KC Current
Another Ode to the No Longer Current
A tribute to the impact players from the KC Current who have left this offseason and will be especially missed.

Being a sports fan is sometimes a complicated activity. We are fans of a specific team and pour ourselves — emotionally, financially, with time and energy, into supporting it. But what is a team except for a group of players? So, then we become fans of the players on our favorite team. Twelve months ago, many of us were only just starting to become vaguely aware of an athlete named Temwa Chawinga. And now? While not yet on the level of Mahomes or Kelce or Witt, it is not at all uncommon to see a red or teal #6 jersey walking around town. Our fandom of the Kansas City Current becomes a fandom of the 20-some women on that roster.
But where this gets complicated, of course, is when that roster changes. Are we supposed to just stop appreciating a player when she gets traded or signed by another team?
Fortunately, she’s just inked a deal to remain with the Current through at least 2028, but imagine if Chawinga had made a move this offseason. It’s actually not that hard to imagine — the WSL has been busy throwing lots of money around to snap up some of the best athletes from the NWSL (Girma, Nighswonger, Kerolin, plus Dunn to PSG). A million-dollar transfer fee may be hard for any club to turn down. So again, in the scenario that Chawinga had been signed elsewhere, would we have stopped being a fan?
The offseason heading into the 2024 season was an especially painful one for KC fans as a number of favorites (not to mention very important pieces of the roster) were dealt away. Fortunately, the turnover hasn’t been as dramatic this offseason. It appears that 10 of the regular 11 starters will be back on the CPKC pitch to square off against the Thorns in a little over a month. Regardless, there are some faces we won’t see lacing up the boots for KC who left a mark on our hearts.
Desi
You have been a pro athlete for two decades and thrice made Kansas City your professional soccer home. You had two stints as a member of FCKC (sandwiched around time in the English WSL) and then journeyed with the team as it was first relocated to Utah and then back to the heartland. You have three Olympic medals earned while representing your native Canada, were the runner up in the FA Cup with Notts County and runner up in the NWSL Championship with our Current. Your career now gets to be bookended with time in your homeland as you first burst onto the scene as a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps and now are returning as a part of the Ottawa Rapid. To this point, you have 311 total appearances for club and country.
(Speaking of Canada, these billboards are so cool!)
So cool 🔥🩵 https://t.co/gkqMwH9npp
— Desiree Scott (@MsDScott11) December 6, 2023
So that’s your resume in broad strokes, but what you have meant to this upstart club in Kansas City runs a lot deeper. Anyone who has followed women’s soccer likely knows you as The Destroyer. Countless times you put your body on the line to stop a counter or disrupt the opposition. In a nod to your physical reputation, the video game EAFC listed you as the second highest physicality of all NWSL players.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐫 for a reason 😤@MsDScott11 is #2 in the @EASPORTSFC Top 10 for @NWSL’s most physical players 💪#KCBABY pic.twitter.com/lut3KcjWP4
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) September 22, 2023
For most of the Current’s existence, the “6” role has been yours and while you weren’t a goal scorer, you were pinpoint with your passes and absolutely essential in protecting the D-line. You started both the semifinal and the final in KC’s surprise run to the NWSL Championship match in 2022.
Unfortunately, an injury stole much of the next couple seasons from you, but if there was ever a doubt as to what you meant to this team, to this city, the local fans were there to remind you when you were finally able to make your return.
518 days.
The Destroyer is back.A long-awaited return for @MsDScott11.
We’re so proud of you 🥹 pic.twitter.com/P7i5wp8N4S— KC Current (@thekccurrent) March 31, 2024
You’ve closed the NWSL part of your career and have earned the opportunity to play close to home before finally hanging it up. Know that you’ll forever have a home stateside too.
Almuth
Thank you for all you gave to this club, Schult 🩵
Best of luck in your next chapter. You’ll forever be part of #KCBABY 🫶 pic.twitter.com/CRexNptDu7
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) December 19, 2024
You may have only been a member of the Kansas City family for about four months and a dozen matches, but your impact will long be remembered. You helped transition the 2024 team from one that primarily won high scoring affairs to one that could just as successfully earn a 1-0 victory. With you in goal, the Current conceded just eight times in 12 matches — only 2/3 of a goal per match. Additionally, in those twelve games, KC lost just twice. You also helped the team hoist two trophies in the short time you were here, starting the semifinal of the Women’s Cup and the final of the Summer Cup.
You are also the second person on this list to have earned an Olympic gold medal, playing every second of Germany’s 2016 title run.
For any fan that made it out to CPKC over the second half of last season, your play inspired numerous “That’s our Keeper!” chants. Here you are stonewalling the eventual champions Orlando Pride.
Almuth Schult is doing her best impression of a brick wall tonight! 🧱 pic.twitter.com/uJMdwOCd8S
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 14, 2024
You helped the team to a top-four finish to the season and an appearance in the semifinal match. It seems as though you would have been welcomed back in 2025, but you were likely ready to shift back to Europe; after all, on top of being a world class keeper, you are the mother of three young children. As the game grows more global, it will be interesting to see if our paths cross again, but in the meantime keep frustrating strikers wherever you go.
AD
AD Franch is at clutch as it gets. Big time saves in big time moments helped create the mid season momentum that carried KC Current to the final. Maybe none bigger than this. pic.twitter.com/ebhgRxau9Q
— Jillian Loyden (@JillLoyden) March 21, 2023
You are the one this article is especially written for. You are a Kansan whose Midwestern pride has shown through at every moment. Like the women listed above, you have represented your country on the biggest stages with Olympic and World Cup medals to show for it, but when you were signed by the team that would eventually become the Current, it felt like coming home.
Kansas City, we did it.@ADizzle23 | #KCBABY pic.twitter.com/FIIO1NzvnL
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) March 16, 2024
The highs we’ve shared together have been spectacular. You got the team to the NWSL Championship match in its second season: the team was outshot 20-6 in the quarterfinals and 16-8 in the semis. You hoisted the Women’s Cup trophy after locking down one of Europe’s best teams, 1-0 over Atletico Madrid. Every time you stepped on the field, the hometown crowd showered you with love and you returned it full force. (You once announced that every person with a keeper jersey would get it signed, making your way all the way around the stadium to keep your promise.)
Thanks everyone for showing up!!! ❤❤❤ https://t.co/QbYBITG1Wb
— Adrianna AD Franch (@ADizzle23) April 21, 2024
You’ve had some moments that may have been harder to celebrate too, but even in those, you showed us your heart. No sooner had you led the team to the title match in 2022, than you spent much of the next two seasons battling for the starting job, first with Cassie Miller and then with Schult. But again, even through these times, you were the consummate positive teammate, a force for good.
KC CURRENT GK UNION 😤 pic.twitter.com/6qhyqVY4Xo
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 9, 2024
You’ve made it clear that the Current, and Kansas City as a whole, have been an extension of your family. Whether it’s high-fiving every fan you pass, or sharing your precious daughter with us, you’ve left no doubt that in a career full of superlatives, your time with the Current has been a highlight. You will be missed!
Memories that last a lifetime 🩵 @ADizzle23 pic.twitter.com/GO36Qy1JYh
— KC Current (@thekccurrent) May 14, 2023
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There are, of course, others who have departed the team over the past twelve months–several (Spaanstra, Lauren, Glas, etc.) in season and more this offseason (Ballisager, Weber, Magaia, etc.). This article would have focused on Elizabeth Ball and Kristen Hamilton if it weren’t for the fact that they were re-signed a few days ago.
The 2023 season was largely a disappointment, and so it wasn’t a surprise when there was significant turnover before 2024. This past season was a big success and so the turnover was less dramatic. Regardless, with every change there is the chance for sadness as the fans have to adjust to no longer getting to see certain players in red and teal. As much as someone like Hutton has become a new favorite in the defensive mid spot, many of us will remember fondly the Destroyer patrolling that area. And as much as Lorena could prove to be elite in goal, it may be jarring to not see Franch or Schult out there stopping shots.