New KC Current GM, head coach outline plans for player-driven championship culture
The Kansas City Current’s introductory news conference for new general manager Camille Levin and coach Matt Potter featured a central theme:
Creating culture.
Creating culture, and frequent usage of the words “player driven.”
“Our players drove so much of this,” said KC Current co-owner Chris Long said Wednesday. “Late-night calls with players, text messages, group zooms over and over again — they mean so much to us, and we need to ensure that they feel that during each and every decision made.”
The decisions to hire Levin and Potter were the latest examples of the player-driven ethos that the Longs — husband-wife ownership team Angie and Chris Long — have espoused since day one.
And that approach was attractive to Levin.
“I saw everything that was going on with the Current and what Angie and Chris were doing,” Levin said. “And as I’ve gotten to know them and started conversations with them, and visited Kansas City, and got to really see what they were doing day in and day out, it became clear that they weren’t just talking about being the best women’s club in the world, but they are working every day to do that.”
Levin, 31, and Potter, 51, are now tasked with amplifying that player-first culture with success on the field. But their undertaking is deeper than wins and losses.
Last year, the National Women’s Soccer League, in which the Current compete, was rocked by accusations of sexual coercion and inappropriate conduct by then-North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley. Riley was subsequently fired, the third NWSL coach in a two-month span who was sent packing amid allegations of misconduct: Richie Burke was dismissed by the Washington Spirit, Chris Holly by Racing Louisville.
A common theme in all three situations was the breach of trust and respect by people in power toward the players they were charged with overseeing — power wielded inappropriately.
As a former player, Levin is determined to never let that happen in Kansas City.
“It was devastating obviously to hear from the outside as somebody who played during that time, and with a lot of the players that were really affected by this,” Levin said. “(We want) to have that open line of communication with the players, making sure that they feel like they’re being respected every single day that they come to work as part of the organization.”
Potter echoed Levin’s sentiments, saying he wants to be part of the positive change that’s taking place around the world’s foremost women’s pro-soccer league.
“The change that has been started because of those players stepping forward — and they were brave to tell their stories — but now we’re looking towards positive change,” Potter said. “There’s a certain responsibility that goes with that.
“I’m looking very much to create that right environment where players can focus on playing and I look forward to this organization building something that everybody can be proud of.”
Much of the Current’s cultural change has been taking place off the field — they re-branded from “KC NWSL” to their permanent ”Current” name last fall, at the end of their first season in Kansas City.
With the NWSL preseason looming Feb. 1, Levin and Potter are tasked with building culture and improving upon the club’s 2021 record of 3-14-7. They’ll do so with newly added stars like Samantha Mewis and Lynn Williams, this year’s recent NWSL draft picks and a core of holdovers from last season.
“There is a relationship between, ‘What is your community?’ and, ‘Who are the players that you have?’” Potter said. “You can clearly see there’s a match between the types of players ownership has brought in.
“You can also see that identity even in the other sports teams (around KC), and the way they go about playing. Whether it be Sporting, or the Chiefs, or the Comets, even.
“It’s an exciting brand of soccer that we hope to bring to help add the Current to that group.”
