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Louisville soccer fans demand 'accountability' from ownership for Christy Holly allegations

Ryan Hartlage’s 5-year-old daughter wants to be a lot of things when she grows up.

A teacher. A firefighter. And, sometimes, she says she wants to play for Racing Louisville FC.

"You want the team to be something that she can look to and feel positive about," said Hartlage, who has season tickets to both Racing and Louisville City FC and has been taking his daughter to matches since she was 3 months old. "As a parent, when you don’t feel positive about it, that sucks, and it’s hard."

Usually, Hartlage is excited to walk into Lynn Family Stadium with his family on match days. Standing with them in an eerily quiet Estopinal End two days after a national investigation revealed sexual assault allegations against former Racing coach Christy Holly, Hartlage said he felt "sick to my stomach."

"I hate that it’s like this," Hartlage told the Courier Journal while LouCity battled Detroit City FC on the pitch. "It’s hard, because you want to support the team. People on the field didn’t do anything wrong, so you want to be here to support them, but, at the same time, you gotta make clear that you don’t support the organization as a whole."

Racing Louisville FC fans held up a banner that said "Arrest Holly" during the Louisville City FC match against Detroit City FC at the Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 5, 2022.  They were supporting the players on the Racing Louisville FC team after allegations that former head coach Christy Holly abused players.
Racing Louisville FC fans held up a banner that said "Arrest Holly" during the Louisville City FC match against Detroit City FC at the Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 5, 2022. They were supporting the players on the Racing Louisville FC team after allegations that former head coach Christy Holly abused players.

Christy Holly:Investigation alleges ex-Racing Louisville coach sexually assaulted former player

Supporters joining Hartlage in Estopinal End, including members of The Coopers and The Lavender Legion, made their demands known at the start of the second half. When the match resumed, they broke their silent protest and unveiled a banner reading, "ARREST HOLLY." Below it hung banners reading, "J.O.C. OUT" and "YOU KNEW."

Holly, who was hired as Racing’s first coach in August 2020, is accused of sexually assaulting former defender Erin Simon during a one-on-one film session on April 21, 2021, according to former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates' independent investigation conducted on behalf of the U.S. Soccer Federation. The 172-page report also alleges Holly engaged in a "pattern of misconduct," verbally and emotionally abusing players in Louisville and during his two-year stint coaching the club now known as NJ/NY Gotham FC.

Racing fired Holly "for cause" on Aug. 31, 2021, but did not elaborate on its reasons for the decision. No criminal charges have been filed, and Louisville Metro Police said "no reports have been taken" regarding the former coach, who declined comment when reached by the Courier Journal on Monday.

A target of protesters Wednesday, Soccer Holdings LLC President James O’Connor called the decision to hire Holly "a mistake" in a letter posted to Racing’s website hours before Louisville City kicked off against Detroit.

"We are not the same club that we were in August of 2021," O’Connor wrote. "We now owe it to our players and community to prove it."

Soccer Holdings LLC resumed its silence after Wednesday’s match. O’Connor watched from the stands alongside John Neace, the ownership group’s founder, and controlling stakeholder Chris Harding as Louisville City players and coaches celebrated a 2-1 victory and clinching the No. 1 seed in the USL Championship Playoffs. Roughly 20 minutes later, a club spokesperson told media members in attendance that there would be no interviews.

Supporters who spoke with the Courier Journal before and during the match weren’t satisfied with O'Connor's response after two days of radio silence from club executives in the wake of Yates’ report, which outlines concerns with the vetting process that led to Holly’s hiring.

"I don't think the statement was sufficient in having the people involved take any accountability," said Kaitlyn Whiteside, who stood outside Lynn Family Stadium with two other Lavender Legion members holding a sign that read, "Time to clean house."

"I also was looking for a resignation — (for) James O'Connor to step down — and we didn't get that," Whiteside added. "But I think it was just the lack of accountability that was really disappointing to me."

Speaking with the Courier Journal on Tuesday, the leaders of The Coopers and The Lavender Legion both accused O'Connor of downplaying the severity of events that led to Holly's termination when the supporters groups met with club executives in the wake of the decision last year. Robin Pryor of the Legion called O’Connor's explanation "a Sunday school answer."

'They need to clean house':Former Racing captain responds to Christy Holly investigation

"I could tell by the look on (former club President) Brad (Estes') face that it was something bad, but he knew he couldn't say anything," said Herman Quinn Jr., who has been president of The Coopers for the past year and a half. "With James, it was more of 'OK, yeah it's not that bad.' Brad let James deal with it, because he was the one directly responsible and dealing with the handling of this.

"We went out with the information that was given to us to try to say, 'Hey, the club fired him; they told us it wasn't anything bad; it's just that they had causes, they have a (non)-disclosure (agreement), and to not worry about it,' Quinn added. "We're out trying to help them do damage control not knowing what the real damage is, and so now we feel like we helped covered up a sexual predator."

Lavender Legion drummers Kailey Coursey, left, and Hope McPherson held protest signs during the Louisville City FC match against Detroit City FC at the Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 5, 2022.  They were supporting the players on the Racing Louisville FC team after allegations that a former coach abused players.
Lavender Legion drummers Kailey Coursey, left, and Hope McPherson held protest signs during the Louisville City FC match against Detroit City FC at the Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 5, 2022. They were supporting the players on the Racing Louisville FC team after allegations that a former coach abused players.

Lavender Legion member Hope McPherson wore a white face mask to Wednesday’s match with "NDA" written on it in black letters, a reference to the non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements Racing signed with Holly. Yates' report says the club cited those agreements when it refused to turn over documents concerning the former coach to investigators and prevented current and former employees from answering "relevant questions regarding Holly’s tenure."

The irony in McPherson’s gesture is that she's typically one of the loudest people at Lynn Family Stadium, providing the rhythm for supporters' chants during matches with her drum.

'Let us be the voices':Ex-Racing Louisville FC player Erin Simon thanks fans for support

"Change doesn't look like anything that's happened over the last year," McPherson said. "This has been going on for many years. They've brought it to the attention of many important people. Monday just happened to be a day of reckoning for a lot of people who've gotten by with a lot of stuff, and I hope that moving forward with the new (NWSL) commissioner in place, who leads us to believe — we hope we're not eating our words a year from now with her, as well — but she leads us to believe that it's important to her.

"I mean, we stood in our parking lot and tailgated with her before the game the other night, and that’s what she told us. So a year from now, if we haven't seen change and the removal of the systemic abuse, then we'll know that the NWSL is nothing like what it makes out to be and it is nothing but money over player safety and health."

McPherson said she has an 11-year-old niece, Kenzie, who plays soccer. When asked what her message is to girls like Kenzie — and Hartlage’s 5-year-old daughter — in the wake of the Yates report, the devout Racing fan said, "I don’t know."

More on the Yates report:Investigation finds ‘systemic’ abuse of players, while NWSL, USSF stayed silent

"This is what's been going on for years now. It's not just coming to light," McPherson said. "We brought this to your attention years ago. I don't know, and that's the heartbreaking part about the future. We want to be a good representation. We want to be healthy role models for these girls.

"People ask me all the time, 'Women's soccer? What about the men?' Trust me, the women are much more competitive, because they've come up and they've grown up in a life that's told them that they're not as good as men and they're not as valuable as men," she added. "They are damn sure as valuable — they're more than — and they play just to be the same."

Reach recruiting and trending sports reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Soccer fans protest Racing Louisville, Lou City after reports on Holly