On March 2nd, 2021, International Wichita announced club expansion into the United Premier Soccer league (“UPSL”) ahead of the 2021 season that kicks off on May 1, 2021. Inter Wichita will round out the conference lineup which includes a few regional opponents in the Iowa based Des Moines United, plus the Kansas City based Barilleros and Sunflower FC. The club has now become the second UPSL team based in Wichita, Kansas alongside the Sporting Wichita Rojos Academy.
In addition to the UPSL Martin Penafiel is in his first year as an assistant coach for Newman University men’s soccer. He assists with all facets of the program including, game & practice preparation, position specific training, scouting, recruiting, scheduling and community outreach.
Penafiel is originally from Lima, Peru where he grew up playing in the Club de Futbol Sporting Cristal and Colegio Ricardo Bentin. Once in the United States, he played for the Wichita Arsenal Soccer Club, Wichita Southeast HS, and Cloud County Cloud County Community College. Later he would join Wichita’s semi-professional Wichita Blue (outdoor) and the Wichita Sounders, who advanced to the Mitre Cup (Indoor) Nationals Finals Men’s Open Division.
Coach Martin brings over 25 years of coaching experience at the club, high school and college levels. Currently, he is the head coach of various FC Wichita youth academy teams and has been part of the coaching staff for the FC Wichita Men’s Senior Team who previously competed in the National Premier Soccer League but have recently been promoted to the United Soccer league.
“We are excited to have Martin leading us in our inaugural season,” said International Wichita Owner Yves Aka. “He has done a great job of scouting and becoming aware of the local talent and we expect he will build a strong team for the years to come.”
