Women's Soccer Revolution: The KC Current is Changing the Game
By: Celia Searles
As fans prepare to file into the new stadium, the work of UMKC alumni and faculty will be all around them.
There’s a revolution happening. A women’s soccer revolution.
As the sport’s international popularity soars, the game is being transformed. Player equity, women executive leaders and team owners, state-of-the-art facilities and focused medical care for women athletes are just part of how the sport is being redefined today and for the future.
Since 2021, the KC Current have been bold playmakers on this global stage — and have captured the world’s attention for their pioneering advances in every area of the sport.
Hagos Andebrhan and Leonard Graham of Taliaferro & Browne engineering and architecture firm
The recently completed CPKC stadium, home for the KC Current, is the first women’s professional sports stadium in the world.
Leading the way with a premier facility
The recently completed CPKC stadium, home for the KC Current, is the first women’s professional sports stadium in the world. In its historic debut, the team will welcome fans to the stadium for their first 2024 match against the Portland Thorns FC on March 16. The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC, one of several televised opportunities to watch the KC Current in the season ahead.
As participation in women’s soccer has increased over the years, its audience has also grown exponentially. KC Current fans are no exception. Season tickets for 2024 games sold out in 2023, while the club’s season ticket sales have increased 135% since 2022. The current waitlist for season tickets in the new stadium is in the thousands.
The process of taking a project like the CPKC stadium from concept to completion requires the best and brightest. Hagos Andebrhan (B.S.C.I.E. ‘78, M.S. ‘82) and Leonard Graham (B.A. ‘74) of Taliaferro & Browne were tapped to serve as the civil engineers of record for the project.
Recognized leaders in large-scale regional projects, they oversaw design plans and managed the construction of paved roadways, parking lots, drainage and more for the 11,500-seat facility located on the Missouri Riverfront. Taliaferro & Browne brought 30 years of experience with riverfront developments to the project.
“When we started on the site, there was nothing there other than the old city tow lot and the remnants of a sand and gravel operation,” Andebrhan said.
Both Graham and Andebrhan received their master's degrees in engineering from the University of Missouri system. They said the key to their success was an education that allowed them to learn while working full-time. Graham also noted the most formative part of his experience at UMKC was the smaller class sizes.
Bringing women’s professional sports to center stage in Kansas City is a source of pride for Andebrhan and Graham, and they believe this is just the beginning.
“This is probably the first of many, many other [women’s sports stadiums] that will be built in the next few years,” Andebrhan said.
As for the impact this project has had on Taliaferro & Browne as an organization?
“We like being trailblazers,” Graham said.
Kevin Lewis, CEO of Henderson Engineers
Bringing CPKC Stadium to life
When Kevin Lewis (MBA ‘04), CEO of Henderson Engineers, got the call that he and his team were selected to work on the CPKC stadium, he knew they were in for a fun ride.
Henderson’s role in the innovative project touched almost every corner of the stadium.
Many of the modern amenities in CPKC stadium are Henderson’s projects.
“I think we all appreciate indoor plumbing, water, air conditioning and lighting. Those are a lot of the systems we build,” Lewis said.
His group is also responsible for audio, visual, electrical, fire and life safety, security and telecom.
“Sometimes I tell people we pretty much do every type of engineering except for structure and civil,” Lewis said. “We work with the architects to bring the building to life.”
For Lewis, working on the first stadium built specifically for a professional women’s sporting team means more than just bragging rights. It aligns with the company’s culture.
“Our design team is more than 60% women, and it’s led by women at the top,” Lewis said. “That’s something really important to us as a team.”
Henderson proudly promotes inclusivity within its organization, and the KC Current project is a great fit.
“I’m the father of two daughters,” Lewis said. “I’m just a champion of them and all they want to do and accomplish in life. They’re very sports oriented, as well. So, it’s just really cool to see all that come together and be able to do something that’s going to be bigger than us.”
The sports world is no stranger to Henderson Engineers and their work. The group has worked on NFL and NBA practice facilities and first worked with KC Current owners Chris and Angie Long in 2021 on the team’s training facility in Riverside, Missouri.
Lewis’ time as a student in the Henry W. Bloch School of Management’s MBA program made a big difference in how he shows up in his role today.
“Everybody at Bloch did a good job of preparing us for real-life scenarios,” he said.
Lewis finds direct connections between lessons he learned in the classroom and real-life situations he finds himself in today. Leadership, communication and finance skills he learned at UMKC all inform how Lewis leads and how Henderson runs.
As opening day nears for CPKC stadium, Lewis notes the unique timeline that dictates projects like this.
“Stadiums almost always go fast, and they’re complicated,” he said. “So, those two elements together mean that our current team’s role is collaboration and responsiveness. We’re pretty much on call 24/7.”
The focus on women’s sports sets the KC Current project apart from Henderson’s earlier work because of the importance Lewis and his team place on breaking the glass ceiling.
“We’re just thrilled to help them build the standard for women’s sports,” Lewis said. “While this is the first [stadium of its kind], I know it won’t be the last.”
“We’re just thrilled to help them build the standard for women’s sports. While this is the first [of its kind], I know it won’t be the last.” - Kevin Lewis
Meg Gibson, M.D., a UMKC faculty member and vice chairman of the Department of Community and Family Medicine and independent medical consultant for the KC Current
“To see a female-only training center and soccer stadium — the first women-only facility like this in the world — here in Kansas City has just been amazing.” - Meg Gibson, M.D.
Redefining health care for women athletes
Superlative facilities are just one part of the vision the KC Current has for their athletes. Team leaders are also committed to ensuring the best health care for their players.
As with all elite athletes, a group of medical professionals for the KC Current bandage, stitch, stretch and support team members so they can play their best game. In recent years, medical professionals across all sports have recognized that health care for women athletes is unique to the care for men. Advances in women’s health care, like those in place at the KC Current, have been instrumental in improving the well-being and competitive edge of these athletes.
Meg Gibson, M.D., a UMKC faculty member and vice chairman of the Department of Community and Family Medicine, is one of several medical providers making a positive difference for KC Current players. An independent medical consultant for the team, Gibson contributes on- and off-field care for team members.
For Gibson, player care is an act of service to the whole person. “The benefit of being a primary care sports medicine doctor is that you have an opportunity to manage care for the whole athlete. As needed, our medical team will refer them to maybe a dermatologist or an orthopedic surgeon for additional studies, tests or other specialized care,” she said.
Gibson can be spotted on the sidelines of all the KC Current’s home games, ready to provide care for athletes on either team. Home team physicians in the league treat all players, not just those on their team.
The differences between female and male professional athletes and the healthcare they need are being studied more by physicians every year, she said. Medical professionals have been able to deduce that certain medical risks associated with the sport may affect women at disproportionate rates to their male counterparts. As an example, women athletes tend to tear their ACLs more, said Gibson. Additionally, women tend to experience concussions differently than men.
“We see more concussions, and usually longer recovery times, in a lot of our women athletes,” Gibson said.
The evolution of women’s soccer in Kansas City is inspiring for Gibson.
“When I started caring for the KC Current, we were providing health services at an outdoor soccer facility out of a trailer,” Gibson said. “And now to see a female-only training center and soccer stadium — the first women-only facility like this in the world — here in Kansas City has just been amazing.”
Gibson also works with the National Women’s Soccer League as a Medical Executive Task Force member. This group includes physicians, physical therapists and athletic trainers who advise the chief medical officer on player health and safety and help shape the direction the league is headed. That direction?
“Making sure that we have a very player-focused atmosphere,” said Gibson, who is also the fellowship director for the UMKC Sports Medicine Fellowship.
Monica Ngo, vice president of human resources for the KC Current
Women leaders rewrite the future
On and off the field, women are advancing a new era in professional women’s soccer. At the heart of this transformation are passionate, visionary professionals in every area of the sport. The KC Current has been at the helm of this evolution since launching as an expansion team in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2021.
The KC Current’s leadership group includes women investors, owners and executives across the organization.
Vice president of human resources for the team, Monica Ngo (B.A. ’08), hires and supports the front office staff that runs the business of the KC Current. Her job goes hand in hand with the goal of the owner group, who Ngo says works hard to “get it done.” A staff member since early 2021, Ngo has had a front-row seat to see the rapid expansion of the organization and its global impact.
“I have three girls of my own, so just for them to see this amazing part of history being built — and me being a part of it — it is full circle,” Ngo said.
Ngo grew up just a few minutes from the new CPKC stadium in Columbus Park, where her parents still live. She is proud to have seen the growth of the area and the explosion of women’s sports firsthand as a lifelong Kansas Citian.
Education has played a key role in Ngo’s confidence, optimism and identity. She reminds her daughters often that “education is a part of yourself. No one can take that away from you.
“It also makes a huge difference when you have such a diverse, amazing group of individuals and a school where you can relate and feel comfortable, like UMKC,” she said.
When Ngo transitioned from college to the corporate world, she noticed the lack of other women leaders at work. When she brought her young daughter to work with her one day, her daughter innocently commented that her mom was “the only girl at work,” which was a wake-up call. Eventually, she began working in companies with more women representation and ended up at the KC Current.
“The majority of leaders here are women. So, it was great not to give up, and be my true self and work hard,” Ngo said.
Ngo’s work centers around long-term planning for the organization and making sure the right people are helping them get there. As for what’s next?
“The sky’s the limit,” she said. “Once they [the owners] dream something, they put their mind to it. They go, and they’re not afraid to break the norm.”