Allison Howard was announced Wednesday as the first president of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current.

A partnerships specialist with nearly two decades of experience in sports business, Howard joins the Current after 10 years with the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers. While the jump from basketball to soccer might be scary for some, Howard is ready to meet the challenge head on.

Just Women’s Sports sat down with Howard to discuss her new role and her plans for the Current.

You’ve been in L.A. for 22 years, and 10 of those years have been with the Lakers. What made you decide to join Kansas City?

So I think that really it’s the ownership group, right? It’s Angie [Long], Chris [Long] and Brittany [Mahomes], and not only the vision that they have for the future, and what to do for women’s sports in particular, but also the commitment that they’ve already shown that they’re going to take them there.

The way that I look at this is I really want to design the playbook for how to build a team, or, you know, if somebody has to rebuild a team, how to do it. And that’s by putting the players first. It’s by always listening to the fans, being in the community, and surrounding yourself with really great partners who are like-minded with the mission.

That’s been my lesson of coming from the Lakers. The Lakers always put the players first. So that’s a very easy transition to come over here, and definitely something that I stand behind.

You’re switching sports, from basketball to soccer. How are you feeling about the change?

There is definitely going to be a learning curve for me. However, I did play soccer in high school. I love this sport. And obviously, you can’t ignore this sport, anywhere. I mean, not only no matter where you are in the United States, but no matter where you are globally, and it’s such a friendly, easy game to play.

So I look forward to getting to my first game with the Current next Monday. I will be back in the market and looking forward to seeing what our players do.

Expanding upon that jump, do you see any particular opportunities or challenges in moving from a men’s league to a women’s league?

Just nothing that’s insurmountable, I’ll say that. Listen, I think, you know, the Lakers are a very established brand. And they have been strong for over 40 years. So there is definitely taking a lot of the blueprint of what Dr. Buss did there and bringing it here, because the reality is, he did a lot of things right. He was really instrumental in developing the league.

And that’s where I see Angie, Chris and Brittany. I really think the nice thing about them is they’re not just thinking about the Current, they are thinking so much bigger, right?

There’s definitely going to be a learning curve. I’m going to use muscles I have not used before, or maybe that I haven’t used in a really long time. But that’s exciting, right? And I think as long as you’re surrounded by really good people who are willing to dig in and get a little dirty for what the mission is, then I have I have confidence that we’re gonna get there.

Definitely. And it’s always fun to learn something new, even though you know you’ve been a veteran of the industry…

For sure. I mean, I definitely think that it keeps you young. And it keeps you curious. And it keeps you growing. And those are all things that are important, no matter where you are in your life.

You talked about it a bit, but you’re going from one of the most storied franchises in sports to a relatively new one. How do you think your experience is going to help you as you walk into this new role?

I learned so many lessons while being at the Lakers. And the vast majority of those are how you do business on, really, almost every level. And it’s really how you engage with the fans, and how you treat your season ticket members, and how you treat your corporate partners. It’s a very servant attitude. And that’s something that I definitely want to bring here. Because it’s authentic, and it’s genuine. And I think when you approach things from that route, everybody feels it, and they’re gonna want to not even get behind us, but walk alongside of us.

What do you hope to accomplish in Kansas City and with the Current?

My number one goal is to make sure that the players are talking to all the other players around the league and saying, ‘This is it. This is where you want to come, this is where you want to play, this is the best place in the league.’ And we’re getting there, we’re building that, literally building it.

Second, I want the fans to say, ‘This is the absolute best sporting experience that I can have.’ And I want the community to feel like they always have a supporter in us, and they can always reach us.

Lastly, selfishly because I come from a partnership background, I definitely want to be the top revenue provider in the league. Whenever it comes to corporate partners, such as corporate partnerships, ticketing, revenue, merchandise, you name it, I want to be at the top. But I want the partners to know that they can always reach us and we are always going to be flexible with them. And we are always going to design bespoke partnerships that are going to really meet what their needs are. This isn’t going to be a, choose Option A, B or C.

What are you most excited about in joining the Current, stepping into the role of president and moving to Kansas City?

I really feel like every step of my career has been to get me to this point. And I just have so many ideas of how I think a culture should be created and how people should be treated. And I’m really excited to put those plans into action.

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.