About Our Team
Meet the dedicated team of passionate soccer enthusiasts who contribute to KC Soccer Journal, bringing you comprehensive coverage and insightful analysis of Kansas City soccer.
Thad Bell
MANAGING EDITOR
Thad Bell is the Managing Editor of the KC Soccer Journal and resident photographer. He grew up across the state but loves all the soccer in Kansas City. He has had the good fortune to stumble into covering soccer and loves doing it at all levels in the region. He has been a season ticket holder since day one of the Wiz and has been around for a lot of games. Watching the beautiful game grow (and playing a tiny part) in Kansas City and the region has been a fantastic journey. Thad has been there from the beginning of MLS, the birth of the NWSL, the rebirth of the Comets and supporting all the grass roots teams that are growing stronger each year. Greatest strength: Stubborn persistence.
Chad Smith
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Since 2014, Chad Smith has been deeply involved in covering Kansas City soccer. He’s written about Sporting KC, the KC Current and SKC II for numerous platforms, including The Blue Testament, which was the precursor to the KC Soccer Journal. While his initial connection to Sporting KC was established in Phoenix covering preseason, he now resides in the Kansas City area, offering thorough analysis and a strong commitment to local soccer.
Mike Kuhn
EDITOR
Mike grew up playing soccer all the way through college. And here and there as an adult. He has also coached soccer off and on since college. Mike has been writing about KC soccer since 2005 and an SKC season ticket holder since 2006. Before that, he was attending Kansas City Wiz/Wizards/Sporting KC games since 1996.
Cody Bradley
EDITOR
Cody Bradley is a writer for KC Soccer Journal. He is the host of the Shades of Blue Soccer Show and has been a fan of Sporting Kansas City since childhood, excited to share his passion for the club and Kansas City soccer.
Ben Gartland
EDITOR
Ben Gartland is a dedicated contributor to KC Soccer Journal, offering his perspective on the latest news and matches involving Sporting KC and the KC Current.
Robert Rusert
EDITOR
Amid a successful club and high school coaching career, Robert began writing for Major League Soccer as a stringer in 2004, doing weekly coverage and being sent to MLS Cup and the SuperDraft in subsequent seasons. Since then, Robert has continued playing and writing about soccer, although he chose to stop coaching in 2015. Catch his tactical and humanity-based articles and his musings on the Shades of Blue podcast at KCSoccerJournal.com.
Carrie Robinson
CONTRIBUTOR
Carrie Robinson is an author at KC Soccer Journal. Her favorite Sporting KC memory was witnessing Erik Thommy’s goal in LA during the 2024 U.S. Open Cup. Her favorite KC Current memory was getting to enjoy opening day of CPKC stadium with her dad, who bought them season tickets to FCKC in their Swope Park days.
David Greenwald
CONTRIBUTOR
David Greenwald is a passionate writer for KC Soccer Journal, dedicated to covering Sporting KC and the KC Current with insightful analysis and engaging stories.
Cindy Lara
CONTRIBUTOR
Cindy Lara is a passionate follower of Kansas City soccer, covering both Sporting KC and the KC Current. She enjoys sharing her insights and enthusiasm for the local soccer scene.
Xander Kennedy
CONTRIBUTOR
A former collegiate soccer coach, Xander Kennedy joined the KC Soccer Journal staff in 2023. He primarily covers the Kansas City Current but is an avid fan of all things soccer and KC. After growing up in the metro area, Xander now lives in Columbia, MO, but makes the 2-hour trek to CPKC Stadium and Children’s Mercy Park as often as possible. He is also the father of a pair of young athletes who dream of some day donning the Sporting blue and the Current teal.
Jough Donakowski
CONTRIBUTOR
Jough has followed and loved soccer his whole life, though he was never great at playing it (his words). His first experiences watching professionally were with the Minnesota Thunder, who played in his high school’s football stadium. Jough started following the Wizards in 2007 after moving to Kansas City and is now a lifelong fan, for better or for worse. Jough’s best memory that isn’t winning the MLS Cup, it was being in attendance to watch KC win the US Open Cup in Philadelphia in 2015, although that Manchester United game was pretty awesome. Jough has written and blogged off and on but had the privilege of covering the NCAA College Cup when it was hosted at Sporting Park in 2015. In retrospect, 2015 was a banner year. He currently work as a physicist in Virginia with my wonderful wife, two tolerable children, and three mostly awesome cats. Along with soccer and sport in general, he enjoy astronomy, literature (modern fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi), photography, and guitar.
Juan Cisneros
CONTRIBUTOR
Juan Cisneros is a writer and contributor for KC Soccer Journal. He was born in Cali, Colombia and has been following soccer since he was a child. He moved to Kansas City at the age of one and started attending Wizards games with his dad when he was seven years old. Soccer is a family affair for him. Juan is passionate about the game at the league and international level and wants to help grow the sport in Kansas City.
Josh Wallace
CONTRIBUTOR
Dr. Josh Wallace, is a Native of Kansas City, Kansas and a long-time soccer fan and Sporting KC enthusiast. Currently, he serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Wallace has contributed to the journal with articles on the MLS Draft, analysis of players, and overall topics on the Sporting KC squad.
Jimmy Mack
CONTRIBUTOR
Jimmy was born and raised in Los Angeles, but he fell in love with Kansas City by way of soccer and has been a passionate Sporting Kansas City fan since he first moved to KC. In addition to his work with the Kansas City Soccer Journal, Jimmy started “No Other Pod” in 2017 with Daniel Kooser as a place where two friends could share soccer conversations with other fans. He’s previously covered Sporting KC, the KC Current, MLS, and the US Men’s and Women’s National Teams for MLS league social media accounts, SBI Soccer, and Total MLS. When he’s not watching SKC he’s cheering on his beloved USC Trojans!
Stacy Fulk
CONTRIBUTOR
Stacy is a lifelong Kansas Citian (albeit on the outskirts) and has always been a KC sports fanatic, but her love of soccer started later in life. She attended her first Sporting KC match in 2015 after watching a few matches on TV. She became a season ticket member in 2016 and hasn’t looked back!
