KC Pioneers to their visiting Aussie players: Feel what it’s like to have an entire city behind you
April 4, 2023 | Channa Steinmetz
Playing professional esports has given 17-year-old Ethan Klumpp an opportunity to travel the world; Kansas City has been one of the most livable cities he’s visited yet, he shared.
Ethan Klumpp, Kansas City Pioneers Rocket League team; photo courtesy of the KC Pioneers
“My experience in Kansas City, it’s different from the other U.S. cities that I’ve been in,” said Klumpp, an Australian who plays for the Kansas City Pioneers Rocket League team. “It’s a lot more chill. It’s not as busy with people around you at all times. You can live here. I can see myself living here more than [a place like] Los Angeles.”
Click here to check out Kansas City’s premier esports organization, the KC Pioneers.
Three of the four team members on the KC Pioneers Rocket League team hail from Australia. For the first time since they joined the team, the Aussies were flown to Kansas City for a bootcamp ahead of the Rocket League Championship Series Winter Major Thursday through Sunday in San Diego, California.
KC Pioneers’ Rocket League team is currently ranked in the Top 16 Rocket League teams across the globe, noted Sam Kulikov, a co-founder of the KC Pioneers.
“Our Rocket League team competes in the Australian Rocket League Division, also known as the Oceania Region,” Kulikov said. “By representing a team from the Oceania Region, we are able to bring resources to smaller, under-developed regions in the Rocket League ecosystem and build up great teams in their early stages.”
KC Pioneers is one of Startland News’ Startups to Watch in 2023! Click here to find out why.
RELATED: Royals announce gaming partnership with KC’s premier esports org: We share the same DNA
Kansas City Pioneers LEVELUP Arena; photo courtesy of the KC Pioneers
KC Pioneers Coach James Guarino, Kansas City Pioneers LEVELUP Arena; photo courtesy of the KC Pioneers
The Rocket League players started as early as 15 years old, Kulikov continued, noting that they have qualified for every Major event, including the World Championship, thus far.
Kulikov and his team felt passionately about bringing their players to Kansas City before San Diego so they could practice at a world-class facility, as well as intimately connect with the culture of the organization, he said.
“We wanted them to experience the power of the Midwest and the pride that we have when it comes to supporting our own,” Kulikov shared. “We wanted them to see and feel what it’s like to know you have an entire city behind you.”
“This is definitely the best bootcamp we’ve had so far,” Klumpp said, noting it feels good to be in the home of the KC Pioneers. “… This facility is amazing. It’s been really fun.”
Hunter Tomeski, Ethan Klumpp, and Jon Anastasakis, Kansas City Pioneers Rocket League team, at Chicken N Pickle; photo courtesy of the KC Pioneers
During the Rocket League team’s first trip to Kansas City, they visited iconic landmarks within the city and experienced such local favorites as a Kansas City Royals game at Kauffman Stadium over the baseball club’s opening weekend, pickleball at Chicken N Pickle, a shopping spree at MADE MOBB and lunch at Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que.
“The thing I’ve looked forward to the most is the barbeque,” Klumpp said. “The barbeque gets really hyped by these guys. They say it’s the best barbeque in America. We had brisket yesterday, and I am not a big barbeque person, but that was pretty amazing.”
Click here to read about KC Pioneers’ partnership with the Kansas City Royals.
Jon Anastasakis, Kansas City Pioneers Rocket League team; photo courtesy of the KC Pioneers
Kulikov encouraged the Kansas City community to tune into the Rocket League Championship Series Winter Major this week and cheer on the KC Pioneers.
“We feel really good heading into the RLCS Winter Major,” Kulikov said. “We have a pretty tough group of some of the best teams in the world, but we know we have what it takes to make it to Championship Sunday. The boys are confident, excited and fueled by the support of the Midwest. They’re ready to take this trophy home.”
“We’re feeling confident,” Klumpp echoed. “You always have to be confident going into it.”
The Championship will be streamed Thursday through Sunday on Twitch at Twitch.tv/RLEsports.
To be a Kansas City Pioneer means to be excited about your city and the work you are contributing to it, Klumpp shared.
“The passion is here in the city,” Klumpp said, “and it shows in the organization as well.”
Featured Business
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Una Mas Empanadas folds authentic Argentinian flavors into new restaurant spot at Parlor
Expanding Silvia Herrera’s business from a food truck in Gardner to one of Kansas City’s most active and eclectic food hubs brings the Buenos Aires-born entrepreneur — and her grandmother’s 50-year-old handcrafted empanada recipe — to an even wider, more diverse audience, she said. “Our empanadas are more than just food,” Herrera said. “They represent…
It’s not too late to preserve KC’s Black-owned restaurants (or to enjoy Black Feast Week)
The recent closures of Soiree, The Krave, and Privee — Black-owned restaurants that each became a staple of Kansas City’s evolving food scene — leave a clear void that can’t be ignored, said Ryan Sorrell. An initiative to help save local culinary should-be hotspots in similar danger wraps this week, but the work to promote and…
Ancestry.com founder-turned-AI evangelist says rapidly advancing tech can uplift humanity, families
People across the globe are caught in an internet malaise, said Paul Allen, and tech visionaries’ response should be to renew humans’ dependence on faith and family and friendship and local community. One of their most critical tools, he said: decidedly non-human solutions from the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. Allen — founder of…
KC filmmaker sees pleasure as a prequel to dystopia hiding ‘In Plain Sight’; His brave new wake-up call
Thomas Rex’s new proof-of-concept film project envisions a near-future world where society is on the verge of totalitarian control, he said, describing a cautionary tale about being unknowingly controlled by a culture of escapism through pleasure and pharmaceuticals. “In Plain Sight” serves as a prelude to Aldous Huxley’s novel “Brave New World,” an acclaimed but…