals remain to drive the club to even greater heights. We hope to make a positive impression in league play and continue to finish near the top of the table. We would love the opportunity to host another Open Cup match and allow those in attendance to witness the club's first win in that competition.
While on-field performance is paramount to our future, our biggest goals remain off the field and continuing to drive as much community involvement as possible.

How does Woodland FC participate in or give back to their community?
We are deeply rooted in our community and are very proud to serve them in many ways. From partnering with local schools and businesses to supporting charitable initiatives, we believe in making a positive impact beyond the pitch. Over the past year, we've placed an emphasis on youth programs, coaching, and development. We've held multiple youth camps open to all players, regardless of experience or skill level. We've also launched Next Play, a sports performance and skill-development consultation grounded in applied behavior science.

If there were one or two teams, within a 100 miles of you, to play a friendly against – who would you play and why?
We welcome competition of any kind, at all levels. If we had to pick two teams, it would be Tulsa Athletic and BOHFS St Louis. Woodland has a history with these clubs as they were our opponents in the Open Cup in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Unfortunately we we're on the losing end in both competitions, so this would allow us the opportunity to even the record.

Follow Woodland FC on Instagram HERE