To the players of the NWSL: We're sorry, and we have to do better
To the players of the NWSL: We're sorry, and we have to do better
The bombshell report filed by former U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates highlights the systemic problems with the National Women's Soccer League, including abuses of power since the league's inception.
I’m sorry.
That was the only thing I could think as I watched through tear-filled eyes the powerful hour-long ESPN E:60 report Tuesday evening, “Truth Be Told: The fight for women’s professional soccer” that detailed in explicit detail the rampant abuses that spread across the National Women’s Soccer League for years, without regard for club, organization or city.
Every team was touched. Every organization was affected. And every part of the league that refused to believe, to be held accountable for, or to rectify any situation of abuse — be it physical, emotional, mental, sexual or otherwise — deserves to be punished to the fullest extent based on the bombshell report released by former U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, which U.S. Soccer released this week.
From Paul Riley to Richie Burke to Christy Holly to Lisa Baird and dozens of others — including Utah’s own Dell Loy Hansen and Craig Harrington, who resigned shamefully from their positions as owner and head coach, respectively, of Utah Royals FC following allegations of racial and sexual abuse in word and/or deed — there was one common thread connecting each tragedy: systemic failure.
The system failed the most important resource in North American women’s soccer for years: its player. The failures were more than substandard wages, ill-fated living conditions, and the inability to support its employees.
The failure struck to the core of these players’ identities. And for that, there is only one thing that can be said: Sorry, and we have to be better.
I am sorry. We are sorry. We are sorry, players, that your voices went unheard for so long. We are sorry that many fans, media and outside observers didn’t believe you. We are sorry that you were forced to suffer for years in relative silence, unable to fathom why you felt that you were being punished while the perpetrators of abuse waltzed off to another job, another paycheck, and even another championship, in some cases.
You don’t deserve this. We don’t deserve this. We don’t deserve you, for your bravery and your strength, for playing through a miserable work environment while the system failed you every step of the way.
We are sorry. I am sorry. It’s not good enough; sorry is not good enough. What more can we say?
You deserved better. The league should have done better. From former commissioner Baird to countless coaches, administrators, general managers, staff members, media who covered the league — both locally and nationally — and fans who thought they were supporting you by showing up to your games, buying your merchandise, following you on social media, and standing behind your story, we all should have done better.
The atrocities documented in the Yates report, told again through ESPN reporter Lisa Salters, director/producer Jennifer Karson-Strauss, and dozens of reporters, producers, editors, writers and fact-checkers, and repeated by players from the league’s beginning to the present day should never have happened.
You deserve so much better. And now as Utah Royals FC faces a potential rebirth into a very different league in 2024 (or later), this blogger and newsletter writer can only say one thing: I’m sorry. We can do better. We must do better. There are no excuses.
Thank you to Mana Shim, to Alex Morgan, and to the hundreds of other players who spoke up and spoke out on the abuses that plagued the league for far, far too long. Your courage is undeniable, your strength unfathomable.
And I’m sorry.
As a soccer fan who came of age with the rise of the U.S. women’s national team, whose love for the game began with the 99ers and was cultivated through WUSA to WPS and finally carried to the NWSL, I cannot say “sorry” enough. I am disgusted, heartbroken and grief-stricken at what occurred. What could we have done — what could I have done — to make something, anything, even a little bit better, a little bit easier, a little bit more manageable? Were there signs of abuse that I was missing as I fulfilled my job and tried to tell the stories of the players and coaches in the league that were under my reporting at Utah Royals FC? Were there signs, and I didn’t notice them?
Should I have noticed them?
And if there were, what can I do now, in the present — and the future? We can’t change what happened, but we can move forward and make sure it never happens again. That’s the least we can do, and it is imperative that all of us — from players to coaches to administrators to fans to media — do our part to make sure the corrosive culture of a failed organization no longer taint the future of the women’s game in the United States.
"For so long, this has always fallen on the player to demand change, and that is because the people in authority and decision-making positions have repeatedly failed to protect us and they have failed to hold themselves and each other accountable," U.S. international (and former Utah Royals FC) center back Becky Sauerbrunn said during media availability in London. "And what and who are you actually protecting and what values are you upholding? You have failed in your stewardship.
"And it's my opinion that every owner and executive and U.S. Soccer official who has repeatedly failed the players and failed to protect the players, who have hidden behind legalities and have not participated fully in these investigations should be gone."
More than half of the league’s coaches have been fired for behavioral misconduct and abuse in the wake of countless investigations launched by team, league and outside investigators. That includes Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson, who revealed minutes before Sauerbrunn addressed the media that he was "will be removing [himself] effective today from all Thorns-related decision making" until a joint investigation by the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association is complete.
Update: Early Wednesday afternoon, the Timbers and Thorns announced that president of soccer Gavin Wilkinson and president of business Mike Golub have been relieved of their duties with both clubs, effective immediately. General counsel Heather Davis will oversee business operations for both clubs on an interim basis, Ned Grabavoy will remain as technical director and lead Timbers soccer operations, and Thorns GM Karina LeBlanc will continue leading Thorns soccer operations, the clubs said.
Same for Chicago Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler, who revealed that he was stepping away from team operations and his role on the NWSL’s board of governors during the league’s investigation.
But change is often slow and investigations take time. The NWSL continues to “evaluate” the Yates report, commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement Tuesday while promising to “remain committed to implementing reform and disciplinary action, both as a result of the Yates report and the NWSL/NWSLPA’s Joint Investigative Team’s findings.”
“The Joint Investigative Team is working towards concluding their report by the end of the year, and we will not interfere with that process, as the findings of that investigation will offer important input from our players,” Berman said. “While it will take time, we are fully prepared to take the necessary steps to protect the health and safety of our players, staff and other stakeholders in order to create the League that our players, fans, partners and staff deserve and expect.
”We value the input of everyone who has participated in the joint investigation, or who might reach out to the investigators now. We continue to encourage all parties to engage with the Joint Investigative Team with any information relating to discrimination, harassment, abuse, retaliation or bullying towards players in the league. The Joint Investigative Team may be contacted at NWSL_Investigation@cov.com or you may reach out to the NWSL or NWSLPA directly or through any other club and league reporting channels.”