by Sydney Wiser and  Perri Williams ‘23

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is one of the best in the world. It currently boasts international talent like Canadian Olympic gold medalist Christine Sinclair and Brazilian soccer legend Marta and domestic talents like Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. The NWSL is in its ninth season, far surpassing its predecessors in the number of seasons and sponsorship revenue, yet with all of the surface-level success, a number of players have spoken out about a troubling reality. On September 30, The Athletic published a story that detailed the traumatic experiences of two former NWSL players who played under well-known coach, Paul Riley. The players accused Riley of sexual coercion and verbal abuse and attributed the abuse suffered under him as the main reason they left professional soccer. Riley was fired from the NWSL team, the Portland Thorns, in 2015 after one of the players in the Athletic story, Mana Shim, reported the abuse to the owner. Shortly thereafter Riley was hired by the North Carolina Courage and has since won three NWSL championships with the team. After the publication of the article, the Courage fired Riley.

Shim was not the only player who voiced her concerns about Riley to NWSL leadership. The other player included in The Athletic article, Sinead Fannelly, emailed NWSL general manager Lisa Baird directly. Screenshots from May 5, 2021 show Fannelly’s detailed account of the sexual misconduct she experienced as a player on Riley’s team, including inappropriate comments made about Fannelly’s sexual orientation. Baird informed Fannelly that the investigation on Fannelly’s initial complaint had already been concluded. Baird resigned on October 1 amid the allegations. 

Although the Riley incident is one of the more troubling allegations, it isn’t the only one involving an abusive coach. On August 11, The Washington Post published detailed allegations about former Washington Spirit coach, Richie Burke. One of the interviewed players, Kaiya McCullough, gave an account of racism and verbal and emotional abuse during her time on the Spirit. The article also highlights how youth players coached by Burke earlier in his career expressed concerns about his initial hiring but were ignored by the Washington Spirit front office. The Spirit players have also recently called publicly for the resignation of Steve Baldwin, the club’s owner, for hiring Burke and creating a toxic work environment for players and female front-office workers. Before the article was released, Burke was fired from the head coach position. 

Christie Holly, the head coach of the newest NWSL team, Racing Louisville FC was fired in early September “for cause.” The team has decided to keep the reason for his firing and the pending investigation confidential, a decision that has been supported by the NWSL player’s association. 

For players, the sharing of these harrowing tales of abuse has been difficult. However, players from all over the world have used the incidents as a way to show solidarity. In the NWSL, the player’s association announced that during their coming games, both teams would halt play in the sixth minute, stand in the center of the pitch, and link arms with each other as a sign of unity. The following weekend, the English women’s professional league followed suit. The NWSL player’s association has also brought forth a list of eight demands that they require from the league to ensure player protection. These demands include allowing NWSL players association representatives to be involved in the selection of the new NWSL commissioner and expanding the NWSL’s investigation to identify other instances where players’ reports of abuse were not resolved.  The NWSL has big plans to expand in the coming years but before the league can grow, the players demand that change be made