The defender courted controversy during the season, refusing to play on the team’s Pride Night
The North Carolina Courage announced they have declined their 2023 option on defender Jaelene Daniels, ending her time with the team.
Daniels was a controversial signing for the Courage in the offseason, with the club being forced to apologize for bringing her back to the team after a brief retirement.
“We are very sorry to all those we have hurt, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community,” the Courage said in December.
At issue was Daniels previously refusing to play for the U.S. national team when they wore rainbow-colored numbers for Pride Month, a decision she attributed to her Christian faith.
The Courage were put on the defensive as fan discontent simmered over the 29-year-old’s continuing presence on the roster. Some fans believed that the Courage’s declining attendance was at least partially due to the club’s decision to bring back Daniels — though there were a number of other factors at play including the team losing a host of established stars in the offseason.
But Merritt Mathias, one of the Courage’s veteran leaders, openly questioned the club’s decisions and hinted that she agreed with fans who opted to stay away because of Daniels.
Daniels was a regular contributor to the Courage during her return to the team, playing in 19 of the club’s 22 regular-season games while making eight starts.
“The club wishes Jaelene the best in her future endeavors,” the Courage said in a statement.
This goes beyond any personal disagreement with an individual’s beliefs
Not many clubs would make a signing for which they are forced to immediately beg for forgiveness. Even fewer would actually keep that player around anyway.
But that’s what the North Carolina Courage did in December when they brought Jaelene Daniels back into the fold after the defender returned from a brief retirement.
“We are very sorry to all those we have hurt, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community,” the Courage said, acknowledging the impact of signing a player who had refused to play for the U.S. women’s national team when it featured rainbow numbers for Pride Month.
Suffice it to say, not every fan will agree with the beliefs of all of their players. But Daniels is a unique case: a player who appears to be actively harming her team’s business outlook and locker-room chemistry, while simultaneously failing to boost its on-field performance.
Many of the club’s fans felt Daniels’ return was an affront to them personally. Some of them have decided to stop giving the club their money.
According to Soccer Stadium Digest, the Courage currently rank 10th out of 12 NWSL teams in attendance. Their average of 4,621 is down eight percent from last year and, according to WUNC, that is down from an average of 5,875 in 2019, which was good for fourth out of nine teams.
There is, of course, no single explanation for this phenomenon. But it is a notable outlier in a league that has seen a 20 percent growth overall in attendance from last season to this season.
And at least anecdotally, some of the club’s biggest fans said the organization’s decision to bring Daniels back made them question whether they wanted to support the club financially.
“For me, the biggest sticking point [for renewing season tickets] was the re-signing of Jaelene Daniels,” Courage fan Jessica Turner told WUNC. “They knew that there had been issues in the past with this player, very publicly… And they decided to go with that knowing that there is going to be backlash, knowing that there is going to be a whole section of our fanbase that are going to feel harmed by this and are going to feel like the club doesn’t support them.”
Merritt Mathias, one of the Courage’s veteran leaders, openly questioned the club’s decisions and hinted that she understood – and agreed with – fans who opted to stay away because of Daniels.
“There are reasons why people aren’t here and haven’t wanted to spend their money or beliefs and that is up to them,” Mathias said in May. “If this gets out there, I am a part of the community that has struggled with some of the choices that this club has made.”
Speaking to fans directly, she added: “If you don’t like one player, then there are 25, 26 other ones to choose from. Find someone you love.”
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This all seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through to keep one player on the roster. One would hope, at the very least, that Daniels was exceptionally helpful for the Courage on the field.
Not really.
Daniels has been a regular contributor, having appeared in all of the Courage’s games this season before Friday. But according to American Soccer Analysts’ Goals Added metric, which measures the overall impact a player has, Daniels ranks 252nd out of 267 NWSL players for the 2022 regular season.
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The Courage struggled to explain Daniels’ actions after Friday’s game. Head coach Sean Nahas admitted it had been a “distraction.”
“I don’t necessarily have to agree with what people think and what they choose to believe,” Nahas said.
Club captain Abby Erceg said she understood fans deciding to stay away, but lamented how that decision ultimately hurts every Courage player.
“I think the offseason in particular gave us a lot to think about,” Erceg said. “I’m kind of with Merritt. We’re desperate to have our fans back. The fans, the stadium, the community that we’ve created here over the past five or six years has been really really special to the girls.
“I understand that the fans want to take a stand for the players and the fans want to have their voice heard as well. And we appreciate that, but when we can’t get fans into the stadium it hurts them, it hurts the players, it hurts the club and at the end of the day, it’s the players that suffer.”
When she opted out of playing for the USWNT, Daniels was really only harming her own personal on-field prospects. After all, these were just friendlies and this is the USWNT we’re talking about: there will always be high-quality players eager to step in and fill any on-field void.
But Friday was something different. This was a player, already at odds with so many teammates and fans, opting out of a crucial regular-season game when she was fully capable of playing physically.
But the Courage, as a private entity, are under no obligation to maintain the status quo. Regardless of what metric you use, it’s difficult to argue that Daniels is making a positive impact.
“Of course we want the fans back,” Erceg said. “But at the same time we need the club to hear what the fans are saying as well, because they’re the ones that are paying the ticket prices.”
Daniels won’t be in uniform for North Carolina’s Pride Night
North Carolina Courage player Jaelene Daniels will not be in uniform as her team celebrates Pride Night at Sahlen’s Stadium Friday night against the Washington Spirit.
Daniels had in 2018 declined a U.S. women’s national team call-up over her refusal to wear Pride-themed rainbow numbers, citing her Christian faith. According to the club, she has opted to sit out a critical game against the Washington Spirit over the same issue, a development first reported by WRAL.
“Jaelene will not be rostered tonight as she has made the decision to not wear our Pride jersey,” said the Courage in a team statement supplied to Pro Soccer Wire. “While we’re disappointed with her choice, we respect her right to make that decision for herself. We’re excited to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community with our fans, players and staff tonight and look forward to hosting our first ever Pride Festival before kickoff.”
Daniels is eighth on the team in minutes played in the 2022 regular season, and had appeared in all nine of the Courage’s games coming into Friday’s match.
North Carolina had originally scheduled its Pride Night match for earlier in July, but that match against Angel City FC was postponed due to a Covid-19 protocol breach that also saw the club fined by NWSL.
Daniels had come out of retirement to re-sign with North Carolina this offseason, causing an intense backlash among supporters of the team and from around the NWSL. That outcry resulted in a team statement on the matter, with the Courage saying that the decision to bring Daniels back to the team “was not made lightly and included significant conversations between organization leadership and Jaelene. The priority expressed in those conversations is the safety of our players and maintaining an inclusive, respectful space for the entire team.”
“Personally, I don’t think we’ve done a great job of that in the past years. And that is fair. I don’t think that has been any secret,” said Mathias back in May. “We didn’t have a Pride Night for three years, we didn’t wear a jersey. Everyone knows all these things and I think bringing back Jaelene was a decision made by the club and as a player who is part of the community, you have to work through those struggles but that is what a team is about. You have to be able to embrace people of all different religions, of all different views, of all different backgrounds.
“For me, I think it is really important that we have a voice as much as the club. That there is a group here that truly, truly loves and supports and is here for the LGBTQ community. I think that is a really important message to get out there, because we definitely miss you guys. We definitely miss our fans. They are a huge, huge reason why we were so successful for so many years. The way they had our back and the support we had day-in and day-out. I hope putting a good product on the field gets people back, but also knowing that you’re loved and believed in.
“From a team standpoint, we love and believe in our fans. For sure. We know how important they are and we definitely miss them. It is still a long season. Hopefully we can get a product out there that is winning and we are proud of. But I think this is a group that fans can be really proud of. For what they stand for and just the entertainment factor that they have and the beliefs that they have and the people that they are. If you don’t like one player, then there are 25, 26 other ones to choose from. Find someone you love.”
