[ad_1]
This week in professional women’s football has been a roller coaster ride.
It started with a bittersweet moment on Monday. Following a joint investigation with the Players Association last month, the U.S. Women’s Soccer League issued individual bans, years-long suspensions and hefty fines against several groups.
And on Thursday night, professional women’s soccer went wild at the annual NWSL Draft in Philadelphia. For hours, hundreds of players anxiously waited for their names to be called and their professional careers to begin.
It’s certainly an exciting time to be immersed in the sport, especially since this week marks the beginning of a new chapter in professional football in the United States. Now is the time to make a difference. ”
It is good for football as a whole that there is finally accountability in the women’s game. That includes everything down to youth level, including the men’s side. As such, those in charge of the game at these levels would be wise to follow women’s soccer’s new lead in accountability and transparency.
The men’s team is now on its own after Greg Berhalter, a native of Bergen County and the national team’s head coach, was sidelined on December 11 after US Soccer launched an investigation into his past misconduct. I am kneeling in confusion.
Here’s a not-so-brief summary. Burholter recently admitted to his 31-year-old domestic violence spree against his wife. However, he hinted in his statement that he had been threatened. It was soon revealed that it was the Reinas family, the parents of national team player Gio Reina and lifelong friends of the Burhalter family, who had threatened to disclose this information. This private controversy clearly came to a head when Burhalter told the audience after the World Cup that he nearly sent an unnamed player home from the tournament. It was later confirmed to be Reina.
The incident is troubling and has put American men’s soccer in a strange place. discusses the ugly side of bad parenting in youth sports.
Here’s a culture of accountability blooming on the women’s side can Come in.
In a recent Zoom call, three US soccer officials — president Cindy Parlow Cohn, chief executive officer and executive director JT Batson, and sports director Ernie Stewart — spoke with reporters about the Verhalter investigation. Few questions can be answered as the investigation is ongoing. But Parlow Cohn started the conversation with a blanket statement.
“We have made significant changes to the way U.S. Soccer operates, particularly related to how we handle allegations of misconduct,” Perlow Cohn told reporters. We will investigate them and handle our communications with transparency.”
To be clear, US Soccer and the NWSL are not the same. However, US Soccer commissioned Yates’ report to shed further light on several irregularities in women’s soccer. The report also outlined a broken youth football culture where abusive behavior became all too common as players got older and moved up the professional ladder.
If US Soccer takes the allegations seriously and wants to handle these investigations with transparency, US Soccer could be moving in the right direction, just as the NWSL and NWSLPA have been doing for the past year. We haven’t seen it all yet, but there is hope as far as following the example currently set in the women’s game.
women and sports is a NorthJersey.com column for female athletes from rec league level to college students and professionals. If any North Jersey athlete of any age or age should be featured in this column, please contact [email protected].
[ad_2]
Source link
