The KC Current completed a strong 2024 season, finishing just one victory shy of the NWSL Championship match.
Advancing to the title game would have been extra sweet for Kansas City because it will be played at the home of the Current, CPKC Stadium.
The Orlando Pride, who defeated the Current in the National Women's Soccer League semifinal, will play the Washington Spirit on Saturday night.
I spoke with Mira Emma, Sports Field Manager at CPKC Stadium, about having the eyes of the world on this stadium in its first year.
“That’s what we want," Emma told me. "That’s what we live for. Our team does an absolutely incredible job maintaining and preparing this surface to make sure it’s in tip-top shape. That’s always a question that we get, 'How are the field conditions going to be? What the height of cuts is going to be. Is it going to be slippery?' All these different factors, that’s what makes our job so fun. We want to make sure that safety is our top priority.”
Emma also is assembling an all-female grounds crew team to work on the pitch and make it ready for what’s expected to be a sold-out stadium for Saturday's championship match.
Emma says that's important, not just for her and the other women on the team, but for the audience watching in the stands.
"A big thing is diversity, equity, and inclusion — that is extremely important to us," Emma told me. "So, allowing these women, who are talented, knowledgeable, and successful in their fields, it's truly amazing. It's going to be surreal when we have them here helping us out. But right now our industry is 95% male. And so allowing us to bring in that little percentage of females just laying the ground to any other females who are willing to, you know, wanting to work in this industry and be successful. Our ultimate goal is to be respected in our in our field.”
The women are coming in from all over the country and Mira tells me their work will be highlighted at the match. Their hope is that presents yet another career idea for the young girls in the stands.
You can look for tickets to the championship match here.
