KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – The Kansas City metro takes another step toward solidifying a role as a leader in women’s sports.
This time it’s by welcoming a women’s pro volleyball team that will soon call Kansas City home. The Kansas City Sports Commission and Pro Volleyball Federation announced the new expansion team Wednesday. It’s the latest big announcement from the commission that also brought the 2023 NFL Draft and the 2026 World Cup to the metro.
“Doors are opening for Kansas City like never before and adding a professional women’s volleyball team, when we already have the Kansas City Current as professional soccer, people are starting to realize that not only are we a hub for the Chiefs, Sporting KC and the Royals, but now for women sports,” Kathy Nelson, Kansas City Sports Commission President, said.
The Pro Volleyball Federation is a professional women’s league announced in 2022. There are currently seven teams across the country that will play in the league’s inaugural season in 2024.
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Kansas City’s team, owned by Missy and Kent McCarthy, will join the league as an expansion team in 2025.
“It’s so exciting to see what they’re bringing to the table with this team and this sport and their understanding of what a sport means to a community,” Nelson said.
The McCarthy’s have already left their mark on the Kansas City region. Missy and her husband each graduated from the University of Kansas and have given back to the college. Their love of the Jayhawks inspired their son and daughter to also attend KU. Plus, the McCarthy’s are part of the group that owns the Kansas City Royals.
Baseball and volleyball are very different sports, but Missy said she began enjoying volleyball because her daughter played. Now she proudly wears the uniform for the Kansas Jayhawks volleyball team. Her daughter’s passion for the sport and McCarthy’s love of the Kansas City area had her jumping at the chance to be a part of the new venture. While the Royals investment is something the couple shares, McCarthy emphasized that the new women’s pro volleyball team is her passion.
“I’m an empty nester and so it was time to do something interesting, challenging and something I can have an impact and so when we were approached with this in the spring, the league came to us about Kansas City, and we jumped right in,” McCarthy said.
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Pro volleyball may seem like a strange venture for Kansas City, something that won’t have an automatic fanbase to support it. McCarthy doesn’t believe that’s the case. She thinks interest in the sport will explode in the coming years, all while proving women can play the sport they love after high school and college.
“In the Heart of America region, there’s 7,000 youth club volleyball players and in the Kansas City area alone, there’s 10,000 players. Volleyball is just growing at a fast pace but we want to inspire. We want to inspire young volleyball players to show them they can play at a much higher level, collegiate and on to professional,” McCarthy said.
It’s a dream that has the potential to keep a lot of athletes closer to home while allowing them to achieve their dreams.
“When you look at the college players, a lot of them come from KC or the Midwest, they’re going overseas to play. Now to keep them home to play in a professional atmosphere is really amazing,” Nelson said.
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There is a lot of work to do before the newly announced team serves an ace. The new team needs an identity in the form of a name and a logo. It also needs to find a court to call home. Nelson and the KC Sports Commission say there is time to figure out the details.
“We have a year to ramp up and when you think of volleyball in the Midwest, you have the Nebraska, KU, Oklahoma and UMKC right here is collegiate. Plus, you have the tens of thousands of people who come in for tournaments already and know us as that hub for volleyball,” Nelson said.
McCarthy says she is keeping an eye on the larger picture, and welcomes the opportunity to influence the future of women’s sports, especially in the city she calls home.
“Kansas City is a sporting town, sporting city and with the excitement around all they’ve got going here from the NFL Draft to bringing in the World Cup, the Chiefs, the Royals, Sporting KC and of course Kansas City Current, it’s time to bring a professional women’s volleyball team here,” McCarthy said.
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Right now McCarthy says she is focused on building the team’s front office staff. She hopes to announce those hires, as well as the team’s name and logo, as well as where the team will play in the spring.
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