A report released Monday detailed “systemic” verbal abuse and sexual misconduct by coaches at the highest echelons of women’s soccer in the United States, and found executives at the United States Soccer Federation, the National Women’s Soccer League and all of American soccer are failing to do so had responded to reports from players over the years.
The report was commissioned by US Soccer, which asked Sally Q. Yates, a former assistant US attorney, and the law firm King & Spalding to conduct an investigation after media reports documented allegations of sexual and verbal abuse against NWSL coaches.
The report focuses on three coaches — Christy Holly, Paul Riley and Rory Dames — and highlights a history of sexual misconduct allegations against them and the failure of executives to investigate and respond to the allegations. It also warned that girls are being abused in youth football.
Riley and Dames did not respond to requests for comment Monday, and Holly declined to comment. Holly spoke to investigators and denied some, but not all, of the allegations made against him. Through his attorney, Dames declined to speak to investigators. Riley agreed to provide written answers but never did.
Here are six takeaways from the report:
Christy Holly
Holly was fired as coach from Racing Louisville FC last year during the team’s inaugural season, with no public comment from the team. While the allegations against Riley and Dames have been detailed in media reports, the allegations against Holly have not been public knowledge.
The report found that Holly’s misconduct while coaching Louisville included sexual contact, inappropriate text messaging, abuse of power, and retaliation. In one instance, Holly invited a gamer over to her home to watch feature films, but instead masturbated in front of her and showed off her pornography. On another occasion while watching a feature film with the player, Holly felt the player’s breasts and genitals whenever the film showed that she had made a mistake.
According to the report, Holly also sent the player nude pictures of herself and asked her to send him sexual pictures of herself. The player said she felt “guilty” and “forced” to send photos. The player told investigators that “Holly kept reminding her to ‘let go’ and told her that ‘having fun’ with him would improve her performance on the field.”
Paul Riley
Another narrative in the report revolves around Paul Riley, who was fired from the North Carolina Courage last year. The report found that Riley had “exploited his position” to force at least three players into sexual relations.
“The abuse of Paul Riley was lengthy and wide-ranging,” the report said. “It covered multiple leagues, teams and players. It included emotional misconduct, abuse of power and sexual misconduct.”
One player said Riley made sexual advances towards her on a number of occasions. In one instance, the player said, Riley asked her to watch a feature film in his hotel room. When the player got to his room, she said, Riley opened the door, dressed only in her underwear, and told her to get on the bed. The player said she left when she realized there was no feature film on TV.
“I just didn’t feel safe,” said the player. “I didn’t like to play. It was a bad situation.”
Rory Dames
The report also includes allegations against Rory Dames, who resigned from the Chicago Red Stars last year and was also the coach of the Chicago Eclipse Select youth soccer team. It emerged that he had created a “sexualized team environment” at the youth club that “crossed the line into sexual relationships on several occasions, although those relationships may have begun after the age of majority.” It was also said that he verbally abused his players and joked about the age of consent for sexual activity.
A player who played for Dames on the Eclipse team said Dames once offered to drive her home from practice and asked her questions about sex. The player said that Dames “won’t take me home until I’ve answered the questions”.
The report also said it was not uncommon for dames to spend time alone with girls from youth teams without another adult, including in their children’s bedrooms.
Lack of supervision
The report also explained how allegations of abuse or misconduct were often not fully investigated. When this was the case, the accused coaches later had the opportunity to train elsewhere. The report noted that multiple investigations across the league “have been successful in rooting out wrongdoing.”
After the 2015 NWSL season, a player reported Riley’s sexual misconduct to the Portland Thorns, where he was coaching at the time, and the league. The Thorns conducted an investigation that lasted a week, and Riley was promptly expelled from the team. But the Thorns did not update their players, other teams, or the public as to the reason for Riley’s termination. Riley was later hired by another women’s league team.
According to the report, several women players have attempted to raise concerns about dames over the years, including in 2014, 2015 and 2018. A 2018 report by the United States Women’s National Team Players Association prompted Lydia Wahlke, chief legal officer of US Soccer advised to hire outside to investigate Dames. By October 2018, the investigation had found that Dames had created “a cycle of emotional abuse and manipulation” with the Chicago Red Stars. But Wahlke didn’t share the results with the Red Stars or the NWSL
One player said she realized reporting Dames’ behavior was “a lost cause”.
youth football
The investigation did not directly examine youth soccer in the United States, but the report found multiple instances of verbal and sexual abuse of players.
“The culture of tolerating verbal abuse of players extends beyond the NWSL,” the report said. “Players also told us that their experiences of verbal abuse and blurred relationships with youth football coaches affected their ability to discern what was prohibited in the NWSL.”
One example cited in the report describes an anonymous complaint that Riley created an “unsafe environment” at his FC Fury Development Academy girls program and that a coach on the program “inappropriately touched an underage player”. The person who filed the complaint said Riley failed to report the incident and expressed “fear of reprisals from Riley for speaking out,” adding that Riley “is known to be vengeful toward anyone who violates him.” crossed”.
recommendations
Among the report’s recommendations is that teams should be required to disclose coaches’ misconduct to their leagues, to ensure coaches are not free to move from one team to another, and that the NWSL should be required to make their coaches meaningful to review and investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
The report also recommended that the NWSL conduct annual training for players and coaches on misconduct and harassment issues and that teams designate a person responsible for player safety.
The report also advised US Soccer to consider introducing other youth soccer measures to protect young players.