US Soccer / NWSL - Independent Investigation Report
- Thread starter Technician72
- Start date
They are never going to understand that college scholarships are the reason why eight NWSL coaches and administrators with no experience with college programs that even had scholarships harassed professional players?
You need to take a step back. A college player has all the flexibility in the world, unlike an NWSL player. They can transfer to any of 300 or more other colleges if they aren't happy where they are. They also have all of the same opportunities of an NWSL player because they can just go pro at any time. Or they can just give up soccer and be student since that is the reason they should have been in college in the first place. NWSL players, on the other hand, have almost no flexibility. Most don't get to choose where they will even play because of the draft. They sign to standardized contracts. They can be traded against their will at the whim of their employer. If they're unhappy, they are stuck and have nowhere else to go unless they want to move out of the country. If you think a cabal of NWSL franchises dictating the terms and conditions of employment is more "equitable" than a college player's options, so be it, but you're just wrong.
Your "coupon" analogy also makes no sense. It doesn't matter whether a college athlete receives compensation in the form of a scholarship or the minimum wage. Even if they were employees - which they are not - a university could then fire them and stop paying them at any time. And even if a college athlete is paid in cash instead of getting a scholarship, now they need to pay full freight on their tuition, which was previously free or at a subsidized rate.
What really makes your "coupon" theory idiotic, however, is that getting paid as an employee means having to pay income taxes plus involuntary withholdings on what was previously tax free, plus you will probably lose the ability to claim your kid as a dependent.
Like members of the women’s swim team, women’s soccer players also had their complaints ignored by athletic department administrators.
“We started talking and the two [administrators] looked at us like we had five heads,” Sekany said. “They said they had never heard anything bad about Neil McGuire. When we used terms like ‘emotional abuse,’ they were condescending in a way, as if we didn’t understand the implications of using terminology like that — which we did. We discussed it at length and decided it was absolutely an appropriate term to describe what he’d been doing to us.”
Years earlier, Koski said her formal complaint was also ignored by administrators.
Cal told KTVU that it was conducting a review of the allegations against McGuire. But nothing has been released publicly in the nearly two years since, and he has continued to coach, uninterrupted, during that time. The university’s communications director told KTVU in 2020 that “this year’s recruiting class for our women’s soccer team was ranked No. 1 in the country, a sure sign of the program’s quality and excellent reputation.”
McGuire’s squad has actually underperformed under his leadership as of late. Over the past two seasons, Cal has gone just 13-14-4. During McGuire’s 15-year tenure, Cal has been to 12 NCAA Tournaments, but only one since 2018. The farthest they’ve been in the NCAA tournament under McGuire is the second round, and they haven’t made it that far since 2014. His contract was renewed this year.
What Does Cal's Soccer Coach Have to Do With Teri McKeever Investigation?
Cal women's swim coach Teri McKeever and her attorney are arguing that her alleged abuse is "normal coaching behavior" for her male counterparts.swimswam.com
I suspect Cal lost the forest through the trees investigating whether Neil's behavior met a standard that rose to some objective level of "abuse" that required them to terminate him, rather than considering the more important question whether a guy who absolutely wears down the self-esteem and self-confidence of so many of his players should be coaching young women. Maybe it isn't surprising given the AD previously served at two military academies where "suck it up and do what you are told" is often part of the culture.
McGuire is not a good "x's and o's" soccer coach, but he recruits many excellent athletes who typically overwhelm lesser teams playing boot ball. It is usually good enough to squeak into the tournament and then lose early to teams that have both athletes and decent coaching. More importantly, he grinds many of his players down over time through his unique blend of passive aggression, lack of transparency and honesty, moodiness, failure to communicate, and occasional humiliation sometimes in front of the entire team. If you look at statements by the more than 20 former players who spoke out against him to the press, there is a common theme. A few of those comments include "I'm mentally tough and this was the first time I had been broken down", "I was so scared of this man", "It wasn't an issue of a yeller it was emotional and mental abuse because he treated some girls so poorly they started coming depressed and mentally not stable", "any love I had of soccer [McGuire] completely took away and I wasn't happy anymore", "It is the fear of Neil that sticks out in my head", "Since I graduated...I have made it a priority to repress these experiences", "He just ruined everything we thought we were as people", "I felt like everything I ever was as a person was stripped of me" etc. These aren't just sour grapes by players who were bitter about playing time. Some were regular starters including one of his two 1st team All-Americans. His other 1st team all American (Alex Morgan) has also spoken out against him. Multiple regular starters at the time and a couple club coaches also recommended steering clear of Cal to my daughter.
I wondered if Alex Morgan was going to speak out. I didn't realize she did. I too was struck by the common theme when the girls were interviewed. I scratch my head wondering how it is that McGuire still has a job.
Soccerfan2
GOLD
People find this perfectly acceptable. This is our culture. As the comments say “this is a good manager” “passionate”.Mentioned hot mic'ing coaches and sure enough some more leaks
Professional manager making millions going off on a verbal assault @ the players because they didn't finish top 4
www.instagram.com
I think ideas are starting to change, but it’s no wonder we see this behavior at all levels of youth and women’s soccer too. So many coaches aren’t educated about effective teaching methods and they themselves had coaches that modeled this behavior. If we want it to change not only do players (and parents) have to demand accountability, they also have to push organizations to train their coaches on how to educate and communicate with players.
You can say that again. Parents, were waiting on you. If a parent does demand accountability from the Yellers & Screamers, your kid get's shown the exit, mocked, blacklisted and some of the Yellers in high positions can & will offer retaliation in return. Women and young girls do not like being yelled at by the men. The men need to take a class on how to talk to girls, period & end of the abuse. It's simple really but the men are not leading the way to change.