Local soccer standout whose parents founded KC Current will head to Duke a year early
An all-star team of girls soccer players from across the Midwest traveled to France to play against international clubs and academies in the summer of 2019.
The trip coincided with the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The team played during the day and participated in festivities in the evening.
The impact the trip had on one of those families was two-pronged: It inspired a player on that Midwest team, Mary Long, to continue pursuing her passion for soccer at the highest level, and it helped inspire that player’s parents, Chris and Angie Long, to start the process that eventually birthed the Kansas City Current.
Now, four years later, Mary Long has committed to Duke University on a soccer scholarship, re-classifying a year early to the class of 2024. After graduating from Shawnee Mission East High School next spring, she will head to Durham, North Carolina to play for the Blue Devils next fall.
She recently made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter).
“It’s an incredible opportunity to get to go to Duke a year early,” Mary Long told The Star. “I think I’m ready for this level of soccer and the level of academics.”
Mary Long taken a number of advanced-credit courses, enabling her to graduate from high school a year early.
“She’s always challenged herself academically and athletically,” Chris Long said. “She has a steadfast commitment to excellence in both.”
If you’ve paid close attention to the Current’s rise over the past three years, you may know that Mary Long played a key role in opening Chris and Angie’s eyes to the world of soccer through that experience in France.
“Seeing it through Mary’s eyes was absolutely an inspiration for us, no doubt,” Chris Long said.
Mary Long plays for Slammers HBK 07 in the ECNL Girls 2021 U15 age group. She has been selected an ECNL All-American and was twice named to the ECNL Midwest Conference First Team.
She considers herself an attacker who enjoys creating opportunities for others and taking her own chances, as well. She looks up to Current star Debinha and has even had the opportunity to play with the league MVP finalist.
Mary Long took part in multiple training sessions with the Current this summer and held her own for someone of her age and level of experience.
“The speed of making decisions was probably the thing that was hardest to adjust to,” Mary Long said. “Their speed of play is so much faster. But now, if I play in a club game, it doesn’t feel slow ... it feels like I have more time.”
The Current have some history with Duke after selecting Michelle Cooper with the second overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft. Cooper put together a strong rookie season and played more than 2,000 minutes.
Mary Long said she’s talked with Cooper about Duke, as if she needed additional motivation to join the Blue Devils soccer program.
“I was already sold,” she said. “But she definitely added another layer of excitement.”