With roster hopes and title dreams in the air, KC NWSL opens first preseason camp

Lo’eau LaBonta made just six appearances in her first full season in the NWSL before she was waived by Sky Blue FC.

The 2015 NWSL College Draft’s 37th-overall pick was deemed surplus to requirements and was waived from the roster to make room for players returning from the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Less than a year later, she was picked up by FC Kansas City and didn’t look back, earning a starting spot on Vlatko Andonovski’s team. The former KC coach and current U.S. Women’s National Team coach credited LaBonta’s tenacity to win back the ball as a major reason she became an NWSL regular.

Five years later, LaBonta is in the prime of her career as an established pro with Kansas City’s new NWSL team — a distinctively different team than FC Kansas City, which ceased operations following the 2017 season.

Kansas City coach Huw Williams said the club will carry 28 players on its roster for the 2021 season. The club currently has 29, plus 11 undergoing trials during preseason camp.

That means, along with pressure being put upon players currently on the roster bubble, only one or two of the trialists (at most) will earn roster spots.

LaBonta is in little danger of losing her spot on the roster this time around, but she can relate to that pressure.

“I was cut midseason from Sky Blue my rookie year and I think that’s what helps me relate to a lot of them, and tell them, ‘You guys, I’m going into my seventh pro season — you guys can do it,’” she said.

“Everybody is going to have an opportunity to get on the team, to at least come to a preseason. We actually have players that have retired and come back.”

Even for players who don’t make the final roster, simply being part of preseason camp is a good sign.

“They realize not all of them are going to make it, so it’s making them go so hard,” LaBonta said. “And because they’re bringing that intensity, your spot is never guaranteed at the end of the day.”

The 11 trialists are also helping make up some of the numbers within the new team’s inaugural preseason camp. Six players under contract are yet to report because they haven’t yet moved to KC or are under a seven-day NWSL quarantine following their arrival.

And draft picks Kiki Pickett and Lucy Parker are remaining with their respective colleges for the spring season.

“Immediately in these first couple trainings, we started yesterday, girls who are very new to even the pro level are very comfortable,” LaBonta said. “They’re really trying to meet us at our standard and the pace and I appreciate that already so much. So I think, so far, the vibes are great.”

Williams is looking toward his veterans for leadership: LaBonta, Desiree Scott, Nicole Barnhart and Amy Rodriguez, to name a few.

“I think it means a little bit more when it comes from a teammate,” he said. “So we challenged our players yesterday to, first of all, don’t let the coaches want it more than you.”

Williams said FIFA Women’s World Cup-winner Rodriguez will captain the team, a role she will carry over from Utah — much of Kansas City’s roster is from the now-defunct Utah Royals FC.

“There might be another captain as well,” he said. “We don’t know how that will end up.”

This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 4:25 PM.