When were you founded, by who, and what is the mission statement?
Kickoff FC was found by Ashley Gonzalez, a Queens resident who is passionate about soccer. Kickoff’s mission is to enhance the soccer community in NYC by making it accessible to people who are interested in being a part of the Kickoff family and want to expand their soccer skills.

What city or community do you play in and how do you connect with community off the pitch?
We are primarily in New York City in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. Our roots and foundation were established in Bushwick Inlet Park in Brooklyn. We have associated ourselves with different leagues and organizations like NYLovesoccer and Futbol Rebels to coach and provide refereeing. Kickoff FC connects with their soccer players by providing a coaching style that emphasizes on personal growth of young players. Kickoff FC uses methods and practices that are meant to enhance with critical thinking and build strong compassionate ballers; leaders and problem solvers make great soccer players.

If money were not an issue, Kickoff would love to invest in a league in an indoor facility to sell Kickoff coffee and host games in a pitch indoor year round!

Where do your players come from; college players? Local talent? Are you connected to a youth program which funnels players to your first team?
We are blessed to have all types of players, from academy of nearby schools to local talent that grew up playing the beautiful game of soccer in a pickup setting.

Our first team is a coed team, which has all types of players like academy players, Mackenzie Moreno and Yoselin Bonola. We also have local talent with furious passion for the game like Randy Guzman, Kevin Ramirez, and David Luna. Even renegades with unclear backgrounds like Roberto Pacheco, Edward Arias and former military Charles Gonzalez. Last but not least our youngest prospect at 16 years old Erick Matthew!

We love both Kickoff Coffee as well as Icarus FC - tell us how you got connected with both of them!
Kickoff Coffee was a coincidence through Instagram; I found the company and they intrigued me. At the time, we were starting out, and I decided to ask them if they would like to sponsor our club very early in our development. They agreed and here we are still rocking and sporting their logo proudly!

Icarus was the same way. We found them on Instagram and decided to partner with them by having our first official jersey and team kit. I couldn’t be happier with the sponsorships! ally if any charity wants to visit and fund raise, we will do our best to support and accommodate them.

Surely you have a rival - who are your biggest matchups and who do you love to play against?
No rivals as of yet, but we love competing with other clubs in reoccurring leagues that we are on such as Rum and Beer, FC give, FIFA United teams at Pier 5 in Brooklyn. It was really hard competing against these teams, but we love a good challenge!

How has the season gone so far and what defines success for the year?
We were a part of the Kick4life league summer season of 2021 with 2 wins—one tied and one loss. As the founder/ manager of our team, I decided to let the team players step up and start to be a team on their own. I am currently the referee of the league and I try to stray away from a biased standpoint, allowing their leadership and communication skills to blossom.

Give Kickoff Futbol Club a follow on Instagram HERE