© 2025 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Kansas City Current's 2023 season didn't go according to plan. What about next year?

Kansas City's Lo'eau LaBonta defends during an NWSL soccer match in March of 2023, in Cary, N.C.
Ben McKeown
/
AP
Kansas City's Lo'eau LaBonta defends during an NWSL soccer match in March 2023, in Cary, N.C.

After playing their final game at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, ahead of their move to a new riverfront stadium, the Kansas City Current sit near the bottom of the league table. What does the team need to improve?

Despite playing in the league championship last year and adding lots of strong talent in the offseason, the Kansas City Current head into their last match of the 2023 season just one point above last place.

KCUR's Madeline Fox told Up To Date that the team needs to utilize some of the players currently in place if it is going to improve for next season — which will be their first at the Current's trailblazing new stadium on the Berkley Riverfront.

"I would really love to see them lean on some of the players who have been there for awhile. Lo'eau Labonta is one who has been with the team since the start. Cece Kizer they added last season and has been just a really great, reliable player both at scoring goals and setting up goals and making chances for the team," Fox said. "I think, really leaning into some of those talented players who are really good utility players (is the right choice)."

Stay Connected
When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
As Up To Date’s senior producer, I want to pique the curiosity of Kansas Citians and help them understand the world around them. Each day, I construct conversations with our city’s most innovative visionaries and creatives, while striving to hold elected officials accountable and amplifying the voices of everyday Kansas Citians. Email me at zach@kcur.org.
No matter what happens in Washington D.C., Kansas City needs KCUR. And KCUR needs you.

Our ability to report local news — accurate, independent and paywall-free — depends on you. Donate now to support fact-based news.