More than 48 hours after the Yates report was released, Racing Louisville finally responded to the sickening accounts of alleged sexual assault by its former coach Christy Holly.
“The U.S. Soccer-released Sally Yates report which was published earlier this week served as a harsh reminder that appointing Christy Holly as Racing Louisville FC’s first coach was a mistake,” read a letter from club president James O’Connor.
“We have learned from that mistake, and we apologize to Erin Simon, to our players past and present and to our fans.
“We commend Erin for her bravery in coming forward as part of U.S. Soccer’s investigation. And while our former coach was terminated within 24 hours of us being alerted to the behavior, we know that wasn’t enough and that we failed our locker room by creating a space where this behavior could occur.”
The Yates report did document how Racing Louisville fired Holly quickly after details emerged of his alleged predatory relationship with his player Simon. But the report also detailed how Racing Louisville, including O’Connor, ignored warnings about Holly from his previous stint as head coach at Sky Blue FC.
Racing Louisville ignored warnings over Holly
Holly was let go from Sky Blue due to “verbal abuse” and his “relationship with a player,” ex-USWNT captain Christie Pearce Rampone, the Yates report said. It elaborated:
His time [with Sky Blue] was plagued with complaints of verbal abuse and mistreatment (“paranoid, ultraaggressive, short-tempered, nasty, mean, patronizing, humiliating,” “angry, disorganized, erratic,” and “abrasive on the sidelines”) and allegations of a relationship with a player that caused a toxic team environment. Ultimately, Holly was asked to leave the club abruptly, midseason, because of his “verbal abuse” and his “relationship with a player.”
Nevertheless, when Racing Louisville was searching for a head coach ahead of the club’s expansion season in 2021, the Yates report said that O’Connor and Racing Louisville president Brad Estes ignored warnings from Mary Smoot, a former Sky Blue executive.
When Smoot later spoke to Estes and O’Connor, Smoot said they proactively brought up Holly’s relationship with Pearce Rampone at the outset of the call “and they had no problem with it.” She recalled telling them that the fans loved Holly, but “the players did not have a positive experience.” She noted that Estes and O’Connor did not ask any follow-up questions. “To me, it sounded like they made their minds up. It wasn’t a long conversation. They didn’t ask me if I would hire him.”
Racing Louisville also “did not to reach out to any players or staff who worked directly with Holly at Sky Blue,” the report said.
Racing Louisville fails to cooperate with Yates investigation
The Yates report also made it clear that the club did not cooperate fully with the investigation into Holly’s behavior.
“Racing Louisville FC refused to produce documents concerning Christy Holly and would not permit witnesses (even former employees) to answer relevant questions regarding Holly’s tenure, citing -4- non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements it signed with Holly,” it said.
Still, O’Connor’s letter promised: “We will cooperate with the ongoing NWSL/NWSLPA joint investigation,” which is set to conclude in the coming months.
The letter concludes: “We are not the same club that we were in August of 2021. We now owe it to our players and community to prove it.”
Clearly, there is work to be done on that front.
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