NWSL MVP: Temwa Chawinga

Kansas City Current forward Temwa Chawinga has been voted the 2024 NWSL Most Valuable Player.

“We are so proud of Temwa for earning this award,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski via press release. “Temwa has come so far this season in a short amount of time and is so important to our team, she is the clear MVP of both our team and the league. She does so much for us both offensively and defensively and, most importantly, she is a great teammate. I am so excited to watch Temwa continue to grow with our club.”

It has been an amazing season for the the Malawi international. Chawinga set a number of records for both club and league in her historic first NWSL season. She became the first player in NWSL history to score 20 goals in a single season, record a goal in eight consecutive regular season games and score a goal against every other NWSL team since the league expanded to 10+ teams. Chawinga scored on thirteen different teams on her way to winning the 2024 NWSL Golden Boot. She became the first player in Current history to earn the honor and the first NWSL player in Kansas City since Lauren Holiday won the first award with FC Kansas City in 2013.

With 20 total goals and six assists in 2024, Chawinga also set the NWSL’s single-season record for goal contributions. In all competitions, Chawinga recorded 24 goals and eight assists for the Current.  Chawinga not only earned the Golden Boot, she ran away with it in the second half of the season. Barbra Banda and Sophia Smith would have won the Golden Boot last season but could not match Chawinga this season.

“From the moment Temwa came to Kansas City, we knew she was capable of playing at an MVP level,” said general manager Caitlin Carducci. “Not only has she been an incredible player on the pitch, she’s also been an incredible teammate and representative of the organization off it. Temwa laid an incredible foundation with her play in 2024, and we’re so excited for what’s to come in the years ahead.”

The finalists for the MVP included Chawinga, Orlando forwards Barbra Banda and Marta, Washington forward Trinity Rodman and Portland forward Sophia Smith. Voting was determined based on a weighted voting scale comprised of players (40%), owners/GM’s/coaches (25%), media (25% and fans (10%).

The moment TC6 found out she won @NWSL MVP 🥹

Core memory for her & our club 🩵 pic.twitter.com/jYsjoG4WHy

— KC Current (@thekccurrent) November 22, 2024