This Kansas City based club get their name directly from the nickname for the city, The City of Fountains, and is both a celebration of the city the love and a non-profit promise to build a sustainable club from scratch. Co-founder, Landon Hinkley, made himself available to share their story.

Tell us the origin story of Fountain City Athletic - when was it founded? By whom and what is its mission?
Club was founded by 2 Sunday league club owners with plans for something big. In October 2025, Jeremy Skinner and I met with UPSL reps about an expansion team. By combining 2 pre existing clubs with lots of college talent hungry for more competition we took our shot and made the move. The name Fountain City Athletic came from the nickname of Kansas City (The City of Fountains); we wanted to represent a club for Kansas City not just in Kansas City. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, our mission is to build a sustainable club from grassroots to first team in a market saturated by high fees and a lack of care for talent development. Our mission for our first team is to give opportunities to local players who would otherwise have to travel or just not play summer ball.

Tell us about your badge and colors – how does it connect to the community?
Our badge features three major KC landmarks with our Navy, cream, and sky blue colorway. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Union Station, and a central fountain representing the metro's over 200 fountains.

What league or leagues does your club participate in and why did you choose those to join?
We participate in the UPSL Midwest South. We chose this league because of its competitive history with clubs like Dodge City, Emporia FC, and CKU, to name a few. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but it would be a perfect place to build a club aligned with our mission.

How does the club cover its costs, and how can people support you?
As a club most of our funds came by way of sponsors or out of our own pockets. To keep things affordable for players we avoided relying on high player fees to fund the club. We sell merch on our website Fountaincityathletic.com and a new summer drop with shorts new shirts beach towels, and more is coming out. Through one of our partners and our kit provider the amazing Equipt Studios we are able to offer a replica kit exactly like what the players wear for sale as well! As a nonprofit, we also accept donations via GoFundMe and Zeffy.

How did you finish last year and what are your goals for next season?
This fall, we are 100% focused on building our youth academy. Regarding our season, we finished 7-0-3 in Year 1 and are looking to build off of that success for Year 2.

How does Fountain City Athletic participate in or give back to their community?
With our community we have vendors and food trucks come out for free or very cheap. We also have giveaways, and every game we give out some collectible item. Our last home game is actually a community day in Lee's Summit, MO. Free entry free vendors and food trucks start at the farmers market that morning and Futbol Friday the night before, making Lee's Summit a soccer hotspot for 36 hours.

If there were one or two teams, within a 100 miles of you, to play a friendly against – who would you play and why?
Luckily, being in Kansas City there is no shortage of teams to play within 100 miles. But if i had to pick one would easily be SKC.

Other facts:

Only 1 D1 Player- Miguel Carrasquinho Creighton commit.
Head Coach - Geoff Ferguson, Assistant - Alex Drambour
Leading Scorer: Alessandro Rubio Hastings alum and Querétaro Academy
Hot Prospects- Kaleb Fannin CM #10 William Jewell College
Cody Bland St #14 Senior High School Truman St Commit

Follow Fountain City Athletic on Instagram HERE