Tuesday, October 12, 2021
For those of you who keep up with women’s soccer in America, you probably already know what today’s blog will be about. For those of you who don’t, take the next five seconds to google the name, Paul Riley.
Paul Riley is the former head coach of the NWSL’s NC Courage. He was fired last week after The Athletic reported that he allegedly sexually coerced and verbally abused two former players over the course of multiple years and across several teams. I would highly suggest reading the article. It’s deeply unsettling, disgusting, and, unfortunately, reflects the reality of what happens in women’s soccer.
The piece illuminated the fact that there is a huge lack of concern for the women playing the game. The league and individual teams prioritize their profits, their image, and their male coaches over the wellbeing of their players. One of the women who came forward reported Riley’s abuse back in 2015. The management of the Portland Thorns, her team at the time, investigated Riley’s conduct and found enough cause to not renew his contract. However, they didn’t disclose anything to the public and Riley was hired by a different NWSL team mere months later.
The article also brought to light the product of a system with tremendous power imbalances between the men who head these organizations and the women underneath them. Not only do women participate in a sport where selection is dictated by the subjective decisions of a few men, they play in a league with no guaranteed contracts. In other words, if the men in power do not like a certain woman, she could be jobless at the drop of a hat.
If you haven’t noticed, I keep pointing the finger at men. It’s not because I don’t like them. It’s because at this state in our sport they hold nearly all of the positions of power. There is currently one female head coach in the NWSL, and not a single woman holds a majority investment in an NWSL team in her own right. Further, this disportionality is not exclusive to the NWSL. Only about a quarter of NCAA head soccer coaches are women. My guess is there is even less representation in youth soccer in America.
My current coach is only the second female head coach I’ve ever had, and I’ve been playing the sport for nearly twenty years. Growing up, there were no women coaches in my soccer club, and I didn’t experience playing for a woman until I was called into a youth national team camp.
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Will hiring more women solve every problem? No. But I think it’s a great start. Even if they don’t win a single game, at least they respect women (which can’t be said for all male coaches).
Truly, I don’t think winning will be a problem if more women are hired. From what I’ve seen, women do the job better than men anyway. For starters, female coaches are screened more heavily than men. Women are less likely to get the job based on relationships (ie. drinking buddies with the owner). Generally, more screening leads to higher quality coaches. Don’t believe me? Check this out.
The OL Reign’s record was 2-6-1 when they fired their male coach in the middle of the current NWSL season. Now, they’re second in the standings with a playoff spot clinched. Under coach Laura Harvey, the team is 7-2-1.
My head coach, Carmelina Moscato, is the best coach I’ve ever played for. Her, and our Head of Individual Player Development, Carrie Kveton (the first and only female duo I’ve experienced) are fantastic. They are exceptionally organized, highly adaptable, extremely communicative, and their knowledge of the game is unmatched. Furthermore, they are great human beings who truly care about each of their players. Unfortunately, this trait is the hardest to come by, and undoubtedly the most important.
You’d think the higher the level of play, the better the coaching. Yet, outside of these two, my coaches in the pros have been subpar. I know once I leave FCN, I will most likely never experience something like this again. Us players put in so much to get to this level, and one bad coach can steal what we’ve worked our entire lives for. It’s a shame I even have to say this, but I’ll count my blessings.
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Soccer, She Wrote is a bi-weekly Blog by Mariah Lee, following her journey as a Black-American Woman playing professional soccer in Europe.
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