Kansas City Current sign Malawi international forward

The Kansas City Current have signed Malawi National Team captain Temwa Chawinga (TEHM-wah chah-WEEN-gah) to a two-year contract through the 2025 season. The speedy forward will join the team for preseason camp in January.

“Temwa is an exciting player and we’re very happy she has chosen to come to Kansas City,” said general manager Camille Ashton. “She has found success in Sweden and China at the club level and has been incredibly important to the accomplishments of her home country of Malawi.”

“I’m very excited for Temwa to come to Kansas City,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “She is a dynamic player who has shown she can find the goal at every stop along her path. She will be fun to watch.”

Chawinga, a 25-year-old forward whose name means ‘love’ in her native Tumbuka language, comes to the Current after spending the last four seasons playing for Wuhan Jianghan University F.C. in the Chinese Super League. There she helped the team to four straight Chinese Women’s Super League Championships and scored 83 goals in 84 games played with the club. Prior to that, she scored 55 goals from 2017-2019 for Kvarnsvedens IK in Sweden.

On the international stage, Chawinga made her debut for the Scorchers in 2016 playing alongside her sister Tabitha. She recorded her first international goal in the match against Zambia December 16 of that year. Since then, she’s made 14 appearances and recorded 22 goals for Malawi. Chawinga was named the captain for her country in the 2023 COSAFA Women’s Championship. As she led her team to the tournament’s championship, Chawinga earned the Golden Boot with nine goals and was honored with the Golden Ball, recognizing the tournament’s best player.

“I’m excited to join the Kansas City Current,” said Chawinga. “This team is world class in every way, from the facilities to the environment at the club. I am excited to get started and hopefully bring home a championship.”

Chawinga and her new Kansas City Current teammates will start preseason training later this month as the team preps for the 2024 campaign and the first season in the world’s first stadium purpose-built for women’s professional soccer, CPKC Stadium.