How Sporting KC (and Variety KC) aim to create the most inclusive stadium in the world

Take a walk around Children’s Mercy Park and you’ll notice a slew of new amenities not featured in many other stadiums across the U.S.

On the east side, near Section 133, is a “sensory room” available for all individuals who need some time away from the jeers and cheers that often come with a Sporting Kansas City soccer match.

On the north side of the Mazuma Plaza, next to Section 121, are two aid stations offering sensory backpacks that can be checked out, free of charge, to spectators at the games: Each includes headphones, weighted blankets, fidget toys and battery chargers.

All of the stadium’s aid stations include a communication board enabling non-verbal individuals to communicate what they want and how they feel, with pictures specific to soccer. In several other spots around the venue, universal family restrooms featuring adult-sized changing stations await.

And from the entry-gate workers to concessions employees, individuals with special needs help create the type of soccer-crazed atmosphere that can only be experienced at Children’s Mercy Park.

“We’re calling it our Inclusion Revolution,” said Variety KC chief inclusion officer Deborah Wiebrecht, who’s partnered with Sporting KC to make Children’s Mercy Park the world’s first all-inclusive stadium.

Over 60 million people in the U.S., about 26% of America’s population, live with a disability, making this the largest minority group in the nation. Variety KC is a volunteer-driven charitable organization that provides children with developmental disabilities equipment and opportunities offering the same experiences and inclusion as those enjoyed by all children.

Over the last decade, the organization has partnered with the likes of the Kansas City Zoo and Starlight Theatre to make some of Kansas City’s largest attractions inclusive to all. Along the way, Wiebrecht realized that kids with special needs don’t need special treatment, they just need special equipment.

“Every other country except ours, we treat our families and people with disabilities like they don’t exist, like they’re invisible,” Wiebrecht said. “And I’m really tired of it. Because they have so much value. So what we’re trying to create is Kansas City to be the most inclusive city in the world.”

With that in mind, she turned to Sporting KC and the club’s own philanthropic foundation, The Victory Project, ahead of the 2021 season. Her vision was to make Children’s Mercy Park the most inclusive stadium on the planet.

Wiebrecht worked with Victory Project executive director Jackie Feeney and Sporting KC chief operating officer Alan Dietrich throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to create the amenities seen around Children’s Mercy Park.

“It’s so meaningful,” Feeney said. “And it’s not just meaningful to the Victory Project, it is to Sporting and to all of our players. It’s just part of our DNA and who we are that we want to be inclusive for everyone.”

It was during some of these discussions halfway through the 2021 season that Wiebrecht had an idea that would be revolutionary to Sporting KC’s inclusion efforts: offer game-day jobs at the stadium to those with special needs.

“This is such an opportunity that they want to participate in and work and they will give their heart and soul into it,” Wiebrecht said. “We’re in a time right now where the employment is at an all-time low, but these people are at an all-time high because they want to participate.”

Some simply need transportation to and from the stadium because of physical disabilities. For other individuals, such as those with learning disabilities, Variety KC offers job coaches that can help with the learning curve of entering the workforce.

“There are no better people than people that have lived with adversity,” Wiebrecht said. “These kids have lived with adversity their whole entire lives and successfully. Still, they maintain such great spirit. I am so proud of Sporting KC and what they’re doing. I just am beyond words.”

It’s not just the higher-ups who are overseeing these changes. Wiebrecht has also been listening to the children and parents Variety KC is helping — including 14-year-old Bryce Pinter, who helped brainstorm many of the new inclusive amenities.

Born with dwarfism, Pinter first became involved with Variety KC when the organization bought him a bike that would fit his short stature — something he and his family had struggled to find. Since then, he’s volunteered with the organization all around KC.

“We helped make adaptive playgrounds and adaptive baseball fields and adaptive soccer fields,” Pinter told The Star. “And we helped raise money for equipment for kids, like communication devices and vans that wheelchairs can get in, and mobility equipment.”

Pinter attended Sporting KC’s game against the Colorado Rapids Saturday at Children’s Mercy Park. He was the Victory Project’s honoree during the game that evening. He also met the Sporting KC players and coach Peter Vermes at practice on Friday, as well as front-office staff, such as Dietrich and Sporting KC president Jake Reid.

Vermes spent about 15 minutes talking to Pinter after practice, learning about the teenager’s story and imparting his own wisdom about being a sporting director and general manager — the sort of careers Pinter hopes to pursue one day.

“What Sporting has done is just open up the world a little bit more, and they’re helping give a voice to people who don’t have a voice through their actions,” said Pinter’s mother, Kara. “It’s humbling to see an organization like this pour into the community.”

Variety KC will continue to work with Sporting KC and The Victory Project, creating jobs for those with special needs and ensuring Children’s Mercy Park is a stadium that’s inclusive for all.

“Everyone needs to work together,” Wiebrecht said. “No one can do it alone. I couldn’t do it alone, Sporting can’t do it alone, Jackie can’t do it alone — it’s a community.

“And that’s what our community is, right? We’re all different, we’re a variety of people, we have a variety of needs, but we’re one.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Sporting KC (and Variety KC) aim to create the most inclusive stadium in the world."