Rory Dames

Last updated

Rory Dames
2016-04-03 RoryDames.jpg
Rory Dames on April 3, 2016
Personal information
Full name Rory Dames Jr. [1]
Date of birth (1973-02-10) February 10, 1973 (age 51) [1]
Place of birth Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1987–1991 St. Viator Lions
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1991–1994 Saint Louis Billikens 52 (1)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1994 Rockford Raptors
Managerial career
1997–2021 Chicago Eclipse Select
2011–2021 Chicago Red Stars
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rory Dames Jr. (born February 10, 1973) is an American soccer coach who most recently was the head coach of the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He is the owner and former president of Chicago Eclipse Select, a youth soccer club in suburban Chicago. [2] [3] In 2023 Dames was banned for life from the NWSL because of misconduct concerning players in his charge.

Contents

Early life

Dames was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He played soccer at St. Viator High School in the suburb of Arlington Heights, where he graduated in 1991. He attended Saint Louis University and played for the men's soccer team. [4] In four seasons, Dames made 52 appearances as a defender, scoring one goal and recording 3 assists. [1] [5] Dames then joined the Rockford Raptors for one professional season. [4]

Managerial career

Dames was the director of coaching and player development for Chicago Eclipse Select, which consisted of three teams when the Illinois native took over. The club has more than 50 male and female teams, and more than 750 players ranging in age from 8 to 19. [6] The club produced players who have earned Division I scholarships, professional contracts and roster spots on all levels of the U.S. women's national teams. [7]

Dames began coaching the Chicago Red Stars in 2011, reaching the WPSL finals and losing in overtime. In 2013 the Chicago Red Stars began playing in the National Women's Soccer League. [8]

For four consecutive years, 2015 to 2018, Dames coached the Red Stars to National Women's Soccer League postseason playoffs, losing in the semi-finals on each occasion. [9] [10] [11] [12] In 2019, Dames and the Red Stars defeated the Portland Thorns 1–0 to advance to the NWSL Championship for the first time in team history, where they eventually fell to North Carolina Courage 4–0. In 2021, the Red Stars again advanced to the NWSL Championship held in Louisville but lost to the Washington Spirit 2–1.

On November 22, 2021, the Red Stars announced that Dames had resigned. [13] In February 2022, Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler, stated Dames was allowed to resign because it “didn’t have any reason to believe that there was a safety issue in our environment.” Whisler noted that if Dames did not resign, he would have been terminated. [14]

Misconduct allegations

On November 22, 2021, The Washington Post published an article with allegations from players, both previous and current, of abuse by Dames. The Post provided documentation of reports made to the United States Soccer Federation by players, such as Christen Press, as far back as 2014, detailing abuse, harassment, and inappropriate use of power as head coach to manipulate players.

“Three former Red Stars players, including one who played on the team at the time of the investigation, told The Post that they had wanted to speak to U.S. Soccer investigators but had never heard from them,” reported Hensley-Clancy. “Two had left the team because of Dames’s abuse, they said.” [15]

In February 2022, the Washington Post published a follow-up story reporting claims of misconduct dating back to the late 1990s, including a 1998 police report involving a youth player Dames coached at Chicago Eclipse Select. The allegations went further, including multiple players claiming to have had a sexual relationship with Dames when they played for him at Eclipse. An accuser claimed that sex “felt almost expected”. The verbal abuse also included constant name-calling, such as pussies, fucking idiots, fat ass, and retards. [7]

Dames’ role in the founding of Elite Clubs National League, an elite group of youth soccer clubs of which he sat on the Board of Directors, and his role with the Chicago Red Stars and NWSL, played a role in players not speaking up, according to accusers. Players and parents were afraid Dames “could ruin the chance at a scholarship or a spot in the professional league,” if they spoke up. “But the monopoly over Chicago soccer, our belief that his connection to the college world was the only connection we would have — he used all of that to get away with doing and saying whatever the hell he wanted to us,” said an accuser.

Dames’ attorney claimed the allegations from the report were “unfounded.” Dames stepped down as the President of Eclipse after resigning from the Red Stars. The organization "did not respond to questions about whether Dames still owned Eclipse or was involved in its governance,” suggesting he is still the owner and the majority controlling interest in the club's operations.

On January 9, 2023, Dames was banned from the NWSL for life, along with three other coaches named in the scandal. [16]

Coaching record

TeamLeagueYearRecordResult
GWDLWin %LeaguePlayoff
Chicago Red Stars WPSL 2011 13110285%1stRunners-up
Chicago Red Stars WPSLE 2012 22152573%4thRunners-up
Chicago Red Stars NWSL 2013 2286850%6thX
Chicago Red StarsNWSL 2014 2498754%5thX
Chicago Red StarsNWSL 2015 2189459%2ndsemi-final
Chicago Red StarsNWSL 2016 2196657%3rdsemi-final
Chicago Red StarsNWSL 2017 25116856%4thsemi-final
Chicago Red StarsNWSL 2018 25910656%4thsemi-final
Chicago Red StarsNWSL 2019 26152958%2ndRunner-up
Chicago Red StarsNWSL 2021 24115858%4thRunner-up
Career total223106546360%

Personal life

Dames is married to Sarah Uyenishi. Uyenishi played soccer for Chicago Eclipse Select starting at age 14, [17] where Dames was her coach. They have two children. A SafeSport investigation was opened in March 2019 based on receiving “a report alleging that Responding Party Rory Dames had a relationship with a former player, while she was a player on his team, and subsequently married and had a child with her.” [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Red Stars</span> American professional soccer club

The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) since 2013.

Meghann Kay Burke is an attorney and executive director of the National Women's Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA), the trade union for players in the NWSL, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Burke led the NWSLPA to its first collective bargaining agreement in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Riley (footballer)</span> English football coach

Paul Riley is an English former football player and coach.

The Eclipse Select Soccer Club or just Eclipse, is an American soccer club for boys and girls in the Chicago metropolitan area. Founded in 1996, Eclipse has teams in local, regional, and national competitions, including the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), US Club Soccer, and the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA).

The 2014 Chicago Red Stars season was the sixth season of the soccer club and its second season in National Women's Soccer League.

Craig Neil Harrington is an English football manager who most recently was director of coaching for Chicago Empire FC in the Illinois Women's Soccer League (IWSL).

The 2015 Chicago Red Stars season was the seventh season of the soccer club and its third season in National Women's Soccer League. For the first time in NWSL the Red Stars advanced to the playoffs by finishing second in regular season. In addition, the team held the first place for ten consecutive weeks, from week 4 to week 13. However, the club could not reach the NWSL championship, as in the playoffs semi-final the Red Stars lost to the reigning Champion FC Kansas City, by a score of 0–3. It was the club's final season playing home games at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex.

The 2016 Chicago Red Stars season was the eighth season of the soccer club and its fourth season in National Women's Soccer League.

The 2017 Chicago Red Stars season was the team's ninth season. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. In 2017, for the third consecutive season, the Red Stars made it to the post-season playoffs and was eliminated in the semi-final.

The 2018 Chicago Red Stars season was the team's tenth season and sixth season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. For the fourth consecutive season, the team qualified for the post-season playoffs and lost in the semi-final, as they were defeated by the North Carolina Courage 2–0.

The 2019 Chicago Red Stars season was the team's eleventh season and seventh season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

Kaiya June McCullough is an American professional soccer player who formerly played as a defender for Würzburger Kickers of the German 2. Frauen-Bundesliga. She also previously played for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Washington Spirit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatumn Milazzo</span> American soccer player (born 1998)

Tatumn Marie Milazzo is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for National Women's Soccer League club Chicago Red Stars.

The National Women's Soccer League has undergone many allegations and reports of sexual harassment, misconduct, manipulation, pressure to lose an unhealthy amount of weight, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse, racist and sexist remarks, and the list goes on. These allegations of crossing professional boundaries with players led to formal investigations on the NWSL and many of its teams and coaches. Former US attorney general Sally Yates wrote in her report regarding the investigation how "Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women's soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players," The investigations ultimately concluded that multiple forms of emotional abuse and sexual misconduct were systematic in the sport and were not a one-time occurrence; they impacted many teams, coaches, and players. This led to public protests by players and as a result, multiple coaches have been reprimanded for their behavior. Five out of 10 head coaches in the 2021 season were fired or stepped down due to misconduct allegations. Some of the more significant allegations include Coaches Riley, Dames, Burke, and Holly, who all faced harsh punishments resulting in being completely banned from coaching as well as having involvement in activities pertaining to the NWSL.

The 2021 Chicago Red Stars season was the team's thirteenth season and ninth season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

The 2021 Portland Thorns FC season was the team's ninth season as a professional women's soccer team. Thorns FC plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

The Yates Report, officially titled Report of the Independent Investigation to the U.S. Soccer Federation Concerning Allegations of Abusive Behavior and Sexual Misconduct in Women's Professional Soccer, is the official report documenting the findings and conclusions concerning abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women's professional soccer, with a focus on the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The 173-page report was publicly released by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) on October 3, 2022. It is named for Sally Yates, the King & Spalding partner who led the investigation who had previously served as acting United States Attorney General.

The Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) is a national youth soccer developmental league in the United States. It was founded in 2009 as a girls' league and added a boys' league in 2017.

The 2023 Chicago Red Stars season was the team's fifteenth as a professional women's soccer team, and tenth in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

The St. James is a 20-acre (8.1 ha) 450,000-square-foot multi-purpose sports complex located in Springfield, Virginia, United States. The complex includes a private health club, water park; venues for basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball, swimming, climbing, gymnastics, golf, and squash; and two professional regulation-sized indoor ice hockey rinks and one soccer pitch. The complex is used by Major League Soccer (MLS) team D.C. United as its official training center and by Women's Football Alliance team D.C. Divas as a home venue.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Billikens. 1994. p. 17. Retrieved January 8, 2022.{{cite book}}: |magazine= ignored (help)
  2. "Red Stars Announce 2013 Coaching Staff". chicagoredstars.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Yates, Sally Q. (October 3, 2022). "Report of the Independent Investigation to the U.S. Soccer Federation Concerning Allegations of Abusive Behavior and Sexual Misconduct in Women's Professional Soccer" (PDF). King & Spalding: 96–107.
  4. 1 2 "Technical Staff". Chicago Red Stars. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
  5. 1994 Final Statistics. 1995. p. 26. Retrieved January 8, 2022.{{cite book}}: |magazine= ignored (help)
  6. "SPORTS Chicago Red Stars coach steps down - Windy City Times News". Windy City Times. November 22, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Hensley-Clancy, Molly (February 8, 2022). "'Nobody believed those teenagers'". The Washington Post.
  8. "U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati Announces New Women's League to Begin Play in Spring of 2013". US Soccer. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  9. Hersh, Philip (September 13, 2015). "Red Stars routed in NWSL soccer semifinals". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune . Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  10. "Chicago Ends 2016 NWSL Season After Falling 2-1 to Washington". chicagoredstars.com. Chicago Red Stars. September 30, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  11. "North Carolina Courage vs Chicago Red Stars Pride". nwslsoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  12. "Chicago Falls to North Carolina 2-0 in NWSL Semifinals" . Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  13. Salazar, Emmanuel (November 22, 2021). "Chicago Red Stars Head Coach Rory Dames Steps Down". ChicagoRedStars.com. Retrieved November 22, 2021.
  14. Mekula, Jeremy (February 11, 2022). "Rory Dames was allowed to resign as Chicago Red Stars coach because the NWSL club says it didn't have any reason to believe that there was a safety issue in our environment". ChicagoTribune.com. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  15. Hensley-Clancy, Molly (November 22, 2021). "'Nobody cares': NWSL players say U.S. Soccer failed to act on abuse claims against Red Stars coach". The Washington Post.
  16. Greenawalt, Tyler (January 9, 2023). "NWSL announces permanent ban for ex-Thorns coach Paul Riley, other sanctions following misconduct investigation". Yahoo! News. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  17. Day, Paul. "Humility fosters humor". Marquette Wire. Retrieved February 12, 2022.