Kansas City Current announce changes to soccer staff ahead of 2024 season

The Kansas City Current announced changes to the soccer operations and coaching staff today. General Manager Camille Ashton, along with Head Coach and Sporting Director Vlatko Andonovski, have named several new and returning staff members as they work to bring together an elite staff for the upcoming 2024 campaign.

Joining Andonovski on the coaching staff will be assistants Milan Ivanovic, Freya Coombe, Lucas Rodriguez and Ljupčo 'Raki' Kmetovski.

Ivanovic has been part of Andonovski’s staff for several years, first joining him as FC Kansas City made their title run in 2015, following him to Seattle with the Reign in 2018 and then to the international stage with the U.S. Women’s National Team.

Coombe, who holds a U.S. Soccer Pro License, played professionally in England before coming to the U.S. in 2019 and being named the head coach of Sky Blue FC (later becoming NJ/NY Gotham FC). She left in 2021 to become the first coach of NWSL expansion side Angel City FC.

Lucas Rodriguez has been an assistant for the Current since the club’s inception in 2021. A native of Argentina, he moved to the United States as a teenager and played soccer at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, Johnson County Community College and MidAmerica Nazarene University. He played professionally for five seasons with Minnesota United FC and Jacksonville Armada FC, and then spent nine years playing for the Kansas City Comets. He holds a USSF ‘A’ License.

Kmetovski, known simply as Raki, holds a UEFA “A” License and a UEFA “Pro” goalkeeper license. He originally came to the U.S. after a long successful career as the Director of Goalkeeping for the Football Federation of Macedonia. He joined Andonovski’s staff at the Seattle Reign in 2018, where he’s served since.

The Current expect to make further additions to the staff’s technical operations and medical staffs prior to the start of the 2024 preseason.