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'Raises the standard for women's soccer!' - NWSL's KC Current open $19 million training facility

Kansas City Current midfielder Kristen Edmonds says the club has "raised" the bar for women's soccer facilities after opening a dedicated $19 million (£15.5m) training facility for the National Women's Soccer League team.

The organization has cut the ribbon on a new facility at Riverside, just outside Kansas City, that breaks new ground for similar set-ups across the country.

While the women's game has enjoyed almost unparalleled success on the world stage through the USWNT, the domestic club game has trailed after Major League Soccer, with teams often sharing facilities with men's squads - a dynamic NWSL players hope will change.

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What has been said about the new facility?

"For anybody who wants to come here to play to win championships, they haven’t left any stone unturned," Edmonds was quoted as saying by the Kansas City Star. "You walk into our gym (and) our crest is on our weights, on our barbells. Everything in here is insanely detailed. We even have teal tile in our bathroom.

"They’ve not only raised [the standard for women's soccer], but they raised it to the level that people are gonna have to climb to get to.

"It’s just for us. I think that’s one of the biggest points I keep saying, that we don’t have to share it with anyone. It’s insane to think about that women’s soccer has come this far to where we have our own space."

What does the complex mean for the Current?

The arrival of solo facilities marks a major step forward amid the ongoing push for sporting equality between both genders within the game, and comes on the heels of the USWNT's protracted attempts to secure matching pay with their male counterparts.

It also helps further Kansas City as a major soccer hub, per Riverside Mayor Kathy Rose, who added: "It was just under 11 months ago that I stood in front of a small ceremonial pile of dirt with Angie, Chris, and their two boys.

"With shovels in their hands on that bright August morning, we broke ground on their unprecedented commitment to providing world-class facilities, for world-class athletes, in a world-class soccer city."

Kansas City was recently handed hosting duties for the 2026 World Cup.

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