Soccer, it’s been said, is the most popular global sport because almost anyone can play. The six members of OnGoal demonstrated the truth in that statement during a recent photo shoot before watching their first game as the new owners of the Kansas City Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium.

While a photographer adjusted his equipment, Cliff Illig, vice chairman and co-founder of Cerner, took out a pair of goalie gloves and proceeded to set himself up as goalie. The other owners quickly shed their sport jackets, put a couple of soccer balls into play and tried to score on their partner Illig who, it’s safe to say, does not have a bright future playing for his own team.

Soccer skills aside, it’s also safe to say the country’s newest owners of a major league team seemed full of boyish enthusiasm as they officially take over the reins of the team from Lamar Hunt and his family.

Reflecting a common generational divide, just one of the investors—Robb Heineman—has any on-field experience as a soccer player, playing from age 5 to 18 in Sioux Falls, S.D.  “I’m from the generation whose kids play soccer,” says Neal Patterson, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Cerner. “I didn’t grow up with the sport, but I’ve seen its popularity grow in this country.”

Not surprisingly, the owners are convinced of the promise of the sport in the U.S. But haven’t we been down this path before? Hasn’t soccer been mentioned as the Next Big Thing in American sports for years?

Besides the cultural inclusion of the term “soccer mom,” plenty of statistics point to the sport finally taking its place on the front page alongside baseball, football and basketball. The game is the fastest-growing team sport in the country, according to the international football soccer governing body, FIFA. And with 18 million players, the U.S. has more official soccer players than any other nation. Of those 18 million, 78 percent are under age 18.

“The first generation of youth players are now parents. And soccer is clearly the leading youth sport among both boys and girls,” says Patterson. “In addition, the globe is becoming smaller. Soccer commands the global sports stage and that global interest is beginning to show here in the States.”

Asked why professional soccer is important for the Kansas City area, Patterson is simple and direct. “Soccer is a global sport. If we’re going to have a global image, we need soccer.”

But does Kansas City, specifically Johnson County, need a tournament-level youth soccer complex, comprised of 24 lighted amateur soccer fields? Johnson County voters will decide on November 7. If voters approve, a new Wizards stadium as well as hotels, restaurants, office space and retail will likely follow.

“Our goal is to have the model franchise in Major League Soccer,” says Heineman. “To do that we need to create a world-class venue for our fans, players and staff. We believe building a strong relationship with youth soccer in our market is critical to the vision, and that’s why we’re so supportive of Johnson County’s efforts to build a major youth fields complex.”

A variety of officials are adamant about making key points crystal clear. First, the question on the November 7 ballot is unrelated to a possible Wizards stadium and mixed-use development.

“Let me be clear,” says Kevin Gray president of the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission. “If the bond is approved, not one penny will go toward the Wizards or toward retail development. The bond issue is only for the youth soccer complex.”

Second, although officials are excited by the potential of the youth complex, the stadium and other development, they emphasize it is the beginning of the process. Indeed, the creation of a site master plan has just been approved. “We have a lot of information to gather, communicate to the public and then to decide whether it’s the right thing,” says Carl Gerlach, mayor of Overland Park. “You might say that we’re at the one yard line and still have 99 yards to go.”

The mayor isn’t the only one to use football as a metaphor; members of OnGoal are using the sport’s playbook.

Consider. When Lamar Hunt started the American Football League in 1959, people thought he was crazy. Even when the teams began playing the next year, the eight owners were known as the “Foolish Club.” Hunt invested $25,000 to start the forerunner to the Kansas City Chiefs, now estimated by Forbes to be worth $894 million. Definitely not so foolish.

“Lamar has taught us that football really took the next step when teams played in football-specific venues,” says Patterson. “And we, along with Lamar, believe the same evolution will occur in Major League Soccer.”

Kansas City is a logical starting point for soccer’s evolution, considering the metro’s per capita participation in the sport ranks it in the top 20 nationwide. And Johnson County is the logical address for the stadium, considering the county’s per capita participation in the sport—when isolated from the metro—places it in the top 10 nationwide.

“Jackson County has the stadiums and the Sprint Center,” says Kevin Gray, president of the Kansas City Sports Commission. “Wyandotte County has the Speedway. This is Johnson County’s opportunity to step up and be on the ground floor of something really special.”

 “We believe the opportunity—to partner with youth soccer—creates a distinctly different and compelling type of entertainment in Kansas City,” says Patterson who, given Cerner’s success, probably knows a compelling opportunity when he sees one. “We need those opportunities to stay in Kansas City and not go to Omaha or Oklahoma City.”

Gray wastes no time in comparing the members of OnGoal to KC sports icons Mr. K and Lamar Hunt. “This is an extraordinary group,” he says. “They’re each successful Kansas and Missouri entrepreneurs and they are each passionate about the Kansas City community.”