Lo'eau Kaiulani LaBonta (born March 18, 1993) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who currently plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Kansas City Current in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

(NWSL).

College soccer

LaBonta attended Stanford University from 2011 to 2014, and was part of the NCAA National Championship winning team in 2011.

Club career

Sky Blue FC, 2015

Sky Blue FC drafted LaBonta from

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

with the 37th overall pick in the

2015 NWSL College Draft The 2015 NWSL College Draft was the third annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 16, 2015 at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, PA. Format *Draft order wa ...

. She made six appearances before Sky Blue FC waived her and

Meg Morris Meagan Alexandra Morris (born May 11, 1992) is an American soccer player from Montclair, New Jersey who played for Portland Thorns FC of the NWSL. Morris was a member of the United States under-20 women's national soccer team, and plays the posit ...

in July 2015 to make room on the roster for players returning from the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

FC Kansas City, 2016–2017

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

signed LaBonta in May 2016. She debuted for FCKC against the Orlando Pride shortly thereafter, and soon earned a regular starting position with the team. FCKC head coach Vlatko Andonovski cited her tenacity in winning possession from opponents for her increased playing time.

Western Sydney Wanderers, 2017–2019 (loan)

In October 2017, LaBonta joined Australian club Western Sydney Wanderers. She played every match for the Red & Black, scoring one goal. She returned to the Wanderers for the 2018–19 season and appeared in 9 games.

Utah Royals FC, 2018–2020

After

ceased operations after the 2017 season, LaBonta was officially added to the roster of the Utah Royals FC on February 8, 2018. LaBonta appeared in 16 games for the Royals in the

2018 NWSL season The 2018 National Women's Soccer League season was the sixth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (200 ...

. She returned to Utah for the 2019 season and scored her first goal for the club on April 21, in a 1–0 win over the Washington Spirit. LaBonta was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for August, she had 1 goal and 2 assists during the month of August.

Kansas City Current, 2021–present

LaBonta followed the transfer of player related assets to the Kansas City expansion team, Kansas City Current, after the Utah Royals FC folded. She earned the nickname "Celly Queen" for her elaborate celebrations after scoring goals.

Personal life

LaBonta was born in

Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 28th ...

. LaBonta is married to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

player

Roger Espinoza Roger Aníbal Espinoza Ramírez (; born 25 October 1986) is a Honduran professional footballer and manager who plays as a midfielder or defender and is a youth manager for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City. A former Honduras inter ...

. While attending Stanford, she earned a degree in engineering.

Honours

Individual * NWSL Best XI:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

*
National Women's Soccer League player profile

Utah Royals FC player profile
1993 births Living people American expatriate sportspeople in Australia American people of Native Hawaiian descent American women's soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia FC Kansas City players National Women's Soccer League players People from Rancho Cucamonga, California NJ/NY Gotham FC draft picks NJ/NY Gotham FC players Soccer players from California Sportspeople from San Bernardino County, California Stanford Cardinal women's soccer players Utah Royals FC players A-League Women players Western Sydney Wanderers FC (A-League Women) players Women's association football midfielders Kansas City Current players {{US-women-footy-bio-stub