The Portland Thorns, represented by Natalia Kuika, have been in the eye of the storm for the past few months. The head coach left his position in December because of a romance, and now the assistant coach and the physical coach have left.
Defender of the women’s national football team Natalia Kuikan representing Portland Thorn is bubbling again.
This time, the assistant coach left the club playing in the American NWSL league Sophie Clough and physical trainer Pierre Soubrier.
Clough was accused of inappropriate behavior, as he had kissed a player on the neck at a championship party. According to the NWSL, the player (you move to another service) had felt uncomfortable.
Kohu is by no means the first of its kind. The head coach who led the club to the championship Rhian Wilkinson resigned from his position in December due to a relationship dispute. Wilkinson revealed that he and a player on the team had developed feelings for each other, but the two had stopped all communication outside of work.
In turn, Soubrierier’s departure is related to illegally passing controlled substances to players. The club’s doctor reported in November that Soubrier had given the players a medicine containing codeine without a prescription. Soubrier was not only the club’s physical trainer, but also a player for the USA national team representing Portland by Crystal Dunn husband.
Portland in the middle of the commotion
In the beginning of January Portland was fined a million dollars, (you will switch to another service) because the club tried to hide the former head coach by Paul Riley wrongs done. Riley coached the club in the 2014–2015 season and was guilty of, among other things, forcing a player to commit a sexual act. Riley was also banned for life along with three other coaches.
Portland has been one of the clubs at the center of the harassment scandal that has rocked the US women’s major league in recent years.
The club’s Finnish defender Natalia Kuikka revealed to Urheilu after the championship party that she thought about whether she wants to stay in the league and the club.
– It has been difficult to concentrate. What has happened within our team happened before I came here. But it is difficult to play in a league where things are not good. I can say that it has made me think about whether it is the right solution to stay here. But change comes because we want it. I didn’t want to run away from the hard and difficult work we have ahead of us in changing this league for the better, Kuikka commented in November.
“Substances move, that’s for sure”
Sports expert Pauliina Miettinen has followed the events of the NWSL.
– It’s quite out of proportion now, how everything has happened around one team. Sure, there have been problems elsewhere, but Thorns has been deeper in these deep waters. It’s incomprehensible that there are so many problems in one organization, Miettinen sighs.
Miettinen himself has coached and played in the USA. Miettinen served as the pilot of the women’s premier league team Sky Blue in the 2010 season. He says that the use of medication was already common at that time.
– One player asked me if I take this or that substance, one is legal and the other is not. Matters move, that’s for sure, no matter what professional sport. There is no pure sport anywhere anymore, Miettinen downloads.
But is medicine or prohibited substances treated differently in the USA than in Finland?
– No one in the United States will say that prohibited substances can be used here, and no one defends their use. Maybe in the US in professional leagues, for example baseball, people can accept banned substances because it’s a professional sport. Those who approve of the use of banned substances then say that we don’t have such good sports to watch. In that way, it doesn’t really harm them morally, Miettinen sees.
Although Portland has been in the middle of turmoil in recent years, the club managed to win the championship at the end of last season. Now it is preparing for the season starting in March with a new head coach by Mike Norris under.
How will the club manage in the midst of the commotion? According to Miettinen, forecasting is difficult.
– It can give strength to the team or it can paralyze. It can turn either way, but it probably also depends a lot on the player material, what kind of leadership is there. Portland probably has leaders who can keep the players together. Difficulties affect players individually, some probably not at all and others maybe more.