Tag: Bethany Balcer

‘Heartbroken’ Balcer says ‘truth will come to light’ after trade from Seattle

The forward was sent to Louisville after a prolific spell with the Reign

Bethany Balcer admitted she was “heartbroken” with the way her Seattle Reign departure went down following Monday’s trade to Racing Louisville.

Balcer was sent to Louisville in exchange for midfielder Jaelin Howell and $50,000 in allocation money, ending a prolific five-and-a-half year run with the Reign.

The 27-year-old forward scored 33 goals over the past five years, tied for third in the NWSL over that span.

Following news of the trade, Balcer posted a farewell message to Seattle on her Instagram account.

“If only there were adequate words to express what my time in Seattle has meant to me,” the Michigan native said. “I’m heartbroken to be leaving this way but am forever grateful for the last six years.

“This place has transformed me and allowed me to grow in incredible ways. While the soccer was fun and rewarding, it’s the people and places I’ll miss most. Memories that will last a lifetime. Friendships that I’ll carry for the rest of my life. Seattle, it’s been an honor to represent you and play for such an incredible city and fan base.”

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Balcer was more cryptic in an additional post on X, saying that “the truth will always come to light.”

In the Reign’s announcement of the trade, general manager Lesle Gallimore was full of praise for Balcer’s impact during her time with the club.

“Seattle Reign would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Bethany Balcer for her time with the club,” said Gallimore. “A player who took the league by storm in her rookie season and continued to build an admirable professional career here in Seattle. I know she’ll be sorely missed in the locker room, by our staff and fans. We want nothing but the best for her as she continues her career. BB8 leaves a lasting legacy.”

Since her arrival in 2019, Balcer is the Reign’s leader in games played, goals, shots and shots on target.

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OL Reign’s Balcer tears into CBS over NWSL Challenge Cup scheduling snafu

“Screw CBS and put that game on YouTube for all I care”

After multiple NWSL scheduling stumbles, Bethany Balcer has had enough.

The OL Reign attacker lit into the league and its broadcast partner CBS, taking to social media to criticize the scheduling of Sunday’s Challenge Cup final.

“It BLOWS my mind that we have had the challenge cup for [three] years and we still are making the same mistakes,” read an Instagram story Balcer posted Wednesday morning.

Balcer then laid out the details of her complaint: the Reign are the Challenge Cup’s top seed, with 14 points and zero goals conceded in group play.

Nonetheless, because CBS has mandated a 12:30 p.m. ET broadcast for the final on September 9, a win over Racing Louisville on Wednesday night would result in the Seattle-based club boarding a plane to take on either the Kansas City Current or North Carolina Courage.

“Last year, we got the top seed, but couldn’t host the semifinal due to field scheduling conflicts that the league wouldn’t let us work around,” said Balcer, alluding to the Reign having to give up a home-field semifinal in 2022’s tournament.

In that incident, the Seattle Sounders’ CONCACAF Champions League final created a scheduling conflict, with that match and the Challenge Cup semifinal falling on the same day.

In a convoluted sequence of events, the match was initially scheduled for Segra Field — a widely disparaged exurban venue that the NWSL had once deemed insufficient to host a Washington Spirit league match — before being moved on short notice to Audi Field (which itself appeared to have a scheduling conflict that required some shuffling to alleviate).

The Reign would fall to the Spirit on penalties, having spent the entire week in the D.C. region to play Washington in a coincidentally-scheduled league match just days before the Challenge Cup semifinal.

“This year we got the top seed (AGAIN), and we actually get to host the semifinal (yay progress), but if we win we can’t host the final because the game would have to be at 9 a.m. [Pacific] because our CBS deal doesn’t give us any other time slot,” continued Balcer. “This happened with the NWSL Finals two years ago, because CBS gave us a horrid time.”

In that episode, the 2021 NWSL Championship game was scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET, again due to a broadcast window on CBS. The league initially awarded hosting rights to the Portland Thorns, but that required a 9:00 a.m. local kickoff time, something that sparked widespread pushback from players, fans, media, and just about anyone else in the NWSL’s orbit. Racing Louisville’s Lynn Family Stadium was the eventual host as the Spirit defeated the Chicago Red Stars in extra time.

Balcer: ‘Screw CBS and put that game on YouTube for all I care’

For Balcer, repeating the same issues at the potential detriment to the competition itself is enough of an issue to say that she’s essentially done with the CBS broadcast deal altogether.

“Screw CBS and put that game on YouTube for all I care,” stated Balcer. “No wonder we struggle to get the exposure and views we want…because what the league is giving us is S—.

“Once again, our reward for being the top seed is having to travel across the country to play a team who we should be playing at home during a 3 game week where we have the least amount of time to turnaround going from Sunday to Wednesday to Saturday.”

As any writer of persuasive essays will tell you, it’s good to offer a clear, concise, and strong expression of your overarching point. Balcer delivered on that front, calling out anyone that might have been involved in a decision that does not follow the competition’s own rules.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results…well our league is looking pretty insane to me,” said Balcer. “Put the game on at 7pm local time for whoever is the top seed. If that is too difficult, you aren’t in the right job and you don’t care about growing the women’s game.”

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