Chicago Red Stars' Coach Dames Resigns Amid Bombshell Report

CHICAGO — Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames offered his resignation late Sunday night, sparking a late-night press release that made his stepping down seem like it was his decision.

But on Monday, The Washington Post offered a different reason, citing formal complaints by Dames' Red Stars players saying the coach was verbally and emotionally abusive to players and often crossed the line of an appropriate player-coach relationship, the scathing report said.

Dames' resignation came a day after the Red Stars dropped a 2-1 loss to the Washington Spirit in the NWSL championship on Saturday in Louisville. Then announcement came in a news release that hit reporters' inboxes just before midnight and only said that the team had accepted the resignation of Dames, who guided the Red Stars to two straight appearances in the NWSL championship and a lengthy run of playoff appearances.

“For 11 years, I have dedicated myself to help build the Chicago Red Stars into one of the top international clubs,” Dames said in the release. “Effective today, I am refocusing my attention to my family and future endeavors and am resigning as coach of the Chicago Red Stars.”

However, the Post report said that rather than report the abuse to the NWSL, they went to the U.S. Soccer Federation, which oversaw the women's soccer league and supported the league financially by paying members of the U.S. women's national team to play in the league.

“I think Rory emotionally abuses players,” Christen Press, a U.S. national team star and former player for the Red Stars, wrote in notes used in a formal complaint about Dames, the Post report stated on Monday. “He doesn’t have a safe distance between himself and his players. He uses his power and status as the coach to manipulate players and get close to them.”

The Post report said that the complaints were made about Dames in 2018, three years before his tenure in Chicago ended over the weekend. In the statement released by the Red Stars, Dames thanked the franchise, players and fans and said he looks forward to watching the franchise and league continue to grow.

The team said in its late-night news release it would begin an immediate search for Dames’ replacement and would immediately transition control of the team to assistant coaches until a replacement can be found The franchise said it would announce more changes and an update on the search in the coming weeks.

“Under Rory’s leadership, we have had a remarkably consistent and excellent club on the field,” the team said in the release. “We continually evaluate our team and front office environment and given the dynamic change underway in the league, it is time to begin the next chapter of the Red Stars."

Press was one of seven of Dames' former players who said that they were emotionally or verbally abused by the former Red Stars coach, the Post reported. According to the report, five players said they requested trades from the Red Stars because of the way they were treated.

The Post presented its findings to the Red Stars, the paper said, and the team said it would review its workplace culture and conduct an independent review of player health and safety. Hours later, Dames tendered his resignation. The report said that Dames is the fifth NWSL coach to be accused of misconduct this year.

In a statement issued Monday night, the Red Stars said, "We stand with the players who are fiercely advocating for change, and we are committed to doing our part to ensure a safe environment for the League’s players, staff, volunteers and fans. In conjunction with our players, the Chicago Red Stars several weeks ago initiated an independent review of player health and safety and the team’s culture and work environment.

It continued: “We intend to implement any recommendations in that review that will strengthen our ability to empower our players, to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard, and to foster an environment of continual growth.”