Sporting Brookside

ABOUT

Our Mission

To provide affordable, quality youth soccer programs that build positive character through participation in a fun, family-oriented soccer environment.

SOCCER FOR THE CITY™

CORE VALUES

Good Sportsmanship

We strive to create a positive environment based on mutual respect rather than a “win-at-all-cost” attitude.

Positive Coaching

Encouragement of player effort provides for greater enjoyment. Plus, it leads to better-skilled and better-motivated players.

Balanced Teams

Each year we form new teams as evenly balanced as possible. It is fair and more fun when teams of equal ability play one another.

Everyone Plays

Our program’s goal is for kids to play soccer. So, we mandate that every player on every team must play at least half of every game. No player is allowed to play an entire game unless every other player has played at least three quarters.

Open Registration

Our program is open to all children between four and 18 years of age who want to register and play soccer. Interest and enthusiasm are the only criteria for playing.

IN DEPTH

Sporting Brookside’s mission to provide affordable, quality youth soccer programs that build positive character through participation in a fun, family-oriented soccer environment, is at the heart of everything we do.

Sporting Brookside is not just about the game. It’s about building resilience and character in our players through high quality youth soccer programs. We proudly use our love of soccer to encourage the Kansas City area youth (age 3-18) to grow and develop skills in soccer and life. We provide a fair, fun, family-oriented, safe environment for kids to play, while building confidence, respect, sportsmanship and tenacity. Located in the heart of the city at Swope Soccer Village, our programs are accessible and affordable. We go well beyond soccer every day. We love what we do, we love these kids, and it shows.

The non-profit organization is led by Nick Garcia, our Executive Director, who played at the highest levels professionally, collegiately, and representing our country. Our coaching staff is well-rounded, educated and all are licensed as players, coaches, leaders and teachers. They bring playing and coaching experience that ranges from Youth through the Olympic level. The Club is also supported by over 500 volunteer coaches, and our 70 in-house referees each season that bring training, jobs and opportunity to area youth.

Sporting Brookside has made soccer fun and accessible to kids for more than 44 years. Since 1977, more than 500,000 kids from across the Kansas City metro area, and 197+ different schools, have called Sporting Brookside their home. The Club now proudly serves 6,000 kids annually and continues to grow. Our pre-K – high school recreational teams develop technical skills, tactics and life-long core values. The Club continues to grow with more than 20 MYSA registered competitive teams, camps, adult leagues, high school leagues and more. Our annual enrollment and broad community reach continues to increase through our Recreational League, Camps and Clinics programs. Scholarships ensure and encourage participation by all kids.

In 2014, Sporting Brookside, then called Brookside Soccer Club, moved to the renovated Swope Park Soccer Village with five competitive turf fields and one championship field – also home to a pro women’s soccer team (FC Kansas City), a pro men’s soccer team (Swope Park Rangers), and Sporting KC practice fields. We are proud to be part of the $12 million renovation that now provides for increased use and green space revitalization within the urban corridor.

Our love for soccer is contagious. We continue to grow every year, and hope you will join us on the fields.

Thank you to all who support our mission.

STAFF & DIRECTORS

Executive DIRECTOR

NICK GARCIA

nick@brooksidesoccer.org

Nick Garcia joined Sporting Brookside as Executive Director in 2012, overseeing the growth and development of both the recreational league and competitive teams to over 5,000 kids per year today. He brings with him a passion for youth development and all things' soccer, and a lifetime of playing and coaching. Garcia oversees the day-to-day operations of Brookside Soccer Club and is in charge of the strategic growth and development of BSC Soccer For the City.

Garcia began coaching competitive soccer shortly after beginning his professional playing career in Kansas City and fell in love with sharing his knowledge of the game with players of all abilities and ages. In 2009, Nick earned his B License from the United States Soccer Federation. Upon retiring from Major League Soccer, he returned to Kansas City, where he assumed the Executive Director role of a competitive club in suburban Kansas City.

Nick Garcia and his wife Dr. MeLinda Peterson Garcia, and their three children, reside in the Kansas City area. Garcia volunteers for many worthy organizations, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Jackson County CASA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Mattie Rhodes Center and Teammates for Kids.

Professional

Garcia signed a professional contract with Major League Soccer in 2000 and was drafted second overall in the 2000 MLS SuperDraft by the Kansas City Wizards. He played over 300 career games in his 11-season career.

Kansas City Wizards MLS 2000 and 2007 – played – and started – almost 200 games
Kansas City Wizards MLS Cup, 2000
Kansas City Wizards Lamar Hunt Open Cup, 2004
San Jose Earthquakes, Captain MLS in 2008, 2009
Toronto FC, 2009
International: He earned his first cap for the full national team in 2003, against Canada, and amassed six caps for the full United States Men’s National Team.

Youth and College

1999 Captained the US Under-20 Youth National Team at the World Youth Championship in Nigeria
1999 1st All-American
1998 & 1999, back to back NCAA titles at Indiana University
1997 US Under-17 Youth National Team at the World Youth Championship in Ecuador
1997 National College Freshman of the year
1996-97 Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year
TAPPS State Boys Soccer Championship, Bishop Lynch High School, Dallas, Texas (first and second in school history)
All-district, all-state and all-tournament
Dallas Texans Youth Club

DIRECTOR OF COACHING

TATO CHIAPARRO

tato@brooksidesoccer.org

Coach Tato Chiaparro is a longtime coach and educator for Sporting Brookside and currently serves as Sporting Brookside's Director of Coaching.

Tato played professional Futsal back in his home country, Brazil. When he moved to the United States, Chiaparro played at Lewis & Clark Community College for two years prior to finishing his soccer career at University of Missouri, Kansas City. Within his college career, Tato was awarded All American, All Region, and All Conference awards, as well as a Forward of the Year award in 2012.

Coach Tato Chiaparro has had experiences as a full time Assistant Coach for UMKC Men's Soccer (NCAA D1) and Sporting Kaw Valley (USL League 2).

Tato Chiaparro is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he played for prestigious academies such as Sao Paulo FC, SE Palmeiras, and SC Corinthians. Coach Tato has 2 sisters, Mayne and Yulika. He is also a proud uncle for his first and only nephew Kai Leiva.

Chiaparro holds the following educational badges: