December 15, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Racing Louisville FC News Release
The following is a statement from Racing Louisville FC in response to Wednesday’s release of the NWSL and NWSLPA joint investigative report:
To our players, past and present, we are sorry for what happened during Christy Holly’s tenure. We take responsibility for what happened, and we pledge to ensure a better team culture moving forward.
Our athletes should never have been put in this situation. We take responsibility for hiring Christy Holly, and we deeply regret not having a more stringent vetting process in place, something we have since corrected. The report clearly confirmed that “when Racing Louisville learned of Holly’s sexual misconduct toward Erin Simon, the club acted quickly, firing him within hours of speaking to Simon, and in spite of a request from the NWSL that [the team] pause …”
Regarding the investigation, we ultimately cooperated fully by making personnel available for interviews and providing documents requested. We felt it was vital that the public and community stakeholders know the full truth of what happened. Accountability begins with transparency.
Still, it is vital the Louisville community knows the compassion we feel for our players and the steps of accountability and healing we are taking as an organization. Racing Louisville FC – and everyone involved in women’s soccer – must do better to protect and support these world-class athletes. We want our team to understand how seriously we take the results of this investigation and that we are committed to providing a work environment in which everyone can be proud and feel safe.
As it relates to the separation agreement and non-disparagement language mentioned in the report, it was never our intent to hinder any investigation or stop any player from speaking out. In fact, we applaud every player who has told her story publicly. On advice of the club’s former counsel, we entered the agreement with Holly to protect our players from being named publicly as the events were unfolding. Although the motives were born out of what we perceived to be in the best interests of the players and in the interest of expediting the dismissal of Holly, we recognize in hindsight that was the wrong decision. Our current team president was not involved with crafting the NDA, and we strongly support the league severely restricting their use.
As to the team meeting of June 2021, we take responsibility for…