Kansas City Current open new stadium with flair. But it’s not about the result

Molly Moore and 7-year-old Lainey sat in the supporters’ section inside CPKC Stadium, the first-of-its-kind venue for the Kansas City Current. They squeezed into a couple of open seats, and then fit Moore’s husband and 9-year-old Helen alongside too.

At some point, before any of the nine goals had splashed the back of the net, the emotions took over.

“I never thought I’d be able to bring my girls to a game at a stadium like this,” Moore said. “It made me tear up — just thinking of the impact on them.”

“We can do amazing things too.”

The we, in that case, is reserved for women, because for the first time, this place is reserved for women.

Those on the field put on an entertaining show, the Current holding on for a 5-4 victory against Portland to open their National Women’s Soccer League season. What more could you ask for?

Except this ain’t about the result. In fact, Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski even said as much, and he was the winning coach.

This was about Moore, the mother from Prairie Village of two daughters who love to play soccer, just as she once did.

And about 9-year-old Helen.

And 7-year-old Lainey.

And so many others just like them.

The Current opened what is believed to be the first stadium built by and dedicated for a women’s professional sports team — an 11,500 seat venue with a $120 million price tag covered almost entirely by private finances. It has the backdrop of the Missouri River on one end, a view of downtown Kansas City in another.

The imagery is surpassed by the symbolism.

For a decade, some version of the Kansas City women’s soccer franchise moved more frequently than an army brat, a journey that included stops at high schools, colleges, minor league parks and even a move to Utah before the return to KC. Their story is not unique to women’s pro sports.

Well, it wasn’t before Saturday.

They hosted the first game in NWSL history, a game that I attended nearly 11 years ago. Renae Cuellar scored the league’s first ever goal from, oh, about the 10-yard line — we know this because they played it on a high school football field, and the bright white yard lines popped at Shawnee Mission North District Stadium.

“Different worlds,” Andonovski said. “What was it, April 11, 2013?”

April 13, but close enough.

“There’s nothing that happened on that day that you can compare to what happened today. It’s completely different worlds.”

There is one thing, actually.

That too was a first.

Even on that day 11 years ago, the (then-FC Kansas City) game drew nearly 7,000 fans. The best women’s players in the country had a league to call their own.

For the first time, they now, at long last, have a home to call their own.

Actually, it’s not completely their own. If you stroll through the concourse behind the stadium’s stands, that’s the part that rings most true. It might be the home for one team, for one roster of 28 players, but it is the long-awaited, long-overdue haven for so many more.

Granted, it is the kind of thing where impact is going to be more anecdotal than quantifiable — but the kind of thing in which even just a couple of anecdotes make it all feel worthwhile. And there were some pretty good anecdotes sitting among the 11,500 on opening day.

Aja James Radel and Matt Radel live in the River Market, within practical walking distance of the new stadium. Matt used to run along the riverwalk. Nothing but dead trees and mountains of grass, as he described it. Aja played soccer her whole life, as a high schooler for Barstow and competitively in the summers.

Eight months ago, they had a baby girl. Named her Rory.

On Saturday afternoon, Aja strapped a baby carrier around her shoulders and wrapped Rory inside it.

“I wanted to make sure she was at the first game at the first stadium built for women’s sports,” Aja said. “I just thought it would be really cool for her to see that live — even though she has no idea what’s going on.”

There was a striking number of kids in the stands Saturday. Mothers and fathers with their sons and daughters. Julie Brown brought her son, 6-year-old James, because “even though most of what he sees on TV are men playing (sports), I want him to know women can do it, too.”

What better way than in the stadium that carries their branding?

Brown didn’t anticipate being able to deliver that message in person, and the fact that we can deliver it here, in Kansas City, ought to be a point of pride for a city that lovingly refers to itself as the soccer capital.

Garrett and Kate Rampon planned to make the most of that aspect — the Current in the afternoon and Sporting KC in the evening. They too had a guest.

Their 2-year-old daughter, Coralie.

“It’s really impactful even if she doesn’t remember it,” Kate said. “We’ll take a picture so she knows she was here.”