Potter wants new Current players to live into the moment

When the Kansas City Current lined up to play North Carolina over the weekend, head coach Matt Potter started three rookies Michelle Cooper, Alexa Spaanstra and Gabby Robinson, Another NWSL newcomer, Mimmi Larsson started as well. The Current  also had two more rookies on the bench (Rylan Childers and Jordan Silkowitz).

Coach Potter doesn’t like the term rookie, “Every player brings value. So if you’re if you’re in the room, then you’re already brought value and you have to act that way. If there’s an opportunity to lead it doesn’t matter who you are. The other thing when it comes to rookies, I’m not big on the title. What I say is if you’re in the room and you bring value, then if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. If that puts you on the field, then that means you are doing you well, and being you is an important piece.”

While he is not big on the title of rookie, Potter does recognize that it is a good step to get that first experience. “Postgame Michelle (Cooper) talked about it being ‘my first game and now I’ve got that out of the way.’ So I think, you know, that’s sometimes what we all forget,the youth of some of these players. Even with the experience of Mimi, it was her first time in a game in NWSL, despite the experiences she’s had. So I think sometimes we have to reflect on the human side a little bit more. That doesn’t mean our expectations change or our standards change, we still expect them to be at their best and we still have high expectations for them. I think the biggest thing is you allow people to live into that versus live up to it and we’re certainly trying to help set them up to live into the possibility of what they can be.”