Spirit Sports Kansas City Nationals

The real winter all-star championship in Kansas City, MO is the Spirit Sports Kansas City Nationals, produced by Spirit Sports (a Varsity All Star brand). It is held at the Kansas City Convention Center downtown (301 W. 13th Street) and has run in early-to-mid winter — the 2025 edition took place February 8-9, 2025, and a 2026 edition was scheduled for the same February window.

As a Varsity All Star national, it is a bid event drawing all-star programs from the Midwest and beyond, with teams competing by level and age division. It uses digital-only ticketing (no paper tickets at the door) and is streamed/archived through Varsity TV.

Important naming note: 'Spirit of Hope' is a distinct, real event — the Spirit of Hope National Championship / Grand Nationals produced by Universal Spirit (also a Varsity brand), named for Hope Stout and tied to a Make-A-Wish charitable cause. However, that Spirit of Hope event is held in CHARLOTTE, NC (e.g., January 2026), not Kansas City. Because the task's defining detail is a winter all-star championship in Kansas City, MO, this entry is written around the Spirit Sports Kansas City Nationals — the real KC event — and flags the Spirit of Hope naming mismatch. See notes.

Spirit Sports is one of Varsity All Star's event brands and runs a multi-city 'Nationals' series (including Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Palm Springs and other cities). Its Kansas City Nationals has been a recurring downtown-convention-center event in recent seasons.

A specific founding year for the Spirit Sports brand could not be independently verified, so it is left blank rather than estimated. Separately, the Spirit of Hope event (a different, Charlotte-based Universal Spirit championship) is named after Hope Stout, a young osteosarcoma patient whose Make-A-Wish story inspired the event's charitable mission.

The Kansas City Nationals runs as a two-day competition with sessions grouped by level, age, and DI/DII status. All-star teams perform scored routines combining stunting, pyramids, tumbling, jumps, and dance under the Varsity All Star scoring system.

Spectators should expect a downtown convention-center setting, digital admission tickets purchased in advance (with a valid email and credit card; tickets are scanned at entry rather than sold as paper at the door), and Varsity TV streaming. As a bid event, awards sessions are where end-of-season bids are announced.

Kansas City's Convention Center is within walking distance of the Power & Light District and numerous downtown hotels, so families often make a weekend of it.

The event is held at the Kansas City Convention Center, 301 W. 13th Street, in downtown Kansas City, MO, near the Power & Light entertainment district, the T-Mobile Center, and downtown hotels.

The primary airport is Kansas City International Airport (MCI), roughly 20 miles northwest of downtown (about a 25-30 minute drive). Downtown parking garages, the free KC Streetcar, and rideshare serve the convention-center area.