Why the KC Current appointed Caitlin Carducci permanent GM, removing interim tag

After going unbeaten through the first 15 games of the 2024 season, the Current took its first loss, a frustrating defeat at home to the eventual NWSL Shield winners, the Orlando Pride.

The loss came right before the Olympic break, leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth, including sporting director and manager Vlatko Andonovski.

The players had a week off, but Andonovski and interim general manager Caitlin Carducci went to work.

The summer window brought in the trio of Almuth Schult, Alana Cook and Kayla Sharples — and those moves paid dividends. When those three start together, the Current has a record of eight wins, two draws and no losses. The club has only given up three goals in those ten games.

That summer window is one of a few reasons the Kansas City Current is removing the interim tag from Carducci’s title.

The club announced on Wednesday morning the decision to give her the permanent general manager position.

“What Caitlin has done in her time serving as interim GM is remarkable, and she shares our goal of making this the best women’s football club in the world,” said Current co-owner Chris Long in the team’s news release. “She has already shown an ability to lead our football operations successfully while fostering an atmosphere of collaboration and humility.”

Carducci was initially hired as the team’s director of soccer operations last November. She was appointed to interim GM in May when Camille Ashton resigned — eventually taking the GM position with the San Diego Wave.

“Caitlin immediately stepped in when we needed her and has made it abundantly obvious that she is the right person to be the general manager of this club,” said Current co-owner Angie Long in the team’s release.

Carducci previously worked alongside Andonovski at the United States Soccer Federation and was the director of player affairs for the NWSL from 2021 to 2022.

In an interview with The Star, Carducci said the decision to join the club last offseason was spurred in large part by the Current’s ambitions.

“Chris and Angie have shown that they will not hesitate to invest, both personally and financially, in whatever this club needs to succeed,” Carducci said. “And that includes bringing someone like Vlatko in, who has a track record of winning. So you get those two things, and you have good people around you. It was a no-brainer decision to join the club.”

Carducci was thrust into the GM role relatively quickly when Ashton resigned. At first, there might have even been a thought of whether or not she could do it. She recalled a conversation with Andonovski in which she quite frankly said, “I’m coming here behind the eight ball.”

“My background is operations,” Carducci said. “It’s a (mentality of) tell me what we need to do, and we’ll get it done.”

So, she told Andonovski, “I’m happy to take that same mentality into this role. I’m just going to need a little more help.”

The working relationship has undoubtedly clicked. The acquisitions to bolster the back line have fueled the run to the NWSL semifinals, where the Current will face the Orlando Pride on the road.

But there were a fair share of outgoing moves, too. Alexa Spaanstra, Jordan Silkowitz, Hope Hisey, Claire Lavogez, Hanna Glas and Lauren Leal departed during the summer window, and Sophie Braun was loaned to a USL team.

It was a busy stretch of business for the Current over a month. Some of it was to get better in the now, and some was to allow the club the flexibility to continue to build.

Carducci called the ownership investment and commitment to the vision a big selling point for her initially deciding to join the club, not knowing that within a calendar year she’d become the GM. From ownership down to the players, the environment is a group of people determined to win.

She heard something else she liked, too.

“We have the direction from the ownership that we better be spending to the top of the salary cap,” Carducci said. “We get no advantage. You don’t get cash savings year by year, and so spending to the top of that was key.”

Carducci knows the cap inside and out from her time in the league office, and has worked to ensure the Current is set up to win now and be flexible going forward. That approach led to some of the personnel moves.

“You want to make sure that those higher salaried players are your biggest contributors,” Carducci said. “And so for us, when we looked across where we were, it was, ‘How do we make adjustments and make sure that the players we have are the ones that are contributing the most?’”

Professional sports is a business and one that can be brutal at times. It’s cutthroat, and despite players being loved by fans, staff and teammates, sometimes a move is best for the club — or the player.

Carducci and Andonovski worked together to find landing spots and environments that would benefit outgoing players and deals that worked for the club.

“There were a couple of those that hurt, personally, because they were just great players, great people that we wanted in the locker room,” Carducci said. “But they would have been selfish decisions for us as a club to keep them here, knowing their ambitions, goals and contract status.”

That signifies a difference from how the Current has operated in the past. In the offseason, Alex Loera and Cece Kizer voiced frustration surrounding communication with the club about moves that sent them away. They were not the first, as Lynn Williams also voiced disappointment about the communication and process surrounding her draft-day trade to Gotham FC ahead of the 2023 season.

Carducci acknowledges that sometimes, business decisions have to be made. But as much as the sports world is a business — and a business that’s all about winning — it’s also a business about people.

“These are players who give us everything that we ask and more — physically, mentally, and emotionally — and so that’s the mindset I have with them,” Carducci said. “They are people first, and we will treat them as such.”

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 11:37 AM.