Before playing the NWSL games, stop playing the national anthem

Updated 6/29, 6:35 p.m. ET

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The National Anthem of the United States was played before this weekend’s NWSL Challenge Cup games, and two very different scenes were played.

In the first game All but one player knelt downwhile North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns made a joint statement to protest systemic racism in America. A much larger number of players and staff from Washington Spirit and Chicago Red Stars chose to play for the anthem before their game. and Casey Short was visibly upset.

The incident had a significant impact on the psychological wellbeing and performance of the players in the following game. A hostile work environment was created in which the players were emotionally manipulated and teammates pitted against each other. NWSL could have protected themselves by simply not playing the anthem.

Taking part in the NWSL Challenge Cup is clearly stressful for players given the concerns about getting infected with Covid-19. “There is no way everyone is okay and mentally in a great place,” Portland Thorn head coach Mark Parsons told me last week about playing during a pandemic. He also talked about how the recent events of very public violence against blacks have heightened this stress.

“It’s always been this way,” says Parsons of systemic racism and police brutality, “but we’ve seen increasing stress for our black players lately.”

When playing the anthem before the games, NWSL did not take into account the additional stress that it could cause for people who are already in some degree of emotional stress. And less important, but still relevant to the league’s decision making, the negative impact on player performance and its product was not taken into account.

“You may not be able to turn it off when you’re on the field,” Sky Blue FC general manager Alyse LaHue told the media Sunday when asked how her team managed the players’ mental health. “There is no switch when you go to the field just to switch off your emotions. Perhaps you will carry them with you if you continue.”

That is exactly what happened on Saturday evening. Red Stars head coach Rory Dames was open after the game and admitted discussions of protest during the anthem had a negative impact on his team’s game.

“Listen, it was an incredibly emotional day for our entire team. Probably one of the reasons why it took us 50 minutes to get into the game, ”said Dames. He later added, “I would say we were pretty emotionally busy before we got here.”

The league’s response to what happened was insensitive and exploitative. First, through an in-game side report of short on-field battles that failed to acknowledge why she might not have been able to perform at her best.

“I just heard Red Stars head coach Rory Dames Casey Short say from the outside: ‘Get yourself into the game.’ I talked to assistant coach Scott Parkinson and he says Chicago wants Casey Short to get more on the ball in space and get more pace on the ball. She has to be a little more relaxed when she plays from the back. “

-NWSL side journalist Marisa Pilla

Then later using Short’s Pain for sponsored content. A highlight package with sponsor branding that included a long shot of short crying before the match was uploaded to Twitter and YouTube. Fortunately, someday someone found out how tasteless it was. The Twitter video was deleted and the YouTube version replaced with a new cut that did not show a short cry.

All of these issues – the negatively impacted player mental health and performance, the insensitive side report, and poor content decisions – could have been prevented if the anthem had not been played. Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler publicly suggested this after his team’s gameand several sources have confirmed to me that the league is now discussing the possibility. I will never understand why this was not discussed two weeks ago.

Update: The NWSL announced today that it will now allow players to stay in the locker room while playing the anthem, but that they will continue to play the anthem before each game. The full explanation can be found here.

You may have noticed that blacks are not cited above. This is because no blacks are responsible. No one in NWSL with the title of Commissioner, Majority Owner, CEO, General Manager or Head Coach is black. I think that’s probably a factor in why things went the way they did this weekend.

Since no blacks were quoted in this story, I would like to leave you with the blacks’ voices. I hope you listen and spend some time thinking about what to say.

Sarah Gorden.

Simone Charley.

Bria Felicia’s interview with Darian Jenkins.

And with Taylor Smith.