Former Kansas City Current general manager finds new home with an NWSL rival
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Caitlin Carducci left Kansas City Current and signed as Orlando Pride general manager.
- Current reorganized front office after 2025 quarterfinal loss and staff departures.
- Rivalry: tight matches and trash talk; Orlando beat KC in 2024 semifinal.
Former Kansas City Current general manager Caitlin Carducci was hired by a league rival on Tuesday. But not just any league rival.
Carducci, 38, who also held the title of director of soccer operations in Kansas City, has been tapped for the role of general manager with the Orlando Pride — the team the Current couldn’t beat in the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League playoffs.
The Pride’s move Tuesday enhances an already spicy rivalry. The two teams typically play tight matches and talk trash to one another atop the league table.
In three matchups against Orlando in 2024, the Current drew once on the road and lost twice, including in its last match of the season, in the NWSL semifinals. The Current fared better against Orlando this past season, with a win and a draw.
This winter, after a short run in the NWSL postseason, the Current has a new all-male front office. The club restructured that leadership lineup after its historic 2025 season ended with a quarterfinal loss in extra time to eventual champion NJ/NY Gotham FC.
The Current parted ways with Carducci in November and shifted head coach Vlatko Andonovski to a front office role as global sporting director.
Ryan Dell, the Current’s former head of soccer operations, replaced Carducci, and former MLS head coach Chris Armas was hired as the team’s new head coach last week.
Carducci joined the Current in November 2023 as director of soccer operations a month after Andonovski’s hire as head coach. She was named interim general manager in May 2024 after Camille Ashton’s resignation.
Carducci’s “interim” tag was removed later that year.
This story was originally published January 13, 2026 at 1:40 PM.
