How women made the U.S. a soccer powerhouse

By Suzanne Hogan

Published March 25, 2026 at 3:00 AM CDT

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An action shot from the 1950s of girls playing an intramural soccer game at what's today called Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas.

With the Current’s trailblazing stadium, women’s soccer staked its claim as a vital part of Kansas City’s local identity. The women’s game is a central reason why this city will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and why the United States gets taken seriously in soccer at all.

But after more than a century of prejudice, unequal funding and outright bans, fans don't take this dominance for granted. KCUR’s Suzanne Hogan brings us the third installment of our mini-series on Kansas City’s soccer history.

This episode of A People's History of Kansas City was reported, produced, and mixed by Suzanne Hogan with editing by Mackenzie Martin and Gabe Rosenberg.

This is the third installment of a series leading up to the 2026 World Cup in collaboration with the Great Game Lab at Arizona State University, which explores how sport connects the us to the rest of the world, and the Us@250 Initiative at New America.

Read and listen to the first installment, "The immigrants who made us a soccer city," and the second installment, "Lamar Hunt and the dream of U.S. soccer."

If you know about a local champion of soccer in Kansas City who helped bring the city to this extraordinary moment, email us at peopleshistorykc@kcur.org