Is the NWSL prepared for bad-faith attacks on its league or the targeting of specific players?
It’s a question I considered when I asked commissioner Jessica Berman ahead of the NWSL championship whether the league was prepared to support players during the incoming presidential administration, after an election cycle that had often fixated on the “protection of women’s sports.”
Berman said the league was “going to continually live by our values and support everyone in our ecosystem,” including fans, players and employees.
“We’re committed to ensuring that our players and our staff get all of their needs met, whether that’s health care, other protections around mental health — any support that anyone needs in our ecosystem,” she said.
But when faced with public attacks on one of its players less than a week later, including from well-known author J.K. Rowling, the league office was silent. A statement would have been the bare minimum — but it suggested the league was still completely unprepared for the more foundational protections it still needs to build.
Only days after Orlando Pride striker Barbra Banda lifted the NWSL championship trophy in one hand and her NWSL championship MVP trophy in the other, she became a lightning rod for hate after winning a…
