Late last year, the founder and longtime sponsor of the National Women’s Soccer League walked out the door. After starting the league in 2013, U.S. Soccer handed the office keys to executives hired to run the league, most notably a new commissioner, Lisa Baird, plucked from the U.S. Olympic Committee where she had worked with U.S. Soccer for years.
But the federation continued to bankroll the NWSL this season, an ostensibly altruistic gesture in funding yet another attempt for a viable women’s pro soccer league in this country. What resulted was competition interrupted by a wildcat strike and demonstrations by players who said the league refused to take seriously allegations of abuse by coaches.