Meet Mallory Weber: Q&A with a Kansas City pro soccer winger just back from Down Under

As the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League season draws near, Kansas City seems to have been quick to embrace the return of women’s pro soccer. Fans have been eager to get to know their new players, theres been homecoming fanfare at Union Station, and the team is hard at work in preseason training.

But throughout all of this, at least one KC player remains a mystery to the fan base.

On the other side of the world, winger Mallory Weber has been on loan with Australia’s Adelaide United since 2019. She joined the Lady Reds when the KC team was still based in Utah and is yet to get a chance to meet her new fans in the Midwest.

Before Utah, Weber played for the Portland Thorns from 2016-19, winning the NWSL Shield in 2016 and NWSL championship in 2017. She was also named to the Australian W-League’s “Team of the Season” in 2020.

Adelaide United missed out on the 2021 W-League playoffs on goal differential, so Weber will return to the U.S. in April and hopes to be in attendance for KC’s home opener April 26 against the Houston Dash.

The Star caught up with Weber, 26, to ask her questions ranging from her playing style and favorite player to pre-game pump-up song ... and what she’s missed most about America.

What’s your favorite thing about Australia?

“First I would just say that it’s nice to be able to come right from the NWSL season and kind of jump right into a pretty competitive environment so I’m not having to do those four or five months of off-season on-my-own individual training. So I still can stay game fit.

But the fact that I can go from full summer in the U.S. jumping right into summertime here, you can’t beat the beaches and the weather and the food. And honestly, even the people, they’re so nice.”

How does NWSL compare to the Australian W-League?

“The NWSL is hands down more competitive and harder and I think that’s why I kind of got switched to outside back last year (at Utah) because I wasn’t quite at the finishing level in the NWSL.

The league over here is just overall younger. In the NWSL I would say I’m more one of the middle-aged players, where over here I’m one of the oldest in my team. To kind of come over here and have that experience and kind of help guide this team along, this puts me in completely different environments.”

How would you describe yourself as a player?

“I would say very hardworking, maybe a bit scrappy, I love to get into tackles and love going one-v-one. Very attacking-minded, I would say.”

What do you miss most about America?

“Probably my dog. The process is pretty strict, he would have to go into isolation to make sure he isn’t bringing any viruses or anything over here, so it just made more sense to leave him with some family there. His name’s Meeko and he’s a Husky-Australian Shepherd.”

If you were stuck on a desert island with any KC player, who would be the best, and worst? And why?

“Well if we’re not basing it on survival, but mostly just to be entertained, I would say Lo LaBonta, hands down. I don’t think I can count the number of times that she has not been joking. She has a witty line for everything, even when you’re least expecting it she pulls something out. Even if it’s like the wrong moment for it, but I think that’s why everyone loves her, because she can lighten any mood.

Worst person, in the nicest way, I would say probably Barny (Nicole Barnhart) because she’s so serious. I feel like she’d be overly concerned with the survival aspect. But she might keep me alive, yes.”

Who’s your favorite player of all-time and favorite you’ve played with?

“Favorite player just in general of watching would have to be Messi. Just because I have since I was a kid and he never disappoints.

And favorite player that I’ve ever played with, probably Lindsey Horan. Just in terms of how she plays but also over my four years in Portland just how helpful she was in coaching and helping the players around her be better. I feel like I learned so much from her. She’s pretty much my age and I remember going to a U-20s camp with her and when I got sent to Portland I was like, ‘Ahh, this is cool.’ She plays way above her age.

I mean, I’ve played with some pretty good players but she is definitely up there. I remember walking in (to the Portland locker room), I think I was 21, and it was like Tobin Heath, Christine Sinclaire, Lindsey Horan, I was like ‘hollllyyyy (expletive).’”

What position would you be if you were not a winger?

“If I couldn’t be a winger I would say probably an outside back in like a 3-5-2 so I could get up and attack but not always have to be doing the full sprint back to defend.”

What’s your go-to pre-game song and routine?

“I would say if I’m driving to the stadium my pre-game song would be Classic by MKTO just because it’s super pump-up, singalong. It’s super upbeat and that will probably be the last song I play driving into the stadium.

Always pre-game coffee, going to either a specific coffee shop or making my own, depending on where we are. So I’ll definitely have to find some of those in Kansas City. I usually get a flat-white but if I’m making it from home I’ll just do like a double espresso with a shot of milk. But then my pregame meal would be banana cakes with peanut butter.”

Do you have any pet peeves? Both in regular life and in soccer?

“Biggest pet peeve would probably be chewing with your mouth open, like when you can hear the food in someone’s mouth. I cannot stand that.

For soccer, I would say when coaches explain drills and people aren’t really paying attention and then they go into the drill and they do it wrong. I feel like we have a bit of that and then they have to stop, re-explain, and we’re like, ‘If you just would’ve (freaking) listened in the first place …’”

Do you support any other soccer teams?

“I loved going to Portland Timbers games when I was there. Just because they did a really good job, like we knew the players on the men’s team. We did appearances with them so it felt like you knew them when you were supporting them. I wouldn’t say we did that much in Salt Lake with it, so I didn’t feel as ... like you support your men’s team but you don’t have a huge tie to it.”

Any other fun facts you’d like to share about yourself?

“Well I love cooking, and after I finish playing, my goal or one of my goals is to open a little cafe, like a breakfast, brunch and lunch kind of thing.

But I love cooking any type of food — I would say more like Asian would be my kind of specialty ...”

This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Meet Mallory Weber: Q&A with a Kansas City pro soccer winger just back from Down Under."