She might be the best women’s soccer player on earth. She plays for the KC Current now

A bit of trivia: The very first National Women’s Soccer League game included a Mewis playing in a Kansas City jersey at the Shawnee Mission North High School soccer field.

That match, in April 2013, featured a then 22-year-old Kristie Mewis. By the end of that season, she’d be traded from FC Kansas City to the Seattle Reign.

Final chapter for Mewises in Kansas City, right? Not so fast.

As of Friday afternoon, the Mewis surname again adorned a KC women’s soccer jersey ... only this time, it was crafted for Kristie Mewis’ younger sister, Sam, and the team wasn’t the now-defunct FC Kansas City, but the steadily rising-in-profile KC Current.

And, decidedly not trivial: Sam Mewis, 29, is arguably the best women’s soccer player in the world right now.

Mewis was traded to the KC Current earlier this week in a deal that sent defender Kiki Pickett and KC’s third-overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft head to the NC Courage. In a separate transaction related to the trade, KC also gained the Courage’s seventh-overall pick in 2022 for the discovery rights to defender Malie Berkely.

“Kristie always had good things to say about Kansas City,” Mewis said of her sister. “Somebody mentioned that having a Mewis back would be great and I was like, ‘Oh, you’ll have some Mewises back — my parents can’t wait to come.”

Mewis arrives in Kansas City with a pedigree that’s quite literally nothing short of world-class. She’s won a Women’s World Cup, three NWSL championships and was the only American finalist for the 2021 Ballon d’Or Féminin, which honors the best women’s soccer player in the world.

“She’s a World Cup winner, a three-time NWSL champion, and many would argue that she’s the best player in the world,” KC Current co-owner Angiel Long said. “We’re so excited to have her part of our team, as Kansas City is going to win some championships.”

The addition of Mewis to Kansas City’s midfield is a clear sign of the attraction the one-year-old franchise is generating around the league. Despite finishing last in the NWSL standings in 2021, and the addition of two new California-based teams for 2022, KC is catching the eyes of the elite.

That’s in large part thanks to the work that the KC ownership group has done over the past year to accelerate the regional profile of women’s soccer. A new training facility in Riverside is expected to be ready for the 2022 season and plans for the first NWSL-specific stadium, right here in Kansas City, were unveiled earlier this year.

“Those kinds of things are obviously a huge attraction for players to want to come and play here,” Mewis said. “Just seeing the commitment and the investment from the ownership and the vision that everybody has for the future of this team, it’s a huge attraction.”

Not to mention that this sort of attraction is being directed toward a team that, for now, has no head coach. The Current moved former head coach Huw Williams to a technical-staff role in November and is yet to hire a new head coach.

Long gave no clues about how the search process is going but said that the club is committed to being the “best team in the world” and won’t cut any corners along the way.

Mewis said she trusts that the new hire will share similar values as co-owners Angie and Chris Long.

“When news comes that you’re switching clubs, you’d love to talk to the coach,” Mewis said. “But I don’t have any doubt that they’re going to find a right person, and that person is going to do a fantastic job. “I feel like it says a lot when I’ve only really just met Angie and I really do trust her already.”

Mewis is the latest trade in a string of them for the first-year organization. In Kansas City, Mewis joins U.S. Women’s National Team teammate A.D. Franch and former Courage teammates Katelyn Rowland, Mailie Mace and Kristen Hamilton, all of whom KC acquired after its inception last winter.

“It’s awesome,” Mewis said. “It feels definitely more comfortable to have some friendly faces for when we get here for the preseason.

“But I really feel totally welcomed by all the girls, and I’m just excited to get to play with some of my old friends again.”