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KC Current draft pick ‘set up to fail’ by team, her mother says

Mykiaa Minniss was selected by the Kansas City Current in the third round of the 2023 NWSL Draft. (Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports)

Kansas City Current draft pick Mykiaa Minniss received “less than professional” treatment from the club, her mother said in a social media post Friday.

According to Nicole Minniss, Mykiaa’s experiences after the January draft have “ruined her daughter’s love of the game.”

A defender selected in the third round out of Washington State, Minniss had to pay for her own flight in order to report for preseason and also provided her own meals during the first week, her mother said in the post.

“Mykiaa was given little to no information until a few days before arriving in Kansas City about her upcoming schedule,” Nicole Minniss wrote, noting that Mykiaa had to lean on the support of nearby family members to arrange transportation from the airport to her hotel and to settle into the city.

“She hesitantly reported to KC against her agent’s and her intuition that something wasn’t quite right,” she continued. “When it was time to go to training, oversized items were thrown at her, and Current labels ironed on before her eyes minutes before going outside to practice.”

The defender later reported to preseason tryouts in Bradenton, Florida. During that time, Minniss reportedly had a meeting with the head coach Matt Potter and general manager Cami Levin Ashton, in which she expressed their lack of communication to her.

“She was laughed at by them and told not to focus on her goal of getting a contract from them,” Nicole Minniss wrote of that meeting. Mykiaa later was cut from the team.

She then spent a few days in preseason camp with the Orlando Pride, during which she was “treated exceptionally,” but she later decided to focus on her mental health and stepped away from the sport.

In a statement to the Kansas City Star, the NWSL Players’ Association said: “We take Mykiaa’s concerns and that of her family very seriously. We are actively looking into it. NWSL reached out immediately, and there will be a prompt and thorough inquiry.”

Under the NWSL’s collective bargaining agreement, teams are required to provide housing and either per diem or meals to trialists participating in preseason camps. Travel costs are not addressed, although another section does discuss relocation expenses for “newly signed and relocating players.”

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman also addressed the report Saturday, saying she had spoken with NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke as well as Current owners Angie and Chris Long.

“We share a commitment in that we all take this really seriously,” Berman said. “We want to understand what happened in this circumstance. We’re incredibly sad that was her experience, and we want to see how we can improve in the future and learn from this. So I have a lot of confidence with the people that are around the table, both proactively to create positive environments, as well as for the people who are prepared to be responsive in real time when there are challenges and we’re committed to seeing it through.”

Chelsea Completes Domestic Treble with 2025 FA Cup Win Over Man United

Catarina Macario celebrates her goal during Chelsea's 2025 FA Cup win.
USWNT star Catarina Macario scored Chelsea FC’s second goal to secure the 2025 FA Cup and the treble. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Adding to their already historic season, 2024/25 WSL champions and 2025 League Cup winners Chelsea FC handed Manchester United a 3-0 defeat in Sunday's 2025 FA Cup final, completing the club's second-ever domestic treble.

Though the Blues first claimed an elusive treble in the 2020/21 season, this year's roster did so without dropping a single match in any of the three domestic competitions.

"I could not have expected this," said first-year Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor about her debut success leading the Blues. "It is almost ideal in terms of domestic dominance."

To clinch that dominance, Chelsea upended the defending FA Cup champs Manchester United at London's iconic Wembley Stadium behind a brace from French fullback Sandy Baltimore and a header from USWNT attacker Catarina Macario.

Baltimore gave Chelsea the lead by slipping a late first-half penalty past 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove winner and USWNT goalkeeper prospect Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and the Blues never relented, with second-half sub Macario doubling their scoreline in the 84th minute before Baltimore tacked on a final goal in stoppage time.

"It's a very emotional day," an emotional Macario told the broadcast after finishing her first season following a long ACL recovery. "It's a trophy we always wanted to win."

"All the credit to my players," said Bompastor. "We showed our mentality and our values in this game so we ended the season in an almost perfect scenario – we won, we were playing at Wembley, the stadium was nearly sold out, and we had a strong performance and result against a strong opponent."

"It is an almost ideal way to finish the season."

A screen shows the 74,412 attendance at Wembley Stadium during the 2025 FA Cup final.
Sunday's FA Cup final was the third straight with a crowd over 74,000 fans. (Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)

FA Cup crowds prove sustained demand for women's soccer

Chelsea FC's undefeated treble-winning season wasn't the only notable victory on Sunday, as the FA Cup final drew a crowd of over 74,000 fans for the third straight year.

Sunday's 74,412 attendance mark was just shy of both last year's crowd of 76,082 and the 77,390 fans who watched Chelsea defeat the Red Devils in 2023 — all well beyond the tournament final's previous record of 49,094 attendees achieved in 2022.

Fueled by the football fervor following England's 2022 Euro victory — the country's first international trophy, men's or women's, since the 1966 men's World Cup — the 2023 FA Cup final still stands as the largest crowd at a domestic women's soccer match across all nations.

With Sunday's match joining the over-74,000 attendance club, it's clear the post-Euros enthusiasm wasn't a blip, but a boost to the continued growth and sustained success of the women's game.

WNBA Injury Report Mounts After Opening-Weekend Slate

LA's Rae Burrell shoots a free throw during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
LA Sparks guard Rae Burrell is expected to miss six to eight weeks of WNBA play due to a knee injury. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

While most WNBA stars hit the court running this weekend, a few saw their 2025 campaigns already shortened as teams released season-opening injury reports.

Phoenix forward Kahleah Copper will miss four to six weeks of play, the Mercury reported on Saturday, after the 2024 Olympic gold medalist underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on her left knee last week.

Another knee injury has LA's Rae Burrell sidelined for the next six to eight weeks, after the fourth-year guard took a knock to the right leg just 41 seconds into the Sparks' 2025 debut win over Golden State.

On Friday, the Mystics released updates on both second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards and rookie guard Georgia Amoore. While another assessment of the Unrivaled 1v1 runner-up's back injury will occur in two more weeks, Washington confirmed that the Australian standout will miss the entire 2025 WNBA season after undergoing a successful surgery to repair her right ACL.

Seattle's Katie Lou Samuelson is also out for the full 2025 campaign, with the 27-year-old Storm forward recovering from last week's successful surgery after tearing her right ACL in practice on May 1st.

Las Vegas's Elizabeth Kitley shoots a basket during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
2024 Las Vegas draftee Elizabeth Kitley returned from injury to make her WNBA debut on Saturday. (Louis Grasse/Getty Images)

Kitley makes long-awaited WNBA debut as Brink eyes return

In more uplifting news, LA's Cameron Brink is on track to return to the Sparks sometime next month, one year after her standout rookie season came to a halt in a left ACL tear.

Already celebrating, however, is 2024 second-round draftee Elizabeth Kitley, who battled back from injury to make her WNBA debut and score her first league points in Las Vegas's Saturday loss to New York.

The Aces took a draft chance on Kitley, despite the center suffering an ACL tear in her final NCAA postseason. In response, the former Virginia Tech star successfully translated her year-long delayed shot at a pro career by surviving Las Vegas's brutal 2025 roster cuts.

Notably, Kitley's close friend and collegiate on-court counterpart with the Hokies is the aforementioned Amoore, who will aim for a rookie-season redo of her own next year.

Kansas City Eyes the NWSL Shield as Gotham Skid Continues

Temwa Chawinga celebrates her game-winning goal against Orlando with Kansas City teammates Bia Zaneratto and Debinha.
First-place Kansas City has a four-point lead in the 2025 NWSL Shield race after this weekend's win. (Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images)

The No. 1 Kansas City Current strengthened their grip on the 2025 NWSL Shield race on Friday, taking down now-No. 3 Orlando 1-0 on the road to earn a four-point lead atop of the NWSL table.

Reigning league MVP Temwa Chawinga scored the top-table game's lone goal. With five goals in nine matches, Chawinga now sits in a four-way tie for second place in the 2025 Golden Boot race.

"If you don't come with heart, you have no chance," Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the match. "And today I think we showed heart."

Kansas City now stands 7-2-0 on the season, putting the NWSL Shield firmly within their grasp.

Kansas City's rise aside, the weekend's biggest drama hovered near the playoff line.

Gotham FC fell to No. 2 San Diego 1-0 on Friday, sending the Bats skidding to No. 8 on a three-game winless streak while boxing No. 9 North Carolina out of playoff contention — despite the rising Courage securing their third win in four games with Saturday's 2-0 victory over last-place Chicago.

"Obviously, we were hot for a little bit, and teams have slumps all the time, so now it's just finding a way," Gotham midfielder Jaelin Howell said of the team's recent struggles.

While some rebuilds soar, last year's postseason contenders are still finding their way as the league moves into the second third of the 2025 season.

WNBA Launches Investigation into Fan Misconduct After Clark-Reese Spat

Indiana's Caitlin Clark commits a hard foul on Chicago's Angel Reese during their 2025 WNBA season opener.
The WNBA is investigating Indiana fan conduct after Caitlin Clark’s Flagrant 1 foul on Angel Reese. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Indiana's 35-point blowout win over Chicago wasn't Saturday's only newsmaker, as a controversial foul on Sky forward Angel Reese by Fever guard Caitlin Clark sparked intense off-court conversations and a WNBA investigation into subsequent fan misconduct.

Clark's third-quarter foul against Reese incited a brief dust-up between the second-year stars, with Clark's offense upgraded to a Flagrant 1 while Reese and Fever center Aliyah Boston picked up a pair of offsetting technicals for their reactions.

"Basketball play. Refs got it right. Move on," Reese said after the game, while Clark told reporters, "It was just a good play on the basketball. I'm not sure what the ref saw to upgrade it, and that's up to their discretion."

Immediately following the flagrant ruling, however, Indiana fans allegedly directed racially charged remarks toward Reese, prompting the league to open an investigation on Sunday.

Officials acknowledged allegations of racist abuse inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, saying the WNBA "strongly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination in all forms," and that they're "looking into the matter."

"We stand firm in our commitment to providing a safe environment for all WNBA players," said Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO Mel Raines, who oversees the Fever, in a statement.

"We will do everything in our power to protect Chicago Sky players, and we encourage the league to continue taking meaningful steps to create a safe environment for all WNBA players," echoed Sky CEO and president Adam Fox.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time Fever-related fan misconduct has taken center stage, as last season's storylines start to spill over into the 2025 WNBA campaign.

In anticipation of the issue, the league launched "No Space for Hate" on Thursday, describing the campaign as "a multi-dimensional platform designed to combat hate and promote respect across all WNBA spaces — from online discourse to in-arena behavior."

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