Friendships and championships: Sam Mewis, Lynn Williams headline KC Current’s new era

It started with a car ride.

Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams shared a lift to a U.S. Women’s National Team U-23 training camp and got acquainted along the way. As they became teammates, and then roommates, a friendship blossomed.

The two soccer stars were acquired by the KC Current this offseason in trades roughly a month apart. And now they bring their championship-level experience to a team that’s seeking to establish its own identity.

Williams went to Pepperdine and would regularly drive Mewis and some of her UCLA teammates to those U-23 camps in Southern California. Williams and Mewis were both drafted by the Western New York Flash in 2015, and when the team moved to North Carolina in 2017, they became roommates.

Suffice to say they hit it off, a friendship blossoming and enduring as the women settled into life in the National Women’s Soccer League.

“We both grew up pretty similarly,” Williams said. “We had middle-class parents, we both had to work growing up ... just the way we think, it’s pretty similar.”

That shared mindset has been a foundation for the development of a unique camaraderie both on and off the field.

“We know how to balance each other,” Williams added. “We have been roommates for four years, so we know when we need space, when we need to vent and when we need to have a good time.”

Perhaps most importantly, Mewis knows she can trust and confide in Williams.

“I value her opinion a lot,” Mewis said.

Their friendship translates well on the soccer field. While there is a pretty good understanding, Mewis tends to be the one to bark out orders on the field.

“I value Sam’s opinion so much on and off the field,” Williams said. “When she’s telling me to do something on the field, I don’t snap back.”

Each player knows the other prepares meticulously for myriad game situations, so when they’re on the field, competing alongside one another, they’re typically on the same page and trust each other completely.

“I think it’s that trust that our friendship has given us that has made us connect well on the field and have a great relationship on the field, too,” Mewis said. “We have a strong foundation where we just trust each other and know that we’re doing the right things in both areas.”

After spending most of their professional careers on the same team, Mewis was traded to Kansas City in November 2021 following the culmination of the Current’s first season in the league. Williams was sad to see her friend leave North Carolina, but she understood that going to KC was something that Mewis just needed to do.

“As a friend, I was really excited for her,” Williams said. “I felt like KC was actually probably the best move for her and her career, and so the friend in me was excited. The soccer side was sad. And then, a month and a half later, I was un-sad.”

Williams said she learned of her own trade to the Current the day after Christmas. When Mewis found out that her best friend would be joining her in the nation’s heartland, she could scarcely believe it.

“Hearing that she would be on my team again was a big relief,” Mewis said. “I’ve been in this league with Lynn the whole time, and I feel like I need her as a friend and I really love having her as a teammate.”

“I was excited for myself and so excited for the team in Kansas City, that the team was going to get to have her as well. She’s obviously a huge asset.”

The pair host a podcast called Snacks on the Just Women’s Sports web platform. For the last two years, they have recorded episodes with their teammates and friends. When Williams was traded to the Current, they broke the news on their own platform.

“Kansas City came up to me originally and said, ‘I think this would be a good idea, that you can announce it and be in control of your own news,’” Williams said. “I thought that was amazing. Usually, you see news articles where people leak trades or information, so I thought it was really important for me to be able to take control of my own news.”

The Current kick off their 2022 season on Friday in Kentucky against Racing Louisville FC in the NWSL Challenge Cup. Williams and Mewis are expected to start and play a large role in the tournament that precedes the NWSL’s regular season.

They’re excited to help the Current establish a new identity.

“We had an incredible four weeks together as a team in Florida,” Mewis said, “and I think that kind of commitment that it took for the players and staff to go live somewhere else and really focus on training was kind of a huge step in our preseason, and a huge part of us coming together and creating a cohesive unit.”

Mewis and Williams have won multiple NWSL championships together and know what it takes to put together a winning team, and neither is shy about discussing what they think the Current can accomplish in 2022.

“I think for this team the sky is the limit,” Williams said.

This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Friendships and championships: Sam Mewis, Lynn Williams headline KC Current’s new era."