Current goalkeeper AD Franch nominated for NWSL community impact award (with KC roots)

As the Kansas City Current celebrated “Lauren Holiday Day” during a 1-1 draw with Gotham FC, the club had a nice full-circle moment.

“We’ve come a long way from Shawnee Mission North,” Lauren Holiday shouted, standing in front of the Kansas City Blue Crew before leading the stadium in the match-opening “KC Baby” chant.

Holiday won two NWSL championships with FC Kansas City in her three years with the team. She’s a World Cup champion and revered figure both in Kansas City women’s soccer history and nationally.

Earlier this year, Holiday became the namesake of the National Women’s Soccer League’s community impact award. She spoke with The Star about the honor, saying she was blown away when first approached about it.

“When you think about legacy, and you think about how you want to be remembered, I used to say it wasn’t about individual accolades, but it was what you did for others,” Holiday said. “To know that’s how my peers viewed me, it was extremely humbling and I’m very grateful.”

The award highlights one player from each club for their efforts to connect with the community and make a positive impact.

“I’ve seen it for so many years … playing with these women and (seeing) how much they sacrifice and give to their communities and want to be a positive role model,” Holiday said. “So now, for them to be recognized for it, we’re just scratching the surface.

The Kansas City Current’s nominee in 2024 is goalkeeper AD Franch, for her work with WeCode KC.

WeCode KC is a program designed to introduce Kansas City’s urban core to technology concepts such as programming, web development and internet security.

When Franch arrived via trade in 2021, she sought ways to get involved in Kansas City. The Current highlighted a few different organizations during Black History Month, one of which was WeCode KC, and Franch visited them.

“Once I got there, I fell in love with everything they were doing,” Franch told The Star.

Franch’s degree from Oklahoma State is in web development, so that field hits home. But what stuck out most to Franch was WeCode KC’s holistic approach to each child in the program.

“It’s not just, ‘Oh, here’s a program for kids,’” Franch said. “It’s, ‘What do these kids need within our program, and how can we help?’”

Franch says some of the children in the program may not have even thought about college as a possibility prior to the program. Some end up with jobs right out of high school.

“It’s a future with many different paths,” Franch said. “College could be one of them, or a job outright could be one of them. And from what I understand, many other members who continue out of the program come back and volunteer. It’s like a full-circle ecosystem.”

Franch loves a good full-circle moment — like the one on “Lauren Holiday Day.”

“She got to experience how far we’ve come as a soccer city for women, and I played against her on the high school fields that she’s talking about,” Franch said. “There are no words for what it would mean to win this year, so I hope we do win.”

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.