Kansas City’s game against North Carolina was light on goals and heavy on off-pitch drama, taking place only 24 hours after a blockbuster trade between the two clubs.
Amy Rodriguez dressed in a Courage uniform for the first time, taking the pitch against her former team after being traded to North Carolina in exchange for Kristen Hamilton, Hailie Mace and Katelyn Rowland.
The match ended in a relatively quiet scoreless draw, with most of the attention focused on the player swap.
After the game, Kristen Hamilton opened up about her feelings surrounding the trade to Steph Yang of The Athletic.
After KC vs. NC, I asked Kristen Hamilton how she was doing after a trade that was fast even by #NWSL standards. Her response: "It's tough, it's weird. It's kind of shitty." pic.twitter.com/Dj0NQdvCP1— Steph Yang | Horrible Soccer Goose (@thrace) July 24, 2021
After KC vs. NC, I asked Kristen Hamilton how she was doing after a trade that was fast even by #NWSL standards. Her response: "It's tough, it's weird. It's kind of shitty." pic.twitter.com/Dj0NQdvCP1
“It’s tough. I mean I think that nobody expected it, to be able to pack up in a day, and leave a team that I’ve been with for six years.”
Hamilton says, while emotional, the trade is par for the course with the NWSL.
“This is how our league works, and this is, you know, this is how we’re treated and this is kind of what we’re expected to do.”
Moving forward, Hamilton says that trades and player rights will be part of the Players Association’s negotiations for a new CBA.
“I think that we need to have control over our rights and have some say in where we want to play.”
Next up: North Carolina will host the Pride on July 31. Kansas City will travel to Portland to take on the Thorns on Aug. 1.