Why KC Current’s NWSL Championship Game appearance is a special thing for so many fans

The Kansas City Current embarked on a journey together beginning in February.

The last leg of that journey arrived Saturday. At Audi Field in Washington D.C., on prime-time television, the Current have a chance to win the NWSL championship in just their second season of existence.

Worst to potentially first — if they beat the Portland Thorns in Saturday’s 7 p.m. title match — the Current are on the precipice of completing a true Cinderella story.

On Saturday morning, Southwest Airlines flight 2335 was wheels-up toward Reagan International Airport in D.C. More than a third of the passengers aboard had already donned Current jerseys, hoodies, scarves and hats.

The boarding lines were full of teal and red.

Young families and individuals, season-ticket holders and non-season ticket holders alike — all were well-represented on the flight. And most of them were waiting nervously in anticipation of the moments that would unfold later in the evening.

To even be in this position, the Current took an unprecedented leap on the field in 2022. Kristen Hamilton was traded to Kansas City during the club’s inaugural year, 2021. On a podcast with Last Word on Soccer in January, she predicted the Current would win 15 games and make the playoffs.

Prophetic stuff: The Current had won 16 games entering Saturday’s title match against Portland.

“I had so much belief in this squad,” Hamilton said. “I saw so much potential in the group. The Longs (owners Angie and Chris Long), they’ve invested so much in us.

“We had a new training facility, a new head coach and a few big pieces coming to play for us this year, and I just had all the faith in the world that we were going to turn around from last year and have an incredible season. I guess I was right a little bit.”

After touching down, some of those on flight 2335 made their way to Solace Brewing. Located a few blocks from Audi Field in the nation’s capital, by mid-day Saturday it was a base of operations for some KC supporters.

Others were happily raucous at the NWSL Fan Fest outside of Audi Field in the hours leading up to the championship game. The area around the stadium was filled with laughter and smiles as strangers bonded over a mutual appreciation for the Current.

Carrie Shuck, a Kansas City resident and season-ticket holder, was on the flight and among those who planned to take in all the fun that a championship Saturday in D.C. could offer.

Shuck, a member of the “KC Blue Crew” supporters-section’s drumline called “Surface Tension,” attended one game in 2021 and was hooked.

“I had so much fun that I had to get season tickets right after that,” Shuck said.

The Current’s 2022 season showed that Kansas City can and does support women’s sports, and puts its money where its mouth is in the process. The NWSL attendance record in Kansas City was broken twice this year.

Ally Adrian of Joplin is a KC Current season-ticket holder. She and her family booked tickets on flight 2335 three weeks in advance.

But originally they’d planned to head to Washington for a different reason.

In April 2021, her grandfather passed away. Col. Robert J. Castleman Jr. is scheduled to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday — COVID-19 created a sadly enduring backlog for funerals at Arlington.

As the Current kept barreling toward the NWSL Championship Game, Adrian felt like it was destiny: a championship match in Washington Saturday, granddad’s funeral there the following Wednesday.

“When I was watching the semifinal game, it was in the back of my mind,” Adrian said. “I wasn’t daring to hope for it. ... So when they won, it was the first text I sent to my parents: ‘I have one request for this entire week.’”

Adrian’s grandfather was a West Point graduate in 1960 and went on to enjoy a distinguished career in the Army (though his family assures he was an even better grandpa).

As Adrian played soccer throughout her youth, her grandfather was there to support her every step of the way, believing in her and empowering her to compete.

He even took her to West Point for a soccer talent-identification camp. And now their relationship is coming full circle.

“It feels like a gift from my granddad, honestly,” Adrian said. “He always loved to watch me play soccer, and he always fostered that in me. So it just sort of feels like his last gift, and it’s perfect timing.”

This story was originally published October 29, 2022 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Why KC Current’s NWSL Championship Game appearance is a special thing for so many fans."