Sky Blue FC's Alyse LaHue And for every role model out there, and every new one made, there's another awakening. (Racial microaggressions are intentional or unintentional verbal or behavioral actions, often brief and commonplace, that insult or discredit people of color). The NWSL and NWSLPA authorized the Report's release, in its entirety, to the NWSL community and the public. Racing Louisville did not appropriately respond to players' reports about Holly's conduct as the club's head coach. After Riley joined the Thorns, he targeted Thorns player Mana Shim. He also sent friendly emails to Lines, sometimes copying Riley or favorably discussing Riley; in one email, Paulson wrote to Lines, "Happy to see [the Flash] and Paul doing so well!!" According to this player, in her experience, the film sessions were professional rather than social; players would go to Riley's hotel room to review film, and then leave. However, there have historically been no established processes at the NWSL for sharing information about misconduct on any level. Whisler has demonstrated a willingness to counsel Dames and shut down offensive conduct." The head coach emailed club management, stating that the assistant coach wanted clarification on what 'likes' on Twitter are racist or offensive," and the club president replied, I'll handle w[ith] HR. Later that day, the head coach told club management that, The players are fine, emotions are high but they do not have any problem with [the assistant coach]." At the end of the meeting, Simon was informed that the club planned to fire Holly that night. Lack of Transparency with NWSL Clubs About Riley's Conduct The NWSL's 2022 Anti-Harassment Policy contains this same language, and it further clarifies that the NWSL prohibits discriminatory and harassing conduct in any form, regardless of whether it rises to the level of a legal violation. Dames yelled at players, targeted certain players for harsh treatment, made personal insults, and blurred personal and professional boundaries with players. A player for the Courage said Riley "would ask [her] to dinner in a "very casual way." The NWSL should continue to update and revise the Anti-Harassment Policy to strengthen its protections against misconduct and retaliation toward NWSL players and club staff. Despite the 2014 and 2018 complaints and a formal investigation in which players reported a wide range of concerns corroborating Press's account, the Red Stars, the NWSL, and U.S. Soccer failed to address Dames's conduct. Between 2013 and 2017, the NWSL distributed player surveys asking general questions about players' history in the NWSL and plans for the off-season. While a short briefing of the investigation's findings was provided to the club, the Joint Investigative Team understands that U.S. Soccer did not share the nature of the complaints or conclusions of the investigation, including whether the reports against Dames were corroborated. c) Necessity of Additional Vetting As publicly reported, the Joint Investigative Team recommended the suspension of Houston Dash Head Coach James Clarkson in April 2022 and of Orlando Pride Head Coach Amanda Cromwell and First Assistant Coach Sam Greene in June 2022, while investigating reports of their misconduct, which were ultimately substantiated. Former U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati observed that it was a challenge every year to get the owners to come back for another year and lose money. Our players respect what Holly does as a coach and how he treats other players, coaches, and staff." (iii) disruption of the team environment. The player recalled that Pauw "knocked on [her] door at night and invited herself in just to check how [her] apartment setup was." The NWSL completed an independent investigation, and it announced that based on witness interviews and a review of video footage, no disciplinary action would be taken against the club. Hendrix also said that reporting to the NWSL did not seem like an option, and that she and Simon were afraid that because they were not highprofile players, their word would not be valued and weighted as much as Holly's. Until 2017, the NWSL front office had five or fewer full-time staff members, and it did not have a dedicated HR staff member for players, who are NWSL employees, until June 2019. The NWSL should consider working with the NWSLPA to establish additional affinity groups, and develop similar partnerships with those affinity groups to improve the NWSL experience for all players. As the investigator who led the USSF Dames Investigation told the Joint Investigative Team, [Whisler] was already aware of the concerns. Clubs' inconsistent responses to player-staff relationships left players confused about whether the NWSL prohibited such relationships. Such volatility was a common thread among many coaches in the League who engaged in other forms of emotional, verbal, or sexual misconduct. Shim's and Farrelly's interviews occurred in person at Providence Park, the stadium where On September 16, 2015, Shim reported Riley's conduct to the Thorns and to the NWSL. One player said that "everything" players told Pearce Rampone "went back to" Holly. They also feel the non-fraternization policy, first implemented in January 2018, must be more explicit, extend to staff beyond the head coach and "clarify that any sexual or romantic relationship between players and those in supervisory roles over players is strictly prohibited, even if the relationship is consensual. E. Standards for Assessing Reports of Misconduct The documents should be kept confidential and shared only with individuals who need them to investigate and make determinations regarding investigation outcomes and discipline. However, even with that knowledge and after reviewing the findingswhich included that 70% of players "reported concerning behaviors that are consistent with the generally accepted definition of emotional abuse in sport and felt Dames creat[ed] an environment of fear [and] retaliation"Whisler contemplated keeping Dames involved with the Red Stars in a non-player-facing role, such as a sporting director or draft consultant. "This process is the culmination of a wide-ranging collaboration among our fans, players, front office, and owners" said General Manager Alyse LaHue. Alyse LaHue: Women's pro soccer is ready to ride the wave of a big This information sharing between the staff member and the player led other players to express concerns to team management that the staff member was sharing players' private medical information with the player they were dating. 53, indicating he wanted to go to Simon's apartment and describing "inappropriate things he would do." Most players enter the League through a draft, and player contracts are not required to be guaranteed. Many players bravely recounted painful and personal experiences before and during this investigation in service of truth, accountability, and reform. Cromwell also sought to waive or trade other such players. Until 2021, the NWSL did not have a formal policy prohibiting harassment. On multiple instances, clubs transitioned coaches accused of misconduct to front office roles instead of terminating their employment. During this time, Duffy, who had recently become NWSL president, and Levine, who had transitioned to the role of NWSL general counsel, worked with NWSL communications staff to prepare a draft public statement (which was never publicly released) related to the handling of sexual harassment complaints and the Riley investigation. Players told the investigator that Dames (i) yelled excessively; (ii) singled certain players out for constant criticism; (iii) behaved unpredictably; (iv) failed to maintain professional boundaries; and (v) used personal information against players. In spring 2021, when Levine was the NWSL's general counsel, Shim and Farrelly resurfaced allegations against Riley. It was not until August 2021 that the league implemented a process requiring clubs to submit head coaching candidates to the league for vetting and approval. When interviewed by the Joint Investigative Team, Levine deflected criticism of the NWSL's failure to act in response to these complaints onto the players themselves. In fact, an attorney from the law firm retained by the Thorns informed Levine that there were suggestions in [Shims] interview [with Garcia] that Paul Riley's relationship [with Farrelly] was more extensive than [Shim's]/Riley's." One NWSLPA member expressed the need for training on the Anti-Harassment Policy. The Joint Investigative Team learned of a relationship between a staff member and a player, although due to player confidentiality concerns this Report provides limited identifying details. 88, U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro characterized U.S. Soccer's relationship with the League as a "regulator and sanctioning body." He complied with her request for a little while, but his inappropriate behavior resumed soon after. Interviews with club and League personnel suggested a lack of information sharing both within Sky Blue and with the League. Club staff must be held to higher standards. Both she and other players reported that Dames would fixate on certain players when he was yelling. For example, he would ask Shim to come to his apartment to review game film, and on two occasions, she went. Third, Dames made personal insults, and the summary stated, these comments in a professional environment are concerning." In explaining the transactions the club made before the next season, Williams said, "We needed to make a lot of changes-we were last [in the League]. Dames's conduct was also often personal. Its low operating budget, a response to the overspending of WUSA, left WPS to run on thin margins. Awesome! 3. He said that Kurtz seemed accepting of this news, but she mentioned in passing something about Riley calling her chubby." In response to the complaint made directly to the League, Baird spoke with Malik and Riley to relay that Riley should not be speaking to players about their weight; rather, weight and fitness issues should be handled by a nutritionist. Some players reported that living in such close proximity to club staff, including their coaches, made them feel uncomfortable and contributed to a lack of boundaries between the personal lives of the players and club staff. Another player, when describing a time her teammates requested that their club help them wash their uniforms, recalled that the club administrator responded, Be grateful you're even able to play for a team, getting paid for this . Those who had known Dames for a long time acknowledged that his "behaviors ha[d] improved," but the review stressed the importance of "consider[ing] the severity of the starting point as context for growth in behavior." Whisler said he then proceeded with the trade based on "soccer reason[s]" after consulting with the League. Simon said that in 2019, she received an invitation to a U-23 national team camp. .85 Sky Blue FC general manager Alyse LaHue reinforced her reputation as a draft-day wheeler-dealer on Wednesday night. One player reported that Riley, Wilkinson, and Thorns owner Merritt Paulson had a close relationship, leading to a perception that players could be traded for raising complaints against any one of the three. Several players raised concerns about Riley encouraging players to drink to excess. The NWSL should establish rules prohibiting an individual from occupying more than one of the following positions at a club: principal owner, general manager, and head coach. The Spirit suspended Burke pending an investigation initiated shortly after the Washington Post article was published, and the club fired him on September 28, 2021, following the completion of that investigation. On September 1, 2021, Holly texted Simon and told her he was fired for "an inappropriate relationship" with her. Riley was only one of several NWSL club personnel accused of misconduct in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Among the new revelations about specific individuals, those regarding Houston Dash head coach James Clarkson stand out. The summary continued, "This was not a widely-held concern [and was not] identified as a significant concern." The Joint Investigative Team also posted these reporting lines on the NWSL webpage and in the League's Anti-Harassment Policy. The same player recalled that Dames would discuss another player's boyfriend frequently in the locker room and would make it known that he hated the boyfriend. The Joint Investigative Team reported regularly to the Oversight Committee on its progress and investigative strategy. It was, 'You idiot. These failings enabled Riley to continue coaching players in the NWSL for years after his sexual misconduct was discovered. The Courage and the Spirit listed an anonymous reporting hotline whereby employees could make complaints, but no clubs referenced the NWSL RealResponse hotline in their policies. North Carolina Courage 6. During the limbo period, the National Womens Soccer League media relations department was mildly more helpful, finally acknowledging the situation by saying they were not going to comment on a club matter. Players also described how Riley hosted a multi-day social retreat at his house on Long Island, during which players stayed together in barracks-style quarters-on numerous twin beds-in Riley's attic. Days later, Shim emailed Baird to ask if the NWSL would take further steps in connection with her 2015 complaint, considering the apparent failure of the NWSL to take any action to protect players" in response to that complaint. In December 2012, the Red Stars officially hired Dames as its first head coach in the newly-formed NWSL. The Joint Investigative Team found multiple flaws with both the summary and conclusion of the USSF Dames Report. Two players had in fact described the same example of Dames sharing personal information, but one of the two players also provided a different example of when Dames's had shared information in a way that made her uncomfortable. Additionally, U.S. Soccer, the League, and its member clubs often failed to investigate, conducted an inadequate investigation, or otherwise failed to address misconduct reported to them. Recommendations.. U.S. Soccer. c) Failure to Protect Players Shim contacted Riley by email that July, telling him that his conduct was inappropriate and made her uncomfortable. The same day, U.S. Soccer announced that it was launching an independent investigation into reports of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women's professional soccer, to be conducted by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates of King & Spalding LLP (the USSF Investigation"). According to Whisler, when he read the Washington Post article the next day describing Dames's pattern of abuse and harassment, it became clear that Dames could not take on such a new role with the club. 7. Instead, these conversations occurred on an ad hoc basis and were left to individual clubs. Wilkins similarly recalled O'Connor or Estes stating that Holly had a potentially inappropriate relationship with a player. . 6. He shut the door and stood between Shim and the door, and she saw he was wearing only his underwear. O'Connor defended the club's approach, saying he told the players that everyone would get together to discuss their concerns. Cromwell and Greene also expressed a desire to remove these players from the team. The New Jersey native is hoping to expand her horizons through overseas play. Background checks and reputational vetting of player-facing club employees were not mandatory for much of the NWSL's existence. Players and staff at the Red Stars said that the close relationship between Head Coach Rory Dames and club owner Arnim Whisler made them feel that raising complaints to ownership would be pointless. Players from other clubs shared similar sentiments: for example, players from one club said they feared a coach would retaliate if they reported concerns about him because they had seen him lash out" at players during meetings and because he had once removed a player from the roster after an on-field disagreement. According to the USSF Dames Report, Dames told a player that when her son got LaHue participated in an initial interview, but then cancelled a follow-up interview. Riley engaged in additional misconduct while at the Courage. Stanton reported that Holly texted her all the time" while he was an assistant coach at Sky Blue, sometimes communicating in a way that felt like it was "teetering on the line" of NWSL, NWSLPA joint investigation finds 'widespread misconduct' Anonymous results from an annual NWSL player survey conducted in 2014, and described in greater detail below, also indicated similar misconduct by Riley. Players Experienced an Array of Interpersonal Misconduct, and Reports of That Misconduct Were Mishandled alyse lahue relationship - yampariverbotanicpark.org In January 2020, Simon left West Ham and signed with the Dash. Pulling off the feat of moving to Red Bull Arena has been a longtime goal for LaHue. The day after the player spoke to the NWSL about her complaint, Dames texted Whisler that he was planning on waiving her. [C]lub staff in positions of power made inappropriate sexual remarks to players, mocked players bodies, pressured players to lose unhealthy amounts of weight, crossed professional boundaries with players, and created volatile and manipulative working conditions, it says. I had no avenue to communicate with the League, or whatever that even meant. In another instance, according to the report summary, the investigator determined that "players provided very little detail about specific, inappropriate comments made by Dames about their personal appearance." Paulson told the Joint Investigative Team he thought it would be important to Malik that, from Paulson's perspective, the Thorns accurately announced that Riley's contract would expire at the end of the 2015 season. Following the receipt of evidence that Cromwell and Greene were retaliating against players and considering removing from the team players they believed had participated in the March Investigation, the Joint Investigative Team recommended in June 2022 that Cromwell and Greene be placed on It acknowledged that the League had a "need to know," and that an "allegation that a head coach has acted inappropriately toward a player is obviously of concern to the League." Players told the Joint Investigative Team that the NWSL's culture and the unstable history of women's professional soccer in the United States deterred them from raising concerns about abuse, bullying, harassment, and other forms of misconduct. Harrington then stated that the player may have contacted him via WhatsApp or may have just flagged [him] down" in the hotel lobby. She recalled Harrington commenting that some players had "good bodies but unattractive" faces, and he would refer to those players as "butterfaces" or "shrimpheads." In August 2019, a Thorns staff member emailed a draft public statement (which was never publicly released) to Paulson and Golub for review. 99, In addition, investigation findings were often not memorialized such that they could be One player reported that club staff living in the same housing as players led to unprofessional interactions. Require Separate Individuals to Hold Key Club Leadership Roles Another player stated that Holly liked to play mind games" with players, including one incident in which he purposely benched a starting player immediately before a game just to observe her reaction, and then threatened to cut her from the team when she reacted poorly. The NWSL should consider providing resources to support players and staff working to advance the interests of diverse and marginalized groups. Players reported that Riley often inquired about and commented on players' romantic and dating relationships. At Racing Louisville, for example, Holly lived in the same apartment complex as Simon and other players, one of whom described this arrangement as "weird." The close timing between the March Investigation and the proposed player transactions creates a reasonable inference that the decisions were motivated in part by retaliation. "An independent review of practices and policies at the league and club levels-including workplace policies for each club in the league, league-mandated anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy, and processes for identifying, investigating, and enforcing Plush eventually resigned as CEO of USA Curling nearly a month after the Yates report detailed his inaction and culpability in allowing Riley to continue coaching in the NWSL following Riley's 2015 sexual misconduct in Portland. 19, not respond appropriately to Shim's concerns for six years, until after Shim and Farrelly went public. d) Frequent Social Interactions and Controlling Players' Social Lives Maybe. Since the Joint Investigative Team began its work, the NWSL has increased efforts to eradicate misconduct, embraced greater accountability, and experienced a cultural shift regarding behaviors that are no longer tolerated. Another witness reported that Dames used "homophobic" language directed at players to demean them. . Following public reporting about Hansen's statements, the NWSL conducted an investigation and pushed Hansen to sell the club. Misconduct against players has occurred at the vast majority of NWSL clubs at various times from the earliest years of the League to the present.". She remembered that Holly "verbally attacked players, and his behavior was "just different" than it had been in 2016. One player noted, It was really pushed into our brains, 'don't say anything."" 6. At some point, the notion of Shim and Farrelly kissing was raised, though no one could recall in 2015 who raised the idea; Farrelly told the Joint Investigative Team that Riley pushed the notion of intimacy between the players-both that night and persistently even before that nightand Shim and Farrelly have since recalled that Riley likely came up with the idea for them to kiss. . 65, Some witnesses also expressed concern that the experiences of players of color were discounted or not taken seriously. One player explained that it took her several years to realize that Riley's treatment of players on the Courage was manipulative, and that other coaches don't treat people this way." The player said it later struck her as "weird" that Riley held these sessions in his hotel room rather than using a meeting room. Farrelly asked what steps the NWSL intended to take in connection with inappropriate conduct that was initially reported" and offered to make herself available for an interview. 1. The Joint Investigative Team found strong evidence to corroborate players' concerns about Whisler. The evidence suggests he also discussed with Levine and with U.S. Soccer's outside counsel that Levine should give Sky Blue certain information about the allegations of sexual harassment against Riley, the circumstances of Riley's termination from the Thorns, and conclusions from the 2015 investigation. In response to her request, Courage Assistant General Manager Bobby Hammond conveyed to Kurtz or her agent that the club was unable to find a trade for her, but that it could increase her salary by a "few thousand dollars." The NWSL began requiring background checks of prospective coaches and other club staff, and it has begun efforts to offer an anti-harassment training for players, coaches, and League and club staff. Another player similarly reported that Holly stopped playing her after she raised concerns about his behavior to an assistant coach. The League is also part of a soccer ecosystem in which mistreatment of players is endemic one which affects not only the NWSL, but other professional leagues, both domestic and abroad, the report says. Allowing Riley to continue coaching in the NWSL endangered NWSL players. 11 The NWSL should confirm that each club has designated such individuals and that those individuals are aware of their obligation to report any complaints or reports of violations of the Anti-Harassment Policy to the NWSL HR Office or the NWSL General Counsel within 24 hours of receiving the report. According to several interviewees, the Dash players had not been drinking alcohol. The investigation did not focus on player-on-player misconduct or misconduct directed at League or club staff. 4. The NWSL should conduct an assessment of its HR and Legal departments to determine whether they are sufficiently staffed to conduct thorough and prompt investigations of allegations of misconduct. A few weeks later, on October 2, 2014, then-NWSL Executive Director Cheryl Bailey shared a version of the USWNT players' comments with the Red Stars.