The Kansas City Current wrapped up a postseason run after a stoppage-time penalty kick that wasn’t enough to secure a win over the top-ranked Orlando Pride, and fell three to two.
The Current had geared up for a big year in a new, history-making stadium. CPKC Stadium, on the Berkley Riverfront, is the first in the world built solely for a women’s professional sports team. In ads, on billboards and across social media, the team highlighted the new milestone in women’s soccer, driving enthusiasm that sold out season tickets – and, eventually, every regular season home game.
When the National Women’s Soccer League began in 2013, the season kicked off in a matchup between the Portland Thorns and the Current’s predecessor, FC Kansas City, at Shawnee Mission North High School. Midfielder Desiree Scott recalled changing into her uniform in the car before games.
“It’s been an absolute journey,” she told fans during her retirement ceremony. “To be here, 2024, in this gorgeous, gorgeous stadium, the first ever in the world, it is my greatest honor.”
The 2024 season opener again pitted Kansas City’s team against the Portland Thorns, this time at CPKC Stadium. The explosive five-four Current victory showcased what would become mainstays of the team’s season: Malawian forward Temwa Chawinga scored, as she would go on to do a record-breaking 19 more times in the season. Every Current goal was greeted with a deafening train horn, a nod to the railroad company that secured naming rights for the stadium. After the final whistle confirmed a Current victory, Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” spilled out of the stadium speakers to remind fans they were “rolling on the river.”
Fans could hardly have asked for a more impressive first season to christen the team’s new home. Although the Current finished fourth overall in regular season play, only one more draw or loss separated the team from second place. They outscored any other team with a league-record 57 goals, made by 18 different players — another NWSL record.
The Current took home two tournament trophies — the Summer Cup, which incorporated NWSL and Mexican Liga MX Femenil teams, and the Women’s Cup that brought in club teams from Europe, Asia and Africa.
The team’s meteoric rise from second-to-last place last year sold seats, but many came to support the stadium, and what it means for a women’s team to have a home all its own.
Fan Elisa Rios choked back tears as she talked about playing for boys’ teams growing up, because there weren’t enough spots for girls.
“I’m so happy we’re able to move women’s sports, and bring women’s sports here to Kansas City,” she said. “I grew up here in Kansas City, so it’s f---ing phenomenal.”
Players described feeling energized by the fans who packed teal stadium seats every game.
“It was amazing getting out there, seeing all of our fans just super loud,” defender Gabrielle Robinson said after one game. “They’re like our twelfth, thirteenth man, basically, out there.”
It’s not just the world’s-first and league-record feats that make this year’s Current different. The players and staff feel it, too. They describe a joyful, supportive locker room full of teammates excited to kick a ball around with their friends every practice and game.
“Spending time with this group of players is probably one of the best times that I've had in my career,” said coach Vlatko Andonovski, who coached FC Kansas City, the Seattle Reign and the U.S. Women’s National Team before taking over the reins of the Current this year. “They’re fun to be around, they're enjoying the time together, they enjoy competing, they enjoy battling against each other — and they do it with a big smile on their face.”
In press conferences, the players sometimes good-naturedly rib each other, and nearly always speak glowingly about each others’ performances — like captain and midfielder Lo’eau LaBonta, praising midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo after the team’s Sept. 20 win over the Washington Spirit.
“I was very proud of her. She’s a great partner, she’s a great communicator — are we in a relationship?” LaBonta interrupted herself with a laugh. “I was so happy to have her next to me.”
Player solidarity is hardly new, but the team has also seemed to stand behind its coaching and general management leadership — hardly a given in the league. The NWSL has been plagued by allegations of harassment, hostile work environments and disregard for player safety, much of it detailed in a 173-page report by former acting attorney general Sally Yates that implicated coaches who still hold leadership roles. The Current came under fire for what one draftee’s mother called “less than professional treatment,” and players traded away in the off-season have expressed disappointment in how the team handled the changes.
This year, though, players speak highly of the team environment, from ownership to medical staff and, of course, their teammates. It bodes well for the team’s ability to attract new players over the offseason.
The league’s latest player collective bargaining agreement did away with the draft. Teams can’t execute any trades without a player’s consent, and players out of contract can move where they want. It puts an unprecedented level of choice in the players’ hands — and Current players think many will want to move to Kansas City.
“I think we have a great culture here, all the girls on the team are really special,” said forward Michelle Cooper. “We have a good love for each other off the field, as much as we do on the field, and I hope people know that – and I hope it shows.”
Desiree Scott, the only remaining Kansas City player to carry the torch from that first FC Kansas City match on a high school soccer field to the first stadium in the world built for a professional women’s sports team, retired at the end of the season.
The team now has multiple women who have only ever played professional club soccer with a home stadium built just for their own team.
“I think it means everything that it’s just for you, and no one else, really — like, we don’t have to share with the men’s,” said 18-year-old midfielder Claire Hutton. “We’ve paved a way, and everyone should be able to do this.”
