"I Have A Coach Who Is Endangering Players"
This is what happens when we don't value women
I woke up this morning to Portland still being Ground Zero for a story finally getting the attention it deserves. We’ve known for generations that women have been (and continue) to be abused by those in positions of power. That’s hardly news but, at least one aspect of this abuse is being forced into the spotlight- women’s soccer.
This story broke a few days ago, but I’ve waited to write about it for a few reasons. First, its epicenter is here in Portland, which makes it hard for me to maintain perspective. Second, I wanted to do the necessary research so that I might do justice to the topic. Finally, this is serious stuff, and I’ve wanted to treat it with the gravitas it deserves. I didn’t want this to be a knee-jerk reaction to a crisis worthy of serious reflection.
The short version is that somee in positions of power in women’s soccer too often treats players like property to be sexualized, abused, and mistreated as deemed necessary. Because there’s been no one to look out for the well-being of the players.
An independent investigation into the scandals that erupted in the National Women's Soccer League last season found emotional abuse and sexual misconduct were systemic in the sport, impacting multiple teams, coaches and players, according to a report released Monday.
"Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women's soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players," former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates wrote in her report on the investigation.
U.S. Soccer commissioned the investigation by Yates and the law firm King & Spaulding after former NWSL players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim came forward with allegations of harassment and sexual coercion dating back a decade involving former coach Paul Riley. Their account was published by The Athletic in September 2021.
The extended version is much more difficult to stomach, especially when you realize that in the 21st century, women are still being valued and manipulated for their sexual attractiveness and pushed to (and sometimes beyond) their physical limits.
After an independent investigation (done at the request of the US Soccer Federation) by former US Attorney General Sally Yates, she released a report, which, among other things,
states that abuse was pervasive and systemic at the highest levels of women’s soccer in the United States, and includes new details about disturbing incidents involving several former coaches in the NWSL….
“Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct—verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct—had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims,” Yates said in her report.
“Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players. The verbal and emotional abuse players describe in the NWSL is not merely ‘tough’ coaching.”
This report only covers the culture of abuse in American women’s soccer, but no one should be under any illusion that the US is the only country with this problem. It’s a worldwide issue, but we can only deal with our little corner of the world now.
I find this story particularly upsetting for two reasons:
First, in the early part of the 21st century, women still have to endure verbal, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse to play the game they love. We teach our daughters to strive and dream, while behind the scenes, they continue to be preyed on by monsters in positions of power. I lack the words to adequately express my outrage that this sort of abuse continues today.
Second, this problem came to light with my hometown team, Portland Thorns FC. Arguably the most successful side in the 10-year history of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the Thorns also lead the NWSL in soft-pedaling accusations of player abuse. Soccer City USA is not what it appears to be.
The Yates Report Isn’t The End. It’s Just The Start.
I’m not going to rehash the explanations. You can check my links, and I’d highly recommend reading the Yates report for the details. I can’t begin to do them justice here, but the following will give you a small idea of what was happening behind the scenes with Thorns’ management:
Thorns FC weren’t the only NWSL side with player abuse issues. Racing Louisville and Chicago Red Stars have also dismissed coaches and other personnel because players were sexually, emotionally, and physically abused. So yes, it’s good that action is being taken now. That said, it’s been EIGHT years since the first issues within the Thorns FC organization came to light- and were promptly swept aside.
Another ‘report’ on abuse in women’s sports. When is enough enough?
Over the past year or so, the Riveters and the Timbers Army, the supporters’ groups for Thorns FC and Portland Timbers FC of Major League Soccer (MLS)- both owned by Merritt Paulson- have been demanding change. As a result, both groups have regularly met with the front office representing both teams, only to come away feeling as if they were being stonewalled.
And they weren’t wrong; both groups were being “managed” by the front office.
This week, that’s finally begun to change. Gavin Wilkinson, the technical director for both teams, and Mike Golub, the President of both teams, were fired. These moves occurred after owner Merritt Paulson announced he would be stepping away (for an indeterminate period) from a decision-making role with the organization.
For months, management talked about “accountability initiatives,” which, while commendable, were far too little and far too late to convince fans and the supporters’ groups that the situation could be salvaged. The demands grew for top management- Wilkinson and Golub- to be fired and for Paulson to sell the team.
Even Bill Oram, the Oregonian newspaper’s sports columnist, couldn’t ignore the obvious:
[T]he accountability initiatives could be nothing more then words as long as the Timbers and Thorns were run by men who could not pass a simple multiple choice morality test:
A) Take accountability for your own mistakes
B) Protect an alleged predator….
Paulson’s utter lack of transparency and his backroom bargaining to keep the allegations against [Paul] Riley make him an unfit steward of the public trust that is professional soccer in Portland.
Suppose you understand anything about professional soccer and its role in a community, from the top-tier Major League Soccer (MLS) to the fifth-tier English National League. In that case, you know that a soccer team is a treasured public trust. Yes, Merritt Paulson may own the Timbers and the Thorns, but the fans are what make the sides successful. If we stop attending matches, Paulson’s in trouble.
I’ve met Merritt Paulson. He’s a nice enough guy, the sort of person with whom I could easily have a couple of beers. That aside, he’s punted on his most basic responsibility- protecting his employees from abuse. When presented with clear evidence of Paul Riley’s abusive behavior, he fired Riley but thanked him for his service on his way out the door. Paulson even gave Riley a glowing recommendation for another coaching position in NWSL. The abuse and the reasons for Riley’s dismissal were swept under the rug by Paulson, where they remained all these years.
How does that NOT disqualify Paulson from owning the Timbers and Thorns? Explain it to me like I’m five. Go ahead; I’ll wait.
This mess is our problem to sort out here in Portland, but we shouldn’t pretend that the problem began here or is the worst here. Women have been abused and mistreated while trying to play the game they love since before I played soccer in college.
And the problem isn’t limited to soccer. While players and fans deserve better, we shouldn’t lose sight of the truth that women in ALL aspects of life deserve better.
Let me put it to you in a way that might add a dose of perspective. What if what Paul Riley did to Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly was done to your sister, daughter, or wife? You’d want a piece of the predator’s hide, wouldn’t you? And who could blame you?
U.S. Soccer ‘failed’ women’s players, report finds, as new abuse claims emerge
We should be feeling the same way about ANY woman mistreated in any setting for any reason because of a relationship with a power imbalance. It’s reprehensible, and no woman should have to endure that sort of degrading behavior.
Read the Yates Report. And watch ESPN’s excellent documentary, Truth Be Told: The Fight For Power In Women’s Professional Soccer. Then think about the fact that while this controversy is nominally about soccer, it holds for any aspect of life. If that doesn’t give you pause, you need to have your humanity checked.
This didn’t need to happen.
This shouldn’t have happened.
If the people who were supposed to act when they were notified of inappropriate behavior had acted, this wouldn’t have happened.
We need to do better so that we can be certain this doesn’t happen again.
Women deserve to play the game they love free of emotional, physical, and sexual harassment. That doesn’t seem like it should be too much to ask, does it?
Very well said.