General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

The Kicks

The Kicks is an American live-action children's television series produced by Amazon Studios, based on the best-selling middle-grade book series by Olympic gold medalist and United States Women's National Team soccer player Alex Morgan. It follows Devin Burke, a star youth soccer player whose family moves from Connecticut to California, where she must rally her new school's struggling team, the Kentville Kicks.¹ The full first season of ten episodes premiered on Prime Video on August 26, 2016, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria, after the pilot had been released on June 26, 2015 as part of Amazon's viewer-feedback pilot season.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Format	Live-action Amazon Original Kids Series for children ages six to 11; ten episodes of about 25 minutes, rated TV-G¹^•³
Source	Book series by Alex Morgan, US Olympic gold medalist and US Women's National Team player; adapted by David Babcock¹^•⁴
Pilot	Released June 26, 2015 during Amazon's kids pilot season; rated 4.9 stars by customers with 92% 5-star reviews¹^•²
Series order	Greenlit on November 6, 2015 alongside Dino Dana and Lost in Oz⁵
Premiere	Full season debuted August 26, 2016 on Prime Video in the US, UK, Germany, and Austria¹
Lead cast	Sixx Orange (Devin Burke), Sophia Mitri Schloss (Emma Gelbaum), E'myri Crutchfield (Zoe Hanson), Gabe Eggerling (Bailey Burke), Monica Lacy (Sharon Burke), Tim Martin Gleason (Tom Burke)¹
Status	Ended after one season; IMDb rating 6.9/10³

Spoilers

Premise and season arc

Devin Burke was the star player on her soccer team in Connecticut until her family moved to California midway through the school year because her father, Tom, took a new job. At her new school she discovers that the team, the Kentville Kicks, has been on a losing streak for months and badly needs a leader, and she must establish herself both as a player and as a newcomer making friends in an unfamiliar place.¹^•⁶

The first season's storylines include the Kicks going head-to-head with the boys' team, Devin regaining her confidence after losing her lucky headband, Devin choosing between a friend and what is best for the team, and Devin overcoming adversity after an injury.¹ Later episodes cover the team finding a replacement coach when theirs leaves for a family emergency, a prank war after the Kicks lose their coach to rival school Pinewood Academy, and a finale in which Devin tries to conceal a bad ankle injury so she can play in the biggest game of the year against Pinewood.⁷^•⁴

Production and development

The Kicks entered development through Amazon Studios' pilot season, a process in which customers stream and review pilot episodes to help choose which projects become full series. The pilot debuted on June 26, 2015 as one of Amazon's kids-targeted pilots, and customer response was strong enough that Amazon ordered it to series on November 6, 2015, together with the animated Lost in Oz and the follow-up Dino Dana.¹^•⁵^•⁸

The series was executive produced by novelist James Frey (I Am Number Four) and Todd Cohen of Full Fathom Five, the production company behind the book series, along with Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle) and David Babcock (Twisted); Nastaran Dibai was co-executive producer, and writing credits included Orenstein, David Steinberg, Taylor Cox, and Jacquie Walters.¹ Directors included Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, Sasie Sealy, Joe Nussbaum, and Keith Samples.⁹ Sixx Orange, then a newcomer, won the lead role of Devin after an audition process that began in September 2014; it was her acting debut.¹⁰

Morgan, who drew the story from her own experiences as a young athlete, said she was excited to see her books take shape on screen; Amazon's head of kids programming Tara Sorensen described both Morgan and the character of Devin as strong female role models.¹ Morgan herself appears in a role in the story.¹¹

Reception

The pilot earned a 4.9-star customer rating with 92% five-star reviews during the pilot season, and customer comments praised its positive message and appeal to both children and adults.¹ Common Sense Media rated the series appropriate for ages 6 and up, named it a Common Sense Selection, and highlighted Devin as an excellent role model, particularly for girls, noting themes of friendship, teamwork, perseverance, and family bonds.¹¹ On IMDb the series holds a 6.9/10 rating.³ Kid reviewers on the same site described the show as an inspiring story about teamwork, while noting disappointment at its abrupt cliffhanger ending.¹¹

The series ran for a single season and ended, with the final episode, "No Pain, No Gain," airing on August 26, 2016.³^•⁶ It remains available on Prime Video, including in 4K.¹²

Not to be confused with

A separate 2016 feature film titled Kicks, a comedy-drama about a teenager retrieving stolen sneakers, was released the same year and is unrelated to the series.¹³

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Comedy, drama, and general-genre web series › Premiered 1999 to 2016

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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