Team fills community relations position
The Kansas City Wizards continued to show a strong commitment to the Midwest region with the hiring of Erin Lawless in the Community Relations Coordinator position.
Her role with the club will entail coordinating events between the Wizards and community organizations and managing the charitable wing of the club. Erin will also use her communications background under the marketing and communications arm of the organization as on-air talent for video pieces produced for www.kcwizards.com.
"I plan to bring a fresh new perspective to the community relations department, make the team more involved and visible within the Kansas City community and develop programs that create a new energy for the Wizards," Lawless said.
"I know the players will share my enthusiasm for helping Kansas City," she continued. "I look forward to my newest challenge."
Lawless' previous work experience includes stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and Overland Park-based event-planning firm ASE Group. Last year, she participated in the Belles of the American Royal fundraising program and plans on continuing her involvement with the American Royal in the future.
Born in Kansas City, she graduated from Blue Valley North High School before attending the University of Kansas and obtaining a bachelor's degree in Communications.
Garcia, Burciaga attend holiday event for children
Lawless' first order of business was joining Kansas City Wizards defenders Nick Garcia and Jose Luis Burciaga and mascot Dynamo at a holiday event for children Tuesday held at the Guadalupe Centers' Cultural Arts Center at 1015 Avenida Cesar E. Chavez downtown.
Around 200 children ranging in age from 4-12 participated in the event. Immediately after their scheduled lunch, the children were greeted with hugs and high fives from Dynamo followed by group pictures with the friendly green dragon. After the photo opportunity, the children were taken into another room to see a magic presentation and then introduced to Garcia and Burciaga.
"It was great to get out and help Guadalupe Center put on an event like that for the kids," Garcia said. "The smiles on their faces were extremely rewarding."
Garcia and Burciaga spoke with the kids and talked about the importance of physical fitness and schoolwork. The duo played off one another well and kept the kids all smiles. Once they were done, they introduced Santa Claus who presented the children with gift bags containing a Wizards soccer ball and other goodies. The Wizards donated 200 balls to the event.
"I liked seeing all those kids raise their hands when we asked who played soccer," Burciaga said. "The future of our sport was in that room. I had fun today. I'm looking forward to working with the kids in the near future."
Founded in 1919, the Guadalupe Center has been serving the Kansas City Latino community for decades and offers education, social services, health education services and development programs for Kansas Citians of all ages.
"Partnering with Guadalupe Centers is an easy decision for us," Kansas City Wizards Director of Latino Relations Leo Prieto said. "This organization is making a great effort to build a strong bond between our team and the community. With all that Guadalupe Center does for children and Latinos, it was an opportunity to make a difference we could not pass up. This is only the beginning of great things to come."
Vermes, Onalfo discuss South America Trip
Team Technical Director Peter Vermes and Head Coach Curt Onalfo returned last week from an eight-day trip through Argentina and Chile. The pair originally planned on visiting Uruguay as well but decided to spend more time in Argentina after finding players of interest.
"We found some very viable prospects," Vermes said. "We are presently researching the opportunity of making some of them Kansas City Wizards."
Vermes and Onalfo attended both practices and matches looking for players that fit within the team's plans.
"We concentrated on players that we feel would be important to complete missing pieces of our team's puzzle," Vermes said.
