April 19, 2022 • 39 mins
Content warning: This episode contains adult language and adult themes, including sexual coercion and emotional abuse. If you or anyone you know is facing these issues, help is available through RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Visit RAINN.org, or call their hotline: 800-656-HOPE.
In 2013, Jessica McDonald makes it to the National Women’s Soccer League, the most recent iteration of an American women’s pro league. The NWSL’s low pay is hard on players — particularly for single mothers like McDonald. However, when shocking allegations of abuse expose how misconduct runs rampant in a game perpetually struggling for legitimacy, uneven pay scales are revealed to be just one component of systemic gender inequality in soccer. Yet, as McDonald blocks out off-field issues by focusing on her game, the rest of the league can't help but notice her play.
Updated April 25 with comment from Paul Riley, and additional thoughts from McDonald.
New episodes coming each Tuesday, through May 17.
To continue supporting journalism like this, visit charlotteobserver.com/payback or newsobserver.com/payback .
Payback is hosted by Alex Andrejev. It's produced by Kata Stevens, Casey Toth, Julia Wall, and executive producer Davin Coburn. The executive producer for iHeartRadio is Sean Titone.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Long Shot is a production of McClatchy Studios and I
Heart Radio. Welcome to Part six of Payback. I'm executive
producer Davin Coburn. A listener. Note. In this episode, you'll
hear quotes from former North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley.
In late twenty one, former players of his alleged that
Riley committed grossmisconduct in the women's game, including sexual coercion
(00:24):
and emotional abuse. This episode includes descriptions of those allegations.
Prior to those players speaking out, Jessica McDonald told our
reporting team that Riley was a key figure in her
professional development, so we spoke with Riley about McDonald as
a team leader well before the allegations against him came
to light. For months after those allegations were made, Riley
(00:47):
did not respond to our attempts to interview him again. Recently,
though we did hear from him, so we've updated this
episode to include Riley's first public comments since those allegations.
Flowing those allegations, we also spoke with McDonald again, and
in this episode she'll share for the first time her
experiences playing for Riley. And now back to your host,
(01:10):
Alexandreev and Payback Part six. Previously on Payback, I got
my first start and within minutes, probably in the most
devastating moment of my entire life, when she came to me,
(01:31):
I was looking at her, going, holy cow, we've got
an uphill battle here. It's not uncommon to come back,
but it's uncommon to come back as good or better
than your world. I'm pregning with my son. I'm gonna
be responsible for a whole another human being. Oh dear God,
there's the nail of the coffin. All right, your mom,
Now it's over. There's no way. This might be hard physically,
but it's just as hard I think on all moms
(01:52):
that are working. I didn't want to use my child
as an excuse to not pursue the dreams that I
had for myself. Welcome Live to an historic night for
women's soccers, the inaugural match of the NWSL. By the
(02:13):
middle of women's soccer would once again be finding a
foothold in the American consciousness. That is it. That's a
really quality ninety minutes. But in order to reflect on
everything the sport has become, we have to jump ahead
here for a moment, because what became clear during our
reporting for this podcast is that while unequal pay is
(02:34):
a fundamental component of gender inequality, there are other, far
more traumatic ones as well, and we saw how a
game perpetually scrambling to avoid dissolution became a breeding ground
for predators. The National Women's Soccer League has suspended all
of its weekend matches amid allegations of abuse, including sexual
(02:54):
abuse of players by former coaches. In the last year.
Explosive reports The Athletic and The Washington Post involving male
coaches they're women's players and those responsible for protecting them
prompted reevaluation of influential figures at all levels of the
women's game. As North Carolina once again found itself at
(03:14):
the center of the women's soccer world, the National Women's
Soccer League faces a reckoning over charges that it ignored
abuse of its players. Professional women's soccer is turned upside
down after a shocking report that two women claim that
their former coach his name is Paul Riley, abused them
verbally and sexually. The players union demanding an into what
it calls systemic abuse plaguing the NWSL. The Commissioner of
(03:38):
the National Women's Soccer League has stepped down, following players
from both teams arm in arm in the middle of
the field. You can feel the weight of this moment
for the players. Man, yea are the first people I'm
talking about this with, but you know I have to
(03:59):
talk about eventual. From the Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News An Observer,
McClatchy Studios and iHeart Radio. This is payback. I'm Alexandrea
and this is Part six Hanging by a thread. Well.
(04:23):
The closest season ever in the Westfield w League culminated
in a Grand Final between Melbourne Victory and Sydney of C.
As Jessica McDonald made a name for herself in Australia,
the US women's national team once again proclaimed their own
dominance abroad. They roared through their Olympic qualifying tournament, winning
(04:49):
all five games by a combined score of thirty eight
to nothing. The US women's team would head to London
for the Olympic Games looking for their third consecutive Olympic golds,
but back at home, the outlook for women's soccer in
the US was not as encouraging. After bruising three year run,
the Women's Professional Soccer League officially folded, or maybe more
(05:12):
accurately imploded. I remember the first women the little cup
in any one, and so w s A launching was
a big deal, the first women's league, and I knew
the moment it launched, that's what I wanted to do.
Megan Burke has been a true journey woman in American soccer.
A star goalkeeper for St. Louis University in the early
two thousands, Burke made history at the school as the
(05:32):
first woman ever drafted by a pro sports league when
she was selected by the Carolina Courage of the w
u s A. That was the first attempt at a
paid US pro women's soccer league. Then, once the w
USA folded in two thousand three, Burke got another shot
at professional soccer when WPS launched, But that second league
(05:53):
also came crashing down and with it when Burke's playing career,
when I think backed that moment, I remember this down
of like a record screeching, like like it just felt
like what what do you what do you mean? It's over?
I don't even understand. Burke story is important here for
a few reasons. For one, she actually played with Jess
(06:14):
McDonald in WPS during Jessic's first in with the Chicago
Red Stars. Burke's all the promise Jess brought to the
game before that knee injury derail Jess's career. She just
was someone who as a player, you notice on the
field there was some magic sauce that she had. You know,
it's light. Another reason burke story is important is that,
(06:35):
like most women's soccer players in the United States, Bark
never quite made the U S women's national team. Her
soccer paychecks came exclusively from club teams. That meant her
livelihood was directly tied to the sustainability of a women's
pro league, which was completely outside of her control. Let's see,
I coached. I I can't even remember all the jobs
(06:56):
in the years between the w USA and WPS here
in the US. Burke told me she took odd jobs
while playing wherever she could, oftentimes overseas, just to keep
her professional dreams alive. I would tell the marketing for
three days, and I was terrible at it because I
just couldn't handle the rejection. I guess um it was
a landscaper. That was my favorite job. Oh, it was
a highly unqualified gym teacher for like six months. They
(07:17):
hired me because I was a soccer player and the
kids love soccer. But ultimately, once the Second Women's League
fell apart in two thousand twelve, Burke left her cleats
behind and pursued a career in law. That's been a
common story for so many women soccer players over the
past few decades. My last game I've played September. I
remember thinking that night I could do this forever, and
(07:39):
yet that was my last game. I don't like calling
it retiring. It is so deep in my blood that, like,
I think I will always be a soccer player. But
I finally when I was like I'm tired of the bullshit,
it was like I have my dignity, I'm capable of
a lot, and I don't need to be treated this way.
In a key way, the collapse of WPS was similar
(08:01):
to the downfall of its predecessor, the w U s A.
Neither had any financial backing from the US Soccer Federation.
Despite US Soccer using those leagues as training grounds for
the players who filled the national team rosters. The w
U s A and WPS operated essentially as startups, So
when fan Attendant sagged and sponsors became harder to find.
(08:23):
There was little financial margin for error. But there was
one key difference between the demise of w USA and WPS,
the abusive behavior toward women players by men in positions
of power. Dan Boreslow leaves the good life. P banked
millions when he took his venture talk dot com public
(08:44):
pre bubble and now in late telecom magnate, Dan Borslow
came thundering into WPS, buying the Washington d C team
and relocating them to South Florida. Along the way, his
bull in a China shop approach alienated WPS executives, fellow owners,
and league sponsors. The WPS players Union filed a grievance
(09:08):
with the league about Borslow's treatment of his players. In
that grievance, Borslow's players accused him of bullying and threatening them.
Players had he berated them for what he called shitty
play and called them fucking idiots. They said he called
owning their team charity, and that he told players to
quote call me Daddy. Mike and Burke never played for Borslow,
(09:30):
but she told me that during her time overseas, she
had a similar experience with a women's Premier League team.
Our team was pretty good that year, so we were
top of the table in the Premiership and we're headed
the FA Caps in my finals. Like a week or
two later. Burke story involved her team soliciting charity donations
much like Salvation Army bell ringers, in advance of the
All English tournament, the f A Cup in England. That
(09:51):
kind of fundraising is sometimes referred to as shaking buckets.
Our club's management, they weren't particularly fond of the women's team.
They came to us and said, well, you need to
shake buckets to pay for your bus to London for
the f A Cup semifinals, or we're not paying for it.
But by the way, I want you to wear shorts
because it will help you raise more money. Um. I
don't remember ever being more livid in my soccer career.
(10:14):
And also like I didn't know how to channel it.
You know, we all talked to each other, but we
showed up, you know, we wore pants, but we did
it and it was humiliating and and infuriating frankly, and
I didn't speak out when I was twenty four, you know.
So there's a very clear need for labor gain in
that context to have an advocate and someone who's looking
(10:35):
out for you. In WPS, the league publicly admonished Borslow
and then in terminated the South Florida franchise entirely. Borslow
sued the league, and in the midst of the costly
legal battle, the remaining team owners announced WPS would permanently
suspend operations. That announcement came just months before those twelve
(10:59):
Olympic Games, but the U S women's national team didn't
miss a beat in London. They defeated Japan two to
one in the gold medal match in front of more
than eighty thousand fans, a new record for women's soccer
at the Olympics. But by the summer of with no
more league at home, it was unclear where many of
those national team stars would play soccer next, or whether
(11:21):
players like Jess McDonald could hope for any future for
soccer careers in America at all. We'll be right back.
Welcome live to an historic night for women's soccers, the
inaugural match of the NWS. By the spring of a
new league was created, the National Women's Soccer League, bankrolled
(11:44):
in part by the top body in American soccer, that
is it. That's a really quality ninety minutes. The NWSL
was designed to have a five month long season, and
team salary caps were only a fraction of what they
had been in either of the earlier leagues. Why your
salaries initially ranged from about six thousand dollars to roughly
thirty thousand dollars incomes that were totally unlivable in most
(12:06):
cities where those teams played. According to US Census Bureau data,
in the Washington metro area, where one of the teams
was located, the estimated median household income was roughly three
times more than the league's maximum salary. Olympic medalists on
that Washington team lived at a retirement community in the area.
Other players lived with host families. But for the first time,
(12:28):
the nws L had the financial backing of the US
Soccer Federation. The national team players were allocated among the
nws LS eight teams, and US Soccer paid their league salaries,
So with US Soccer covering the cost of the highest
paid names in the nbs L, teams could spend their
remaining budgets on promising young players. We're veterans looking for
a chance to prove they could still have an impact.
(12:49):
Like Jess McDonald. This is in the spring at this point,
coming off of the plane from Australia and Arnhum Whistler,
the owner of Shica our Red Stars, calls me literally
as soon as I landed. I'm like, how did you
even know my flight information? I'm just getting back into
the country. Five of those NWSL teams were holdovers from
(13:11):
the prior WPS, including the Chicago Red Stars team that
had once drafted Jess. Having just led the Melbourne Victory
to their league finals in Australia, she was eager to
be home with her young son, Jeremiah. I knew that
he wasn't gonna remember me being gone. It was hard
some days, but that was like the thing I was
(13:31):
holding onto. It's like, thank God for Skype and in
face time, you know what I mean, things like that,
So that ship was on my shoulder. I couldn't do
anything but trying and succeed. I hope you guys are
set at home wherever you'll be watching the Chicago Red
Stars television network. Jess signed back with the Red Stars
as a free agent in She made nine appearances for
(13:53):
the team and notched one assist I got limited playing
time and was waved from the team mid season, but
it was a start of a winding comeback that was
equal parts extraordinary and extraordinarily frustrating. To be honest, I
had no idea what to expect. Financially. We were struggling
at the beginning with the USL and kind of hanging
on by a thread. I got traded to six different
(14:17):
teams in the first five years. That was really frustrating.
Some new faces on this roster, and one will be
in the starting lineup tonight playing up front. Jessica McDonald,
a unique blend of size and speed. Days after being
waived by Chicago, she was scooped up by the Seattle Rain.
(14:37):
Left footed service in McDonald with a shot in the
goal Jessica McDonald in her Rain debut, giving Seattle the
one Neil lead. Just ended the year with Seattle tied
for third on the team and goal scored. But after
Seattle's lackluster season in which they won only five games
of twenty two, ownership began cleaning house. I wanted to
(15:00):
at her It's Portland's when I was coaching there. Here's
Cindy Parlo Cone, former national team player in unc assistant
coach with Jessic's championship teams. In a stroke of fate,
or perhaps more so as a sign of how small
the world of US women's soccer is, Parlo Cone had
become the Portland Thorns head coach for their inaugural season.
(15:21):
I knew what kind of teammates she is, and so
I knew I wanted that on my team. She eventually
joined the Portland Thorns later, which was great to see,
but I didn't have the pleasure of coaching her as
a pro. Cone would resigned from the Thorns after season
to spend more time with her family, but Portland's soon
made a trade to get the goal scorer from Seattle.
(15:43):
Then before the season, with Cone having left, Portland brought
another face into the clubhouse, a manager with a track
record of success in the women's game named Paul Riley.
I've been a women's side probably twelve years. I think
something like twelve years full teen years, maybe a little
bit longer. So I was coach men's soccer. I coach
men youth college professionally, and then on the girl's side.
(16:07):
I didn't do college on the other side, and then
straight to the pros. We spoke with Riley earlier in
our reporting for this podcast when he was head coach
of the North Carolina Courage. Riley, who was from Liverpool,
played professional soccer himself until Riley broke into coaching major
women's professional soccer in two thousand nine, when the Philadelphia
Independence named him head coach of their WPS franchise. He
(16:30):
soon led that team to the WPS title game and
became the league's Coach of the Year. I mean, the
speed of the game on the men's side is fabulous.
The adrenaline, strength, the power, all that stuff is great.
But the tactical beauty of the women's game is something
that I don't think everyone in this country yet appreciates.
And I found him different, you know, I found him
like better tactically, better listeners. It was a more naturing environment.
(16:54):
It forced me to change my coaching philosophy. I've learned
to collaborate, and I feel like women are better collaborating
than the men's side. You know, the men's side will
just go out and give him tactics and they'll just
play anyone. They'll do whatever an earth they want normally,
but the women that brilliant, disciplined intelligent. I think it literally,
it's gonna be. How you lay it out is the
way it's gonna be. After WPS folded, Riley too was
(17:17):
looking for a way back into the elite women's game.
When he got the Portland's job and saw that Jess
was available from Seattle. It seems like the start of
something great. So the Portland Thorns in front of over
fourteen thousand of their fans in the driving rain and
the thorns April home opener just scored two goals to
secure the win. Jess McDonald breaking the tie with two
(17:40):
late game goals and a huge victory for these Thorns.
Jes went rampaging through the nbs AL that season, becoming
one of the league's top scorers. Portland has definitely thrown
his curveball. Instead of starting Alex Morgan, it's Christine and
Sinclair and Jeff McDonald up chopped for the Thorns. In
this July him against Chicago, Jess had her first record
(18:02):
breaking moment in the end of BSL. We have Lorie
collump me standing in the center circle in she gets
asunder way. Three seconds later. At a quick start for
the Portland Thorns in the first minute McDonald with the goal.
At the time, it was the fastest goal in league
history for Jess McDonald. That is her tenth goal of
(18:24):
the campaign. But despite a breakout season in which Jess
led the team in scoring Portland's center on her way
in early Jess was traded to the Houston Dash in
exchange for draft picks. Oh what a pass and what
a finish by Jess McDonald. Season just led Houston in
(18:45):
scoring McDonald towards the near post score and it's too
long enugh. But then she was moved again a bargaining
chip in a three team trade that landed her at
the Western New York Flash. Jess was fast becoming the
most underrated and perhaps undervalued player in the league. Had
(19:06):
my son, and so you know, I'm scraping pennies every offseason.
I was working full time jobs to our season was
only six months out of the year. So what are
we gonna do the next six months? For any player,
cross country moves year after year could be maddening. I
hope you guys are set at home wherever you'll be
(19:26):
watching the Chicago Red Stars television network. Welcome to Starfire
Stadium just south of Seattle, Aget a gorge. Portland has
definitely thrown US curveball McDonald towards the neper post and
it's too long. Jessin quietly married Jeremiah's father in hopes
of providing a stable home for her son. I was
(19:48):
making one three, I couldn't afford child care. I couldn't
even afford a babysitter. But that marriage quickly unraveled. By
the time she was traded to the Western New York
Flash in early Just had become a trailblazer. There were
days where by Sun be sitting in a stroller on
the sideline at training by himself, without you know, anyone
(20:10):
watching him, and that really sucked. And so I guess
at that point, is Jeremy's dad like still involved with Yeah,
he facetimes him very frequently. Yeah, Yeah, he lives in
Arizona those so physically Nope, but I do try and
get him out to Arizona as much as possible every
year to spend time with him. Yeah. Even after breaking
(20:31):
records in the end of USL Just hadn't been called
up for a chance with the US national team. She
was closing in on thirty years old, when most players
best years are behind them to say nothing of her
major knee surgery or motherhood. I was like, is this
career even worth it anymore? National teams not happening. I
am making nothing, you know? Am I doing everything I
(20:52):
can for my son? Ultimately, Jess agreed to report to
Rochester thanks largely to the coach who helped guide break
out season with Portland Thorns, Paul Riley. Portland had chosen
not to renew Riley's contract after the season, and he
would be taking over for Western New York in And
(21:13):
this is where our story takes a turn because late
in my reporting for this podcast, soccer fans learned there's
much more to Riley's arrival in Rochester, and the public's
all firsthand. That's the stomach devaluation of women in soccer
at all levels throughout the game goes far beyond their paychecks.
The National Women's Soccer League faces a reckoning over charges
(21:34):
that it ignored abuse of its players. Professional women's soccer
is turned upside down after a shocking report that two
women claim that their former coach his name is Paul Riley,
abused them verbally and sexually. The players union demanding an
end to what it calls the stemic abuse plaguing the NWSL.
In an explosive report by Meglenahan of The Athletic, two
(21:56):
former players of Riley's on the Portland Thorns said fairly
and on a sham alleged that Riley had verbally and
emotionally abused them in Portland, made sexual advances toward them,
and had coerced fairly into sleeping with him to further
her career. Those players said that some of Riley's alleged
abuse had gone on for years, partly because there was
an unspoken belief that the nd WUSL was the third
(22:18):
try at professional women's soccer in the United States. The
league was seen as the last fragile hope many of
them had at a career playing the game they love.
If a scandal like theirs had the potential to destroy
their own futures, how long would they stay silent? Man,
y'all are the first people I'm talking about this with,
But you know I have to talk about eventually. Jess
(22:41):
played Portland team. I spoke with her over Zoom after
the news broke about Riley. Paul wasn't like the nicest
of people to me when I was there, you know,
Paul was such a good coach, but you know a
lot of his comments would be very personal. Just told
me she never all or was subjected to the sort
(23:02):
of sexual abuse her teammates alleged in The Athletic. However,
the article did mention an unnamed player mom on that
team who was allegedly subjected to Riley's verbal assaults. It
was brutal. You know, there was a point in time
where he would be like, why are you playing like
craps days because your son was up all night? Comments
(23:22):
like that, And I'm okay with getting yelled at, and
that's fine as an athlete, but like when it gets personal,
you know, that's a little more gut wrenching. And so
there were a lot of like personal comments coming at me.
It was just awkward and I feel like I was
walking on a shells when I was in Portland, but
like this is my breakout season two. At the same time,
(23:46):
everything outside of the soccer field, outside of games, it
was just very uncomfortable. For months after those allegations were made,
probably did not respond to our attempts to interview him again,
but The Athletic a response from Riley which said that
over the course of his career. Quote there's a chance
that I've said something along the way that offended someone,
(24:07):
but he insisted, quote I have never had sex with
or made sexual advances towards these players. He said, the
majority of these allegations were quote completely untrue. Then I
heard from Riley himself in his first comments since that
initial report. Riley told me, quote, I have a ton
(24:28):
to say, but not ready yet. But when I do,
I think it will be a forth right and honest
insight into the state of women's soccer and the social
political implications of the woke culture who find a huge
audience in women's soccer. End quote. The coach athlete relationship
is a very special one in terms of the impact
(24:50):
one caring relationship with the coach figure can have on
an athlete. Dr Nicole Lavoy is the director of the
Tucker Center for Girls and Women in Sport. And so
we cannot underestimate that the coach holds a lot of
power in a good way, and oftentimes that's used in
not a good way when it turns towards emotional, physical,
(25:12):
psychological abuse. What we're seeing right now is that the
female athletes who have visibility and power and popularity are
using their platforms to advocate for themselves and that is
unprecedented disruption in the space. The young women and the
veteran women are using their platforms for social change in
(25:34):
ways that we have never seen before. In our conversation,
Lavoy wasn't referencing any specific report about abuses of power,
but in the past two years, the NBUSL has provided
a terrifying number to choose from. In Washington, d C.
The Washington Spirits soccer team has been suspended by the
National Women's Soccer League and their former head coach, Richie
(25:54):
Burke has been fired and banned from working with any
other players. In Salt Lake City, the Major League Soccer
continues to investigate Royal Salt Lake and Utah Royals owner
Delois Hanson for improper language and conduct. In New York,
where Gotham FC dismissed manager Alias La Hu after an
investigation that revealed violations to the league's anti harassment policy,
(26:16):
the commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League has stepped
down following allegations of misconduct. The resignation of the NWSL
commissioner came in after the Paul Riley scandal broke, but
Riley was hardly the only person in women's soccer alleged
to have violated his player's trust final day seconds the
(26:38):
five minute. He's not even the only one of justice.
Former coaches in the University of North Carolina and several
school officials, including coach ants and Lawrence were sued by
two of his former players. The women played at UNC
(27:00):
long before adjusted and alleged that at the time Dorens
talked regularly about his players bodies and sex lives, which
amounted to sexual harassment and therefore violated their Title nine
rights to an equal education. They sought various remedies, including
financial damages of twelve million dollars. Dorn's declined to comment
on the allegations when I asked, but many years later
(27:22):
UNC paid more than four hundred fifty thousand dollars to
settle those two cases. As part of the settlement, one
of the plaintiffs released a statement saying that quote neither
Mr Dorance nor any member of the coaching staff for
the UNC Chapel Hill women's soccer team made a pass
at me or asked for a sexual relationship. Dorrence was
enrolled in sensitivity training, and he issued an apology, acknowledging
(27:44):
that he quote participated with members of the UNC Chapel
Hill women's soccer team in group discussions of those team
members sexual activities or relationships with men. He continued, I
understand that my participation in those discussions was inappropriate and unacceptable.
I talk a lot to those and positions of power
(28:05):
in all levels of organized sport. Dr Lavoy again, and
the conversations I have are usually one is to educate
and create awareness. To then is how do you change
the culture of your organization to one that values and
supports women in a legitimate way, not just lip service,
(28:27):
but real cultural change, And that starts at the top.
If we don't get changed from the top down, real
systemic change will never happen. So those are the conversations
I end up having and will continue to have, unfortunately,
because the change has been slow, uneven, or in some
(28:49):
cases backwards. So what Jess and the general public didn't
know in was that her reconnection Paul Riley in Western
New York came from a dark place. Just a few
months earlier, one of those Portland Thorns players interviewed in
the Athletic had complained to team management about Riley's behavior.
(29:10):
The Thorns recently acknowledged they conducted an internal review at
the time and quickly decided not to renew Riley's contract.
That's the reason he ended up coaching Jess again. During
my early conversation with him for this podcast, Riley obviously
didn't mention any of that. He just told us he
was excited at the time to have Jess on his team.
(29:30):
She has a lot of tools and a lot of
pieces to us. She did well in Portland for us, obviously,
and then she got traded to Houston. She's never forgiven
me for that one. We traded to Houston. I don't
even remember why or how what it was for, but
she ended up going to Houston. And then obviously I
left and came to Buffalo to Western New York, and
by the time I got there, Jess was who already
been traded to Western New York. Like, oh my god,
(29:53):
Jeff McDonald's on the roster. I got a cool Jess
because I want if she's still has something against me
for trading them, but gold out HS, So I'll let
you know. I took over the jump shoes. Oh my god,
I'm so happy and I'm like, you know what, just
so much. Anytime you bring a relationship back and I
bring a player back, I'm like, man, yeah, there's just something.
There's a connection. And when you have a connection with
a player, they could be okay for one thing, but
(30:14):
they could be great for you. And I have had
that connection with obviously a lot of players over my lifetime,
and I think Jess is definitely one of them for sure.
Despite everything that happened in Portland, I was still willing
to go, you know, be coached under him, and he
accepted me more as a mom. He accepted my son
(30:36):
was going to be around. Whereas when I was in Portland,
I never brought my son around ever because I felt
like I was walking on eggshells. You know. I didn't
bring them on very many trips that season, Like I
just I couldn't because I didn't feel comfortable doing so.
But like Western yr Flash, it was just different. So
I gave him credit for the impact he has had
(30:57):
in my life. I just hate the bad parts. I
just lost someone that was important in my life for
seven years out of the ten I've been a pro.
I was heartbroken for my friends because I played with
Shannad and Mona. When I was in Portland's I just
(31:18):
h we'll be back after this. The Western New York
question Regorger Rochester for a seven game closed in and
it kicks off to like a very special guest at midfield,
(31:41):
Jill Ellis, that coach of the US women's national team
in Talent getting ready for the camp later this week.
We're gonna look at some of our players. By April,
thatws L season was underway, and no matter how that
year's club came together in Rochester, they came together for
something special. We're just these underdogs, all these young people,
(32:03):
and such an incredible year, one of the best years
of my career. Just scored ten goals that season and
recorded seven assists as the Flash became a team of destiny.
We were so naive to soccer, I think, and like
the success that we were gonna have in the journey
we were going to go on. But we won that year.
We had no business winning, but we did, and I
think it's because of the love and the joy of
(32:24):
the game. Lynn Williams was Justice's teammate on the Flash
and was a star on the rise herself, thanks in
part to justice leadership and her assists even for Lynn
Williams getting the m v P, A lot of credit
should be given to Jessica McDonald and just the partnership
that they have had up there. Coach Paul Riley said
it should be almost a joint one at least between
(32:45):
those two, just because of the partnership. She had played
for Paul in Portland before going to Houston, and she
hadn't been bopping around a bit and she was such
a huge part of us winning that year and in
triple Peace to development in that year. Together, the duo
led the Flash to the NWSL championship game and combined
(33:06):
on the goal that may have changed the fate of
the franchise and Jesse's future. Perhaps a chance for McDonald
here she can catch up to the ball of all
the students from just outside the top left corner of
the Spirit penalty box. Jessaw Williams battling for space near
the goal. McDonald, the seconds winding down, Oh my goodness,
(33:30):
it's so it's time. You've got to be kidding me.
The Flash went on to win the championship in a
penalty shootout, and in that glow of winning yet another
championship in her soccer career, Jess's old dream may not
have felt so far out of reach anymore. I mean,
Jessica has always been a topical scorer in the women's professionally.
(33:53):
Dave Cameron is the men's soccer coach at Phoenix College.
He was the one jess first confided in about wanting
to make the US women's national team even if she
recovered from heranger knee. She's working below minimum wage playing
professional soccer and hopes to make that national team. To
watch her go from Seattle Rain get traded to go
(34:13):
to the Thorns. She breaks the scoring record, she's a
Golden Boot champion, and she finds on Twitter she got traded.
She's now at Houston Dash and Houston is hot and
miserable and humid. It's not fun. And then she gets
traded again, going whereever she had to go. She had
to fine people to watch her son. I go watch
(34:34):
Jessica play when she's playing for Seattle, and we're watching
Jeremiah during the game and she's just like getting up
like you're playing in like twenty minutes, and she's still
struggling to find help because she didn't he can't afford it,
and he she ket doing these things. Jess always had
rare talent on the soccer field, but at the professional game,
so did everyone. With teammate Lynn Williams having just won
(34:56):
the league MVP Award, you could make a case Jess
wasn't even the best forward on her own team, much
less a prime candidate to make the national team. And
now Jess had a son to care for. All her life,
she'd been able to funnel off the field adversity into
game time success, but once the season ended in October,
the adversity was still there. I was packing boxes at
(35:17):
Amazon for a while, which was after the Navy SO
Championship with Western New York Flash, and I thought I
was done playing. To be honest, had been with the
national team, so that was the point of becoming a pro.
My goal was to make the USA team, all right.
I feel as if I'm too old at this point,
and I accepted it because most people when they're in
(35:39):
their first camp with the USA team, you're a teenager,
early twenties college and here I am pushing thirty, which
is unheard of. I look at Jess and I'm like,
she has a son. I know other people in the
league's have kids, and I'm like, how on earth is
she going to support them? Jess as teammate Lynn Williams,
I think I made ten thousand dollars my first year.
(36:01):
I think the next year I was like I need
a raise, and I got up to twelve thousand dollars.
And at the time, going from ten to twelve, I
was like, this is amazing. But looking back, I was like,
how on earth did I even survive? But fate had
a funny way of intervening that year. In those Olympics,
the US women's national team had been stunned by Sweden
(36:23):
and a quarterfinal loss, marking the first ever time that
the US women did not meddle at the games. Following
that loss, U S national team head coach Jill Ellis
brought a collection of new faces to the team's year
end training camp. Those camps last about a week and
offer US team coaches a chance to evaluate new players
who are effectively on a two year long tryout to
(36:45):
make the next World Cup roster. In those new players
at camp included Linn Williams. And then at the last minute,
I get a text from Jill Ellis like, hey, like,
I want to invite you into camp. Western New York's
other star forward, and I was like, holy, grab my
first national team camp when I was twenty eight years
(37:06):
old at the time. Oh my gosh, Like finally, you
know what I mean? Who waiting so long for this opportunity.
On November, Jess McDonald made her debut for the U
S women's national team, coming on at halftime and a
friendly against Romania. Jess played forty five minutes of that
match and took one shot on goal, a header that
(37:27):
was stopped by the keeper. But Jess's relentlessness impressed Ellis
the same way had impressed her youth coaches that are
college coaches, that are professional coaches. This is an evaluation camp,
and our players have been on a bit of a break.
Joe Ellis spoke with reporters in early about the new
players getting a look from her coaching staff. The balance
(37:48):
for US season, we want to test ourselves and you
know some of the things that we've been working on,
and yeah, some of these players, you've got to see
them against the top two years, So it's it's a
two year journey this moment. Jess was invited back to
national team training camps in early but didn't log any
(38:09):
playing time in US matches that spring. She made a
good impression on the coaches, clearly, but that didn't guarantee
her future with the team. And privately, even her biggest
fans understood what a long shot that was to be
on the national team on the women's side, that's a
big ticket. Dave Cameron, again, that was kind of a
(38:29):
secret diverse because like if you have some crazy goal,
and that be honest, that's a crazy goal. A lot
of people would make fun of her. I don't know
how to explain it, Like no one believed it. And
on part seven of Payback, society has made people feel
like being vulnerable about being a mom is bad when
(38:51):
it shouldn't be that way at all. We need to
know our history, who we come from, where we come from,
where we've been, and where we want to go. I
went up to Paul Riley and I was like, what
do you think my chances are? And he was like, Jess,
I just I don't see happening ahead for mcdattal who
Carolina is the nineties? Second minute, I get a text
from Joel Elis right after the game, I might be
(39:12):
going into camp. I'm Alexandrea Payback is a production of
The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, McClatchy Studios, and
I Heart Radio. It's produced by Cotta Stevens, Casey Toth,
Julia Wall, and Davin Cockburn. The executive producer for iHeart
Radio is Sean ty Toone. For lots more on this
story and to support journalism like this, visit Charlotte Observer
(39:35):
dot com slash payback or News Observer dot com slash
payback and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit
the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Long Shot is a production of McClatchy Studios and I
Heart Radio. Welcome to Part six of Payback. I'm executive
producer Davin Coburn. A listener. Note. In this episode, you'll
hear quotes from former North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley.
In late twenty one, former players of his alleged that
Riley committed grossmisconduct in the women's game, including sexual coercion
(00:24):
and emotional abuse. This episode includes descriptions of those allegations.
Prior to those players speaking out, Jessica McDonald told our
reporting team that Riley was a key figure in her
professional development, so we spoke with Riley about McDonald as
a team leader well before the allegations against him came
to light. For months after those allegations were made, Riley
(00:47):
did not respond to our attempts to interview him again. Recently,
though we did hear from him, so we've updated this
episode to include Riley's first public comments since those allegations.
Flowing those allegations, we also spoke with McDonald again, and
in this episode she'll share for the first time her
experiences playing for Riley. And now back to your host,
(01:10):
Alexandreev and Payback Part six. Previously on Payback, I got
my first start and within minutes, probably in the most
devastating moment of my entire life, when she came to me,
(01:31):
I was looking at her, going, holy cow, we've got
an uphill battle here. It's not uncommon to come back,
but it's uncommon to come back as good or better
than your world. I'm pregning with my son. I'm gonna
be responsible for a whole another human being. Oh dear God,
there's the nail of the coffin. All right, your mom,
Now it's over. There's no way. This might be hard physically,
but it's just as hard I think on all moms
(01:52):
that are working. I didn't want to use my child
as an excuse to not pursue the dreams that I
had for myself. Welcome Live to an historic night for
women's soccers, the inaugural match of the NWSL. By the
(02:13):
middle of women's soccer would once again be finding a
foothold in the American consciousness. That is it. That's a
really quality ninety minutes. But in order to reflect on
everything the sport has become, we have to jump ahead
here for a moment, because what became clear during our
reporting for this podcast is that while unequal pay is
(02:34):
a fundamental component of gender inequality, there are other, far
more traumatic ones as well, and we saw how a
game perpetually scrambling to avoid dissolution became a breeding ground
for predators. The National Women's Soccer League has suspended all
of its weekend matches amid allegations of abuse, including sexual
(02:54):
abuse of players by former coaches. In the last year.
Explosive reports The Athletic and The Washington Post involving male
coaches they're women's players and those responsible for protecting them
prompted reevaluation of influential figures at all levels of the
women's game. As North Carolina once again found itself at
(03:14):
the center of the women's soccer world, the National Women's
Soccer League faces a reckoning over charges that it ignored
abuse of its players. Professional women's soccer is turned upside
down after a shocking report that two women claim that
their former coach his name is Paul Riley, abused them
verbally and sexually. The players union demanding an into what
it calls systemic abuse plaguing the NWSL. The Commissioner of
(03:38):
the National Women's Soccer League has stepped down, following players
from both teams arm in arm in the middle of
the field. You can feel the weight of this moment
for the players. Man, yea are the first people I'm
talking about this with, but you know I have to
(03:59):
talk about eventual. From the Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News An Observer,
McClatchy Studios and iHeart Radio. This is payback. I'm Alexandrea
and this is Part six Hanging by a thread. Well.
(04:23):
The closest season ever in the Westfield w League culminated
in a Grand Final between Melbourne Victory and Sydney of C.
As Jessica McDonald made a name for herself in Australia,
the US women's national team once again proclaimed their own
dominance abroad. They roared through their Olympic qualifying tournament, winning
(04:49):
all five games by a combined score of thirty eight
to nothing. The US women's team would head to London
for the Olympic Games looking for their third consecutive Olympic golds,
but back at home, the outlook for women's soccer in
the US was not as encouraging. After bruising three year run,
the Women's Professional Soccer League officially folded, or maybe more
(05:12):
accurately imploded. I remember the first women the little cup
in any one, and so w s A launching was
a big deal, the first women's league, and I knew
the moment it launched, that's what I wanted to do.
Megan Burke has been a true journey woman in American soccer.
A star goalkeeper for St. Louis University in the early
two thousands, Burke made history at the school as the
(05:32):
first woman ever drafted by a pro sports league when
she was selected by the Carolina Courage of the w
u s A. That was the first attempt at a
paid US pro women's soccer league. Then, once the w
USA folded in two thousand three, Burke got another shot
at professional soccer when WPS launched, But that second league
(05:53):
also came crashing down and with it when Burke's playing career,
when I think backed that moment, I remember this down
of like a record screeching, like like it just felt
like what what do you what do you mean? It's over?
I don't even understand. Burke story is important here for
a few reasons. For one, she actually played with Jess
(06:14):
McDonald in WPS during Jessic's first in with the Chicago
Red Stars. Burke's all the promise Jess brought to the
game before that knee injury derail Jess's career. She just
was someone who as a player, you notice on the
field there was some magic sauce that she had. You know,
it's light. Another reason burke story is important is that,
(06:35):
like most women's soccer players in the United States, Bark
never quite made the U S women's national team. Her
soccer paychecks came exclusively from club teams. That meant her
livelihood was directly tied to the sustainability of a women's
pro league, which was completely outside of her control. Let's see,
I coached. I I can't even remember all the jobs
(06:56):
in the years between the w USA and WPS here
in the US. Burke told me she took odd jobs
while playing wherever she could, oftentimes overseas, just to keep
her professional dreams alive. I would tell the marketing for
three days, and I was terrible at it because I
just couldn't handle the rejection. I guess um it was
a landscaper. That was my favorite job. Oh, it was
a highly unqualified gym teacher for like six months. They
(07:17):
hired me because I was a soccer player and the
kids love soccer. But ultimately, once the Second Women's League
fell apart in two thousand twelve, Burke left her cleats
behind and pursued a career in law. That's been a
common story for so many women soccer players over the
past few decades. My last game I've played September. I
remember thinking that night I could do this forever, and
(07:39):
yet that was my last game. I don't like calling
it retiring. It is so deep in my blood that, like,
I think I will always be a soccer player. But
I finally when I was like I'm tired of the bullshit,
it was like I have my dignity, I'm capable of
a lot, and I don't need to be treated this way.
In a key way, the collapse of WPS was similar
(08:01):
to the downfall of its predecessor, the w U s A.
Neither had any financial backing from the US Soccer Federation.
Despite US Soccer using those leagues as training grounds for
the players who filled the national team rosters. The w
U s A and WPS operated essentially as startups, So
when fan Attendant sagged and sponsors became harder to find.
(08:23):
There was little financial margin for error. But there was
one key difference between the demise of w USA and WPS,
the abusive behavior toward women players by men in positions
of power. Dan Boreslow leaves the good life. P banked
millions when he took his venture talk dot com public
(08:44):
pre bubble and now in late telecom magnate, Dan Borslow
came thundering into WPS, buying the Washington d C team
and relocating them to South Florida. Along the way, his
bull in a China shop approach alienated WPS executives, fellow owners,
and league sponsors. The WPS players Union filed a grievance
(09:08):
with the league about Borslow's treatment of his players. In
that grievance, Borslow's players accused him of bullying and threatening them.
Players had he berated them for what he called shitty
play and called them fucking idiots. They said he called
owning their team charity, and that he told players to
quote call me Daddy. Mike and Burke never played for Borslow,
(09:30):
but she told me that during her time overseas, she
had a similar experience with a women's Premier League team.
Our team was pretty good that year, so we were
top of the table in the Premiership and we're headed
the FA Caps in my finals. Like a week or
two later. Burke story involved her team soliciting charity donations
much like Salvation Army bell ringers, in advance of the
All English tournament, the f A Cup in England. That
(09:51):
kind of fundraising is sometimes referred to as shaking buckets.
Our club's management, they weren't particularly fond of the women's team.
They came to us and said, well, you need to
shake buckets to pay for your bus to London for
the f A Cup semifinals, or we're not paying for it.
But by the way, I want you to wear shorts
because it will help you raise more money. Um. I
don't remember ever being more livid in my soccer career.
(10:14):
And also like I didn't know how to channel it.
You know, we all talked to each other, but we
showed up, you know, we wore pants, but we did
it and it was humiliating and and infuriating frankly, and
I didn't speak out when I was twenty four, you know.
So there's a very clear need for labor gain in
that context to have an advocate and someone who's looking
(10:35):
out for you. In WPS, the league publicly admonished Borslow
and then in terminated the South Florida franchise entirely. Borslow
sued the league, and in the midst of the costly
legal battle, the remaining team owners announced WPS would permanently
suspend operations. That announcement came just months before those twelve
(10:59):
Olympic Games, but the U S women's national team didn't
miss a beat in London. They defeated Japan two to
one in the gold medal match in front of more
than eighty thousand fans, a new record for women's soccer
at the Olympics. But by the summer of with no
more league at home, it was unclear where many of
those national team stars would play soccer next, or whether
(11:21):
players like Jess McDonald could hope for any future for
soccer careers in America at all. We'll be right back.
Welcome live to an historic night for women's soccers, the
inaugural match of the NWS. By the spring of a
new league was created, the National Women's Soccer League, bankrolled
(11:44):
in part by the top body in American soccer, that
is it. That's a really quality ninety minutes. The NWSL
was designed to have a five month long season, and
team salary caps were only a fraction of what they
had been in either of the earlier leagues. Why your
salaries initially ranged from about six thousand dollars to roughly
thirty thousand dollars incomes that were totally unlivable in most
(12:06):
cities where those teams played. According to US Census Bureau data,
in the Washington metro area, where one of the teams
was located, the estimated median household income was roughly three
times more than the league's maximum salary. Olympic medalists on
that Washington team lived at a retirement community in the area.
Other players lived with host families. But for the first time,
(12:28):
the nws L had the financial backing of the US
Soccer Federation. The national team players were allocated among the
nws LS eight teams, and US Soccer paid their league salaries,
So with US Soccer covering the cost of the highest
paid names in the nbs L, teams could spend their
remaining budgets on promising young players. We're veterans looking for
a chance to prove they could still have an impact.
(12:49):
Like Jess McDonald. This is in the spring at this point,
coming off of the plane from Australia and Arnhum Whistler,
the owner of Shica our Red Stars, calls me literally
as soon as I landed. I'm like, how did you
even know my flight information? I'm just getting back into
the country. Five of those NWSL teams were holdovers from
(13:11):
the prior WPS, including the Chicago Red Stars team that
had once drafted Jess. Having just led the Melbourne Victory
to their league finals in Australia, she was eager to
be home with her young son, Jeremiah. I knew that
he wasn't gonna remember me being gone. It was hard
some days, but that was like the thing I was
(13:31):
holding onto. It's like, thank God for Skype and in
face time, you know what I mean, things like that,
So that ship was on my shoulder. I couldn't do
anything but trying and succeed. I hope you guys are
set at home wherever you'll be watching the Chicago Red
Stars television network. Jess signed back with the Red Stars
as a free agent in She made nine appearances for
(13:53):
the team and notched one assist I got limited playing
time and was waved from the team mid season, but
it was a start of a winding comeback that was
equal parts extraordinary and extraordinarily frustrating. To be honest, I
had no idea what to expect. Financially. We were struggling
at the beginning with the USL and kind of hanging
on by a thread. I got traded to six different
(14:17):
teams in the first five years. That was really frustrating.
Some new faces on this roster, and one will be
in the starting lineup tonight playing up front. Jessica McDonald,
a unique blend of size and speed. Days after being
waived by Chicago, she was scooped up by the Seattle Rain.
(14:37):
Left footed service in McDonald with a shot in the
goal Jessica McDonald in her Rain debut, giving Seattle the
one Neil lead. Just ended the year with Seattle tied
for third on the team and goal scored. But after
Seattle's lackluster season in which they won only five games
of twenty two, ownership began cleaning house. I wanted to
(15:00):
at her It's Portland's when I was coaching there. Here's
Cindy Parlo Cone, former national team player in unc assistant
coach with Jessic's championship teams. In a stroke of fate,
or perhaps more so as a sign of how small
the world of US women's soccer is, Parlo Cone had
become the Portland Thorns head coach for their inaugural season.
(15:21):
I knew what kind of teammates she is, and so
I knew I wanted that on my team. She eventually
joined the Portland Thorns later, which was great to see,
but I didn't have the pleasure of coaching her as
a pro. Cone would resigned from the Thorns after season
to spend more time with her family, but Portland's soon
made a trade to get the goal scorer from Seattle.
(15:43):
Then before the season, with Cone having left, Portland brought
another face into the clubhouse, a manager with a track
record of success in the women's game named Paul Riley.
I've been a women's side probably twelve years. I think
something like twelve years full teen years, maybe a little
bit longer. So I was coach men's soccer. I coach
men youth college professionally, and then on the girl's side.
(16:07):
I didn't do college on the other side, and then
straight to the pros. We spoke with Riley earlier in
our reporting for this podcast when he was head coach
of the North Carolina Courage. Riley, who was from Liverpool,
played professional soccer himself until Riley broke into coaching major
women's professional soccer in two thousand nine, when the Philadelphia
Independence named him head coach of their WPS franchise. He
(16:30):
soon led that team to the WPS title game and
became the league's Coach of the Year. I mean, the
speed of the game on the men's side is fabulous.
The adrenaline, strength, the power, all that stuff is great.
But the tactical beauty of the women's game is something
that I don't think everyone in this country yet appreciates.
And I found him different, you know, I found him
like better tactically, better listeners. It was a more naturing environment.
(16:54):
It forced me to change my coaching philosophy. I've learned
to collaborate, and I feel like women are better collaborating
than the men's side. You know, the men's side will
just go out and give him tactics and they'll just
play anyone. They'll do whatever an earth they want normally,
but the women that brilliant, disciplined intelligent. I think it literally,
it's gonna be. How you lay it out is the
way it's gonna be. After WPS folded, Riley too was
(17:17):
looking for a way back into the elite women's game.
When he got the Portland's job and saw that Jess
was available from Seattle. It seems like the start of
something great. So the Portland Thorns in front of over
fourteen thousand of their fans in the driving rain and
the thorns April home opener just scored two goals to
secure the win. Jess McDonald breaking the tie with two
(17:40):
late game goals and a huge victory for these Thorns.
Jes went rampaging through the nbs AL that season, becoming
one of the league's top scorers. Portland has definitely thrown
his curveball. Instead of starting Alex Morgan, it's Christine and
Sinclair and Jeff McDonald up chopped for the Thorns. In
this July him against Chicago, Jess had her first record
(18:02):
breaking moment in the end of BSL. We have Lorie
collump me standing in the center circle in she gets
asunder way. Three seconds later. At a quick start for
the Portland Thorns in the first minute McDonald with the goal.
At the time, it was the fastest goal in league
history for Jess McDonald. That is her tenth goal of
(18:24):
the campaign. But despite a breakout season in which Jess
led the team in scoring Portland's center on her way
in early Jess was traded to the Houston Dash in
exchange for draft picks. Oh what a pass and what
a finish by Jess McDonald. Season just led Houston in
(18:45):
scoring McDonald towards the near post score and it's too
long enugh. But then she was moved again a bargaining
chip in a three team trade that landed her at
the Western New York Flash. Jess was fast becoming the
most underrated and perhaps undervalued player in the league. Had
(19:06):
my son, and so you know, I'm scraping pennies every offseason.
I was working full time jobs to our season was
only six months out of the year. So what are
we gonna do the next six months? For any player,
cross country moves year after year could be maddening. I
hope you guys are set at home wherever you'll be
(19:26):
watching the Chicago Red Stars television network. Welcome to Starfire
Stadium just south of Seattle, Aget a gorge. Portland has
definitely thrown US curveball McDonald towards the neper post and
it's too long. Jessin quietly married Jeremiah's father in hopes
of providing a stable home for her son. I was
(19:48):
making one three, I couldn't afford child care. I couldn't
even afford a babysitter. But that marriage quickly unraveled. By
the time she was traded to the Western New York
Flash in early Just had become a trailblazer. There were
days where by Sun be sitting in a stroller on
the sideline at training by himself, without you know, anyone
(20:10):
watching him, and that really sucked. And so I guess
at that point, is Jeremy's dad like still involved with Yeah,
he facetimes him very frequently. Yeah, Yeah, he lives in
Arizona those so physically Nope, but I do try and
get him out to Arizona as much as possible every
year to spend time with him. Yeah. Even after breaking
(20:31):
records in the end of USL Just hadn't been called
up for a chance with the US national team. She
was closing in on thirty years old, when most players
best years are behind them to say nothing of her
major knee surgery or motherhood. I was like, is this
career even worth it anymore? National teams not happening. I
am making nothing, you know? Am I doing everything I
(20:52):
can for my son? Ultimately, Jess agreed to report to
Rochester thanks largely to the coach who helped guide break
out season with Portland Thorns, Paul Riley. Portland had chosen
not to renew Riley's contract after the season, and he
would be taking over for Western New York in And
(21:13):
this is where our story takes a turn because late
in my reporting for this podcast, soccer fans learned there's
much more to Riley's arrival in Rochester, and the public's
all firsthand. That's the stomach devaluation of women in soccer
at all levels throughout the game goes far beyond their paychecks.
The National Women's Soccer League faces a reckoning over charges
(21:34):
that it ignored abuse of its players. Professional women's soccer
is turned upside down after a shocking report that two
women claim that their former coach his name is Paul Riley,
abused them verbally and sexually. The players union demanding an
end to what it calls the stemic abuse plaguing the NWSL.
In an explosive report by Meglenahan of The Athletic, two
(21:56):
former players of Riley's on the Portland Thorns said fairly
and on a sham alleged that Riley had verbally and
emotionally abused them in Portland, made sexual advances toward them,
and had coerced fairly into sleeping with him to further
her career. Those players said that some of Riley's alleged
abuse had gone on for years, partly because there was
an unspoken belief that the nd WUSL was the third
(22:18):
try at professional women's soccer in the United States. The
league was seen as the last fragile hope many of
them had at a career playing the game they love.
If a scandal like theirs had the potential to destroy
their own futures, how long would they stay silent? Man,
y'all are the first people I'm talking about this with,
But you know I have to talk about eventually. Jess
(22:41):
played Portland team. I spoke with her over Zoom after
the news broke about Riley. Paul wasn't like the nicest
of people to me when I was there, you know,
Paul was such a good coach, but you know a
lot of his comments would be very personal. Just told
me she never all or was subjected to the sort
(23:02):
of sexual abuse her teammates alleged in The Athletic. However,
the article did mention an unnamed player mom on that
team who was allegedly subjected to Riley's verbal assaults. It
was brutal. You know, there was a point in time
where he would be like, why are you playing like
craps days because your son was up all night? Comments
(23:22):
like that, And I'm okay with getting yelled at, and
that's fine as an athlete, but like when it gets personal,
you know, that's a little more gut wrenching. And so
there were a lot of like personal comments coming at me.
It was just awkward and I feel like I was
walking on a shells when I was in Portland, but
like this is my breakout season two. At the same time,
(23:46):
everything outside of the soccer field, outside of games, it
was just very uncomfortable. For months after those allegations were made,
probably did not respond to our attempts to interview him again,
but The Athletic a response from Riley which said that
over the course of his career. Quote there's a chance
that I've said something along the way that offended someone,
(24:07):
but he insisted, quote I have never had sex with
or made sexual advances towards these players. He said, the
majority of these allegations were quote completely untrue. Then I
heard from Riley himself in his first comments since that
initial report. Riley told me, quote, I have a ton
(24:28):
to say, but not ready yet. But when I do,
I think it will be a forth right and honest
insight into the state of women's soccer and the social
political implications of the woke culture who find a huge
audience in women's soccer. End quote. The coach athlete relationship
is a very special one in terms of the impact
(24:50):
one caring relationship with the coach figure can have on
an athlete. Dr Nicole Lavoy is the director of the
Tucker Center for Girls and Women in Sport. And so
we cannot underestimate that the coach holds a lot of
power in a good way, and oftentimes that's used in
not a good way when it turns towards emotional, physical,
(25:12):
psychological abuse. What we're seeing right now is that the
female athletes who have visibility and power and popularity are
using their platforms to advocate for themselves and that is
unprecedented disruption in the space. The young women and the
veteran women are using their platforms for social change in
(25:34):
ways that we have never seen before. In our conversation,
Lavoy wasn't referencing any specific report about abuses of power,
but in the past two years, the NBUSL has provided
a terrifying number to choose from. In Washington, d C.
The Washington Spirits soccer team has been suspended by the
National Women's Soccer League and their former head coach, Richie
(25:54):
Burke has been fired and banned from working with any
other players. In Salt Lake City, the Major League Soccer
continues to investigate Royal Salt Lake and Utah Royals owner
Delois Hanson for improper language and conduct. In New York,
where Gotham FC dismissed manager Alias La Hu after an
investigation that revealed violations to the league's anti harassment policy,
(26:16):
the commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League has stepped
down following allegations of misconduct. The resignation of the NWSL
commissioner came in after the Paul Riley scandal broke, but
Riley was hardly the only person in women's soccer alleged
to have violated his player's trust final day seconds the
(26:38):
five minute. He's not even the only one of justice.
Former coaches in the University of North Carolina and several
school officials, including coach ants and Lawrence were sued by
two of his former players. The women played at UNC
(27:00):
long before adjusted and alleged that at the time Dorens
talked regularly about his players bodies and sex lives, which
amounted to sexual harassment and therefore violated their Title nine
rights to an equal education. They sought various remedies, including
financial damages of twelve million dollars. Dorn's declined to comment
on the allegations when I asked, but many years later
(27:22):
UNC paid more than four hundred fifty thousand dollars to
settle those two cases. As part of the settlement, one
of the plaintiffs released a statement saying that quote neither
Mr Dorance nor any member of the coaching staff for
the UNC Chapel Hill women's soccer team made a pass
at me or asked for a sexual relationship. Dorrence was
enrolled in sensitivity training, and he issued an apology, acknowledging
(27:44):
that he quote participated with members of the UNC Chapel
Hill women's soccer team in group discussions of those team
members sexual activities or relationships with men. He continued, I
understand that my participation in those discussions was inappropriate and unacceptable.
I talk a lot to those and positions of power
(28:05):
in all levels of organized sport. Dr Lavoy again, and
the conversations I have are usually one is to educate
and create awareness. To then is how do you change
the culture of your organization to one that values and
supports women in a legitimate way, not just lip service,
(28:27):
but real cultural change, And that starts at the top.
If we don't get changed from the top down, real
systemic change will never happen. So those are the conversations
I end up having and will continue to have, unfortunately,
because the change has been slow, uneven, or in some
(28:49):
cases backwards. So what Jess and the general public didn't
know in was that her reconnection Paul Riley in Western
New York came from a dark place. Just a few
months earlier, one of those Portland Thorns players interviewed in
the Athletic had complained to team management about Riley's behavior.
(29:10):
The Thorns recently acknowledged they conducted an internal review at
the time and quickly decided not to renew Riley's contract.
That's the reason he ended up coaching Jess again. During
my early conversation with him for this podcast, Riley obviously
didn't mention any of that. He just told us he
was excited at the time to have Jess on his team.
(29:30):
She has a lot of tools and a lot of
pieces to us. She did well in Portland for us, obviously,
and then she got traded to Houston. She's never forgiven
me for that one. We traded to Houston. I don't
even remember why or how what it was for, but
she ended up going to Houston. And then obviously I
left and came to Buffalo to Western New York, and
by the time I got there, Jess was who already
been traded to Western New York. Like, oh my god,
(29:53):
Jeff McDonald's on the roster. I got a cool Jess
because I want if she's still has something against me
for trading them, but gold out HS, So I'll let
you know. I took over the jump shoes. Oh my god,
I'm so happy and I'm like, you know what, just
so much. Anytime you bring a relationship back and I
bring a player back, I'm like, man, yeah, there's just something.
There's a connection. And when you have a connection with
a player, they could be okay for one thing, but
(30:14):
they could be great for you. And I have had
that connection with obviously a lot of players over my lifetime,
and I think Jess is definitely one of them for sure.
Despite everything that happened in Portland, I was still willing
to go, you know, be coached under him, and he
accepted me more as a mom. He accepted my son
(30:36):
was going to be around. Whereas when I was in Portland,
I never brought my son around ever because I felt
like I was walking on eggshells. You know. I didn't
bring them on very many trips that season, Like I
just I couldn't because I didn't feel comfortable doing so.
But like Western yr Flash, it was just different. So
I gave him credit for the impact he has had
(30:57):
in my life. I just hate the bad parts. I
just lost someone that was important in my life for
seven years out of the ten I've been a pro.
I was heartbroken for my friends because I played with
Shannad and Mona. When I was in Portland's I just
(31:18):
h we'll be back after this. The Western New York
question Regorger Rochester for a seven game closed in and
it kicks off to like a very special guest at midfield,
(31:41):
Jill Ellis, that coach of the US women's national team
in Talent getting ready for the camp later this week.
We're gonna look at some of our players. By April,
thatws L season was underway, and no matter how that
year's club came together in Rochester, they came together for
something special. We're just these underdogs, all these young people,
(32:03):
and such an incredible year, one of the best years
of my career. Just scored ten goals that season and
recorded seven assists as the Flash became a team of destiny.
We were so naive to soccer, I think, and like
the success that we were gonna have in the journey
we were going to go on. But we won that year.
We had no business winning, but we did, and I
think it's because of the love and the joy of
(32:24):
the game. Lynn Williams was Justice's teammate on the Flash
and was a star on the rise herself, thanks in
part to justice leadership and her assists even for Lynn
Williams getting the m v P, A lot of credit
should be given to Jessica McDonald and just the partnership
that they have had up there. Coach Paul Riley said
it should be almost a joint one at least between
(32:45):
those two, just because of the partnership. She had played
for Paul in Portland before going to Houston, and she
hadn't been bopping around a bit and she was such
a huge part of us winning that year and in
triple Peace to development in that year. Together, the duo
led the Flash to the NWSL championship game and combined
(33:06):
on the goal that may have changed the fate of
the franchise and Jesse's future. Perhaps a chance for McDonald
here she can catch up to the ball of all
the students from just outside the top left corner of
the Spirit penalty box. Jessaw Williams battling for space near
the goal. McDonald, the seconds winding down, Oh my goodness,
(33:30):
it's so it's time. You've got to be kidding me.
The Flash went on to win the championship in a
penalty shootout, and in that glow of winning yet another
championship in her soccer career, Jess's old dream may not
have felt so far out of reach anymore. I mean,
Jessica has always been a topical scorer in the women's professionally.
(33:53):
Dave Cameron is the men's soccer coach at Phoenix College.
He was the one jess first confided in about wanting
to make the US women's national team even if she
recovered from heranger knee. She's working below minimum wage playing
professional soccer and hopes to make that national team. To
watch her go from Seattle Rain get traded to go
(34:13):
to the Thorns. She breaks the scoring record, she's a
Golden Boot champion, and she finds on Twitter she got traded.
She's now at Houston Dash and Houston is hot and
miserable and humid. It's not fun. And then she gets
traded again, going whereever she had to go. She had
to fine people to watch her son. I go watch
(34:34):
Jessica play when she's playing for Seattle, and we're watching
Jeremiah during the game and she's just like getting up
like you're playing in like twenty minutes, and she's still
struggling to find help because she didn't he can't afford it,
and he she ket doing these things. Jess always had
rare talent on the soccer field, but at the professional game,
so did everyone. With teammate Lynn Williams having just won
(34:56):
the league MVP Award, you could make a case Jess
wasn't even the best forward on her own team, much
less a prime candidate to make the national team. And
now Jess had a son to care for. All her life,
she'd been able to funnel off the field adversity into
game time success, but once the season ended in October,
the adversity was still there. I was packing boxes at
(35:17):
Amazon for a while, which was after the Navy SO
Championship with Western New York Flash, and I thought I
was done playing. To be honest, had been with the
national team, so that was the point of becoming a pro.
My goal was to make the USA team, all right.
I feel as if I'm too old at this point,
and I accepted it because most people when they're in
(35:39):
their first camp with the USA team, you're a teenager,
early twenties college and here I am pushing thirty, which
is unheard of. I look at Jess and I'm like,
she has a son. I know other people in the
league's have kids, and I'm like, how on earth is
she going to support them? Jess as teammate Lynn Williams,
I think I made ten thousand dollars my first year.
(36:01):
I think the next year I was like I need
a raise, and I got up to twelve thousand dollars.
And at the time, going from ten to twelve, I
was like, this is amazing. But looking back, I was like,
how on earth did I even survive? But fate had
a funny way of intervening that year. In those Olympics,
the US women's national team had been stunned by Sweden
(36:23):
and a quarterfinal loss, marking the first ever time that
the US women did not meddle at the games. Following
that loss, U S national team head coach Jill Ellis
brought a collection of new faces to the team's year
end training camp. Those camps last about a week and
offer US team coaches a chance to evaluate new players
who are effectively on a two year long tryout to
(36:45):
make the next World Cup roster. In those new players
at camp included Linn Williams. And then at the last minute,
I get a text from Jill Ellis like, hey, like,
I want to invite you into camp. Western New York's
other star forward, and I was like, holy, grab my
first national team camp when I was twenty eight years
(37:06):
old at the time. Oh my gosh, Like finally, you
know what I mean? Who waiting so long for this opportunity.
On November, Jess McDonald made her debut for the U
S women's national team, coming on at halftime and a
friendly against Romania. Jess played forty five minutes of that
match and took one shot on goal, a header that
(37:27):
was stopped by the keeper. But Jess's relentlessness impressed Ellis
the same way had impressed her youth coaches that are
college coaches, that are professional coaches. This is an evaluation camp,
and our players have been on a bit of a break.
Joe Ellis spoke with reporters in early about the new
players getting a look from her coaching staff. The balance
(37:48):
for US season, we want to test ourselves and you
know some of the things that we've been working on,
and yeah, some of these players, you've got to see
them against the top two years, So it's it's a
two year journey this moment. Jess was invited back to
national team training camps in early but didn't log any
(38:09):
playing time in US matches that spring. She made a
good impression on the coaches, clearly, but that didn't guarantee
her future with the team. And privately, even her biggest
fans understood what a long shot that was to be
on the national team on the women's side, that's a
big ticket. Dave Cameron, again, that was kind of a
(38:29):
secret diverse because like if you have some crazy goal,
and that be honest, that's a crazy goal. A lot
of people would make fun of her. I don't know
how to explain it, Like no one believed it. And
on part seven of Payback, society has made people feel
like being vulnerable about being a mom is bad when
(38:51):
it shouldn't be that way at all. We need to
know our history, who we come from, where we come from,
where we've been, and where we want to go. I
went up to Paul Riley and I was like, what
do you think my chances are? And he was like, Jess,
I just I don't see happening ahead for mcdattal who
Carolina is the nineties? Second minute, I get a text
from Joel Elis right after the game, I might be
(39:12):
going into camp. I'm Alexandrea Payback is a production of
The Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, McClatchy Studios, and
I Heart Radio. It's produced by Cotta Stevens, Casey Toth,
Julia Wall, and Davin Cockburn. The executive producer for iHeart
Radio is Sean ty Toone. For lots more on this
story and to support journalism like this, visit Charlotte Observer
(39:35):
dot com slash payback or News Observer dot com slash
payback and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit
the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
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