KC Current’s delay in addressing coach’s ouster was curious glitch for admirable club
Fewer than five hours before the Kansas City Current’s Challenge Cup match in Houston on Wednesday, the Current issued a cryptic and abrupt news release that the team had “parted ways” with coach Matt Potter “related to issues around his leadership and employment responsibilities.”
Until a carefully parsed but somewhat clarifying news conference late Friday afternoon, the only elaboration by the club’s front office was the generic but open-for-speculation attached statement by general manager Camille Ashton:
“We watch the play on the pitch, we keep a pulse on the locker room, and we are constantly evaluating ways to improve our club. Through our ongoing process of continuous improvement, we believe now is the right time for this change.”
Alas, the curious way this episode was unfurled also makes for the right time to suggest another change for an organization I consider a source of civic pride and see as exemplary and visionary in so many ways.
When I tell friends around the country about all that’s happening in Kansas City these days, I always gush about the Current and their groundbreaking approach, literally and figuratively.
In sparing no expense to build a roster, a state-of-the-art training facility and an ultramodern stadium unprecedented in women’s professional sports, founders Angie and Chris Long and co-owner Brittany Mahomes (now joined in the investment by husband Patrick) have created an inspiring model of a movement itself.
Trouble is, the otherwise forward-thinking, sophisticated and community-minded elements of the operation are what makes its ambivalence about transparency and accessibility amid controversy so puzzling.
Because consciously or not, this repeated approach creates a perception that the franchise would sometimes rather wish uncomfortable things away than address them as much as possible.
Club officials issued only statements when then-coach Huw Williams was reassigned after the 2021 season and when claims were made against him in a joint investigative report by the NWSL and NWSLPA.
(In January, the NWSL ruled that despite players “raising concerns about being mistreated or retaliation upon raising those concerns, there is no finding that the club retaliated against players.”)
More recently, not until Friday afternoon when Ashton spoke did anyone but Potter comment on complaints raised on social media by the mother of Mykiaa Minniss, a third-round draft pick waived by the Current.
Then came the latest missed opportunity in the void before Ashton spoke Friday and expanded on the idea there had been a lack of collaboration and communication with management and ownership from Potter, who in his only full season led the team from a last-place finish to the NWSL Championship Game in 2022.
Most significantly, Ashton also explicitly asserted that the decision was not related to “any player issues” and said that the league has determined it has nothing to investigate.
Citing integrity of the process and surely mindful of potential legal ramifications, she declined to elaborate on specifics. So plenty of questions remained unanswered — such as why it became so vital to make the change on Wednesday after Potter had accompanied the club to Houston on Tuesday.
“For us,” she said, “it was about making sure that we handled the situation as quickly as we could.”
But not explaining it with the same urgency, which would have been particularly welcome in the vacuum on Wednesday.
In between, the only team representatives made available to answer media questions were interim head coach Caroline Sjöblom and Current players Lo LaBonta and Cece Kizer after the team’s 2-0 win amid bizarre circumstances.
On the post-match Zoom call Wednesday night, Sjöblom explained that the day had been full of emotion and “maybe a little bit of chaos,” but that she had tried to offer calming reassurance and stressed focus and togetherness. LaBonta emphasized how impressed she was by Sjöblom’s demeanor after the team evidently had been blindsided.
“We had no knowledge that it was going to happen at all as players,” she said. “We didn’t have any say in it, and it was news to us. … So that’s where the whole shock came from.”
Part of the broader shock of the matter, though, was that they were the only ones left to speak to a decision that they didn’t make, hadn’t known was coming and had no immediate explanation to relay.
Each said they had no knowledge of any issues Potter had with any players. For that matter, credit to Sjöblom notwithstanding, LaBonta was reluctant even to imply they had benefited from the change that underscored their first win of 2023.
Maybe it was needed, LaBonta offered. Then again …
“Maybe we came together as players; maybe it has nothing to do with the coaches,” she said. “Who knows? I could not tell you. But I just know tonight, being out there with the team, we felt great (and) had a different type of energy.”
Here’s hoping they can sustain that starting Sunday against the Orlando Pride at Children’s Mercy Park with the guidance of Sjöblom, who has hopes of becoming the permanent head coach and earned raves from LaBonta and Kizer.
But here’s also hoping that an organization we admire in so many ways will generate a different type of energy in the delicate times — one more befitting what it stands for in so many other ways.
As she spoke with reporters about various aspects of this Friday, Ashton suggested leadership is “continuously evaluating everything” and that every situation carries with it things to learn from. And as she referred to what had become a “disconnect” with Potter, she noted that it’s in difficult times that communication and leadership is most important.
We feel the same way.
This story was originally published April 22, 2023 at 6:00 AM.