After the North American Soccer League ceased operations nearly a dozen years before, the future of soccer in America seemed uncertain at best, and grim at worst. But on the heels of the 1994 World Cup, things were beginning to look up again.
It was April 13, 1996, and the Kansas City Wiz was on the cusp of its first Major League Soccer regular season game against the Colorado Rapids. The first generation of KC Wiz players prepared to step onto the pitch in front of fans for the first time ever, and the locker room brimmed with enthusiasm after months of preparation.