How this startup (and a KC sports icon) turned young players into card-carrying legends overnight

An Overland Park-based custom trading card company and a Kansas City soccer star are teaming up on the pitch with a goal to make youth sports fun again.

Stat Legend — launched by Chris Cheatham and Nick Weaver in 2023 — created custom cards for all 250 players who suit up for the Captains Soccer Club, which was started by Kansas City Sporting legend Matt Besler. 

Custom, Pokemon-style trading cards created for young athletes; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“Youth sports have gotten really, really serious really early,” explained Cheatham, co-founder of now-exited RiskGenius. “That’s one of the things I like talking to Matt about because he agrees. So these cards are just like, ‘Hey, just have fun.’ This is a reminder that you can do big things later, and for now, just have fun.”

This is the first year for the Captains Club, and Overland Park-native Besler said he was looking for an opportunity to do something creative and unique for his players.

“I just want to create positive experience for these kids,” he explained. “So when we were starting the club, we brainstormed ways to get them excited about soccer.”

At a recent practice, each player received a pack of cards that included their own card, as well as cards for each of their teammates, a coach card, and a Besler card (with a picture of him as a youth player), totaling nearly 4,500 cards that Cheatham and Weaver created and printed.

“I hope that it’s a good memory for them,” Besler shared. “It’s almost like a mini yearbook that they can keep and hold on to for years to come. We just hope they have fun with them.”

Matt Besler smiles while distributing custom card packs from Stat Legend; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“If they want to collect them, if they want to put them in a binder, great,” he added, “If they want to frame them, great. If they want to autograph them and start trading them — whatever they want to do with them — that’s for them to decide.”

Cheatham and Weaver — with the help of a photographer — spent four practices interviewing and taking pictures of the players for the cards, which included a custom bio created with the help of AI.

“We’ve trained it to write this really awesome kid bio in like a Pokemon style,” Cheatham explained. “It would take specific things like one kid said he loved ramen and it referred to how he was going to slice through the defense like a knife through ramen.”

After excitedly receiving their cards, the players talked about bringing markers to their next practice to have teammates sign them and lined up to have Besler sign his card.

Matt Besler speaks with young athletes at a November practice; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“I’m really happy with how the cards turned out and I’m happy that we did this as a club,” Besler said. “The kids seemed really excited about it. So there’s a lot of buzz right now with the kids, and that’s really what it’s all about.”

“Give all the credit to Stat Legend and Chris,” he added. “They were the ones that did the heavy lifting, but pretty cool that we made it happen.”

Chris Cheatham and Nick Weaver, Stat Legend; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

A couple of years ago, Cheatham and Weaver were inspired to start Stat Legend to cheer up Cheatham’s son, they shared.

“My son was having a crappy baseball season,” explained Cheatham, a veteran Kansas City entrepreneur. “So I had somebody design a card for me and I think we started talking about printing. It was (Weaver’s) idea.”

Weaver knew of an on-demand printer through the board game community and the duo started exploring software applications to use to design the cards, they noted.

“It took us two and a half months to do 10 cards,” said Cheatham, who teased the company’s big plans for the 2026 World Cup. “And now we’re doing like 4,500 cards in a day.”

Matt Besler looks through packs of custom cards created by Stat Legend alongside co-founder Chris Cheatham; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

After launching Stat Legend, Cheatham was introduced to Besler through a mutual friend and pitched the idea of the cards to him.

“I think right from the start, I was like, ‘Wow, this is a great idea,’” Besler recalled. “‘This is exactly the kind of thing that I’m looking to do, and exactly the type of company that I’m looking to partner with.’”

“I wanted to make this a part of my club not just this first year, but beyond that,” he added. “So I hope this can be a long term partnership.”