Best of KC 2023: KC Current electrifies even in a rebuilding year, while building its own stadium

CPKC Stadium. // Photo by Zach Bauman

This month, we published The Pitch’s annual Best of Kansas City issue. You can browse the results of the readers’ poll here. The issue also included a list, compiled and written by our editorial staff, of some of our current favorite things about Kansas City in 2023. We’ll be publishing these items online throughout November. 

In the NWSL 2023 season, KC Current placed 11th out of 12 teams in women’s soccer. “We didn’t take dead last!” is rarely a good rallying cry, but in this case, it’s also a wildly disconnected summation of how great this team has been. KC is known for finding ways to make its own fun around perennially losing squads, but you’d be hard-pressed to say many of the Current matches this year felt like anything except strong victories.

Sure, we were hampered by some injuries and more than once, it appeared like our happy-go-lucky crowd might not let a ref leave the stadium alive, but KC Current made for some of our favorite nights and afternoons in 2023. On the pitch, Lo’eau LaBonta, Alex Spaanstra, Cece Kizer, Michelle Cooper, Mimmi Larsson, and Kristen Hamilton were nothing less than bright shining stars. AD Franch didn’t get the season she deserved, and few things felt as otherworldly powerful as screaming “DEBINHA!” after one of her many goals or assists.

But as is always the case, the Current is so much more than the players on the green. KC Blue Crew leads the crowd chants and drumline music that fills the stadium, and their dedication to the craft of supporting our heroes in song earned them a full feature in our May issue. Assistant Coach Caroline Sjöblom was called up to head coach after the team parted ways on a game day with former coach Matt Potter.

Back in January, Brittany Mahomes was joined in co-ownership of the club by new investor Patrick Mahomes, whose name might be familiar from other regional sports activities. The final touches are also being put on the new CPKC Stadium that the Current will occupy next season—the first stadium built for a women’s professional sports team. In keeping with the team’s ethos, the venue will give back to the community in so many ways, as it will also serve as a concert venue and weekend farmer’s market. We’d love to see the new Royals stadium strive to be anything as utilitarian as that!