First off, I think you should be proud, Grant, that when I first saw the report, the first reporter I wanted to hear from was you. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Your depth of insight is always appreciated. And since you have always given the women's teams the respect they deserve, I knew you'd do a deep dive. Even though I knew much of what this report would say, as I think many of us could imagine, I couldn't read it without tears and a fury that has only been building for several years. I wish I could believe that this kind of abuse doesn't exist in many, many areas where women suffer from such a power imbalance. Thank you for your continuing work. I'll be looking to see what you have to say on this topic as the dominoes hopefully begin to fall.
Thanks for saying that, Linda. It was tough today to see in person the anguish on the faces of Crystal Dunn and Lindsey Horan as they spoke to us at the press event. I am sure that Megan Rapinoe will have a lot to say tomorrow at Wembley.
Grant, I have a question. The soccer coaching licensure program is the most established of any sport. Does the education include appropriate interactions with players?
Grant, the FIRST thing that needs to happen with the Yates report is the immediate and permanent disqualification of everyone who didn’t fully cooperate with the investigation. “CYA” is totally unacceptable in this case. Owners need to be forced to sell, and anyone below them needs to be fired - with cause - and permanently barred from working in the sport in ANY capacity.
This requires a Paterno-level purging. Then KNEW about it, and did NOTHING.
I haven't read the report yet. But I did read ESPN's excellent, and lengthy, article summarizing it. It was so gross and awful. It reminded me of the way the Catholic church moved known pedophiles from parish to parish. Agree with Lou (commenter below) and Becky Sauerbrunn: the coaches and their enablers should be excluded from soccer at any level.
re: the Yates report and all the details coming to light: I 100% agree any soccer manager or owner that committed, or aided or abetted sexual harassment or coercion of any kind should be gone and barred, or even sentenced depending on the situation. No other course of action. However, the claims about emotional harassment or verbal abuse leave me a bit more unsure. I would imagine a high percentage of male soccer players also regularly deal with emotional harassment and verbal abuse from managers and teammates (and fans). Highly unfortunate and not good at all, but it’s definitely true. So where do we draw the line on what’s acceptable or who should be “canceled” from their leadership roles — for NWSL, MLS, national teams, any level of any sport…?!?
First off, I think you should be proud, Grant, that when I first saw the report, the first reporter I wanted to hear from was you. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Your depth of insight is always appreciated. And since you have always given the women's teams the respect they deserve, I knew you'd do a deep dive. Even though I knew much of what this report would say, as I think many of us could imagine, I couldn't read it without tears and a fury that has only been building for several years. I wish I could believe that this kind of abuse doesn't exist in many, many areas where women suffer from such a power imbalance. Thank you for your continuing work. I'll be looking to see what you have to say on this topic as the dominoes hopefully begin to fall.
Thanks for saying that, Linda. It was tough today to see in person the anguish on the faces of Crystal Dunn and Lindsey Horan as they spoke to us at the press event. I am sure that Megan Rapinoe will have a lot to say tomorrow at Wembley.
Grant, I have a question. The soccer coaching licensure program is the most established of any sport. Does the education include appropriate interactions with players?
Grant, the FIRST thing that needs to happen with the Yates report is the immediate and permanent disqualification of everyone who didn’t fully cooperate with the investigation. “CYA” is totally unacceptable in this case. Owners need to be forced to sell, and anyone below them needs to be fired - with cause - and permanently barred from working in the sport in ANY capacity.
This requires a Paterno-level purging. Then KNEW about it, and did NOTHING.
I haven't read the report yet. But I did read ESPN's excellent, and lengthy, article summarizing it. It was so gross and awful. It reminded me of the way the Catholic church moved known pedophiles from parish to parish. Agree with Lou (commenter below) and Becky Sauerbrunn: the coaches and their enablers should be excluded from soccer at any level.
re: the Yates report and all the details coming to light: I 100% agree any soccer manager or owner that committed, or aided or abetted sexual harassment or coercion of any kind should be gone and barred, or even sentenced depending on the situation. No other course of action. However, the claims about emotional harassment or verbal abuse leave me a bit more unsure. I would imagine a high percentage of male soccer players also regularly deal with emotional harassment and verbal abuse from managers and teammates (and fans). Highly unfortunate and not good at all, but it’s definitely true. So where do we draw the line on what’s acceptable or who should be “canceled” from their leadership roles — for NWSL, MLS, national teams, any level of any sport…?!?