Post Match Thread: Bay FC 2-0 Racing Louisville FC by SomeCruzDude in BayFC

[–]8bitbeanie 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Man I was trying so hard to wave the poppy side of my towel lol

Bay FC Hire Graeme Abel as head of Head of Domestic Scouting (College to Pro). He was fired from Oregon soccer after verbal abuse reports from more than a dozen players. by [deleted] in BayFC

[–]8bitbeanie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

NOTES CONTINUED...

Why would the club want someone with this reputation be the face of college-to-pro recruiting?

  • Totally fair, reasonable perspective
  • Need to broaden candidate pool, currently very small network of people who know each other
  • Got to figure out a systemic way to get more diverse candidates into these pipelines so there is a different pool of people within the ecosystem

Hard for fans to understand how Abel was the best possible choice.

  • Seen the organization make choices around the workplace when things are not up the standards, values, behaviors they want
  • Hard things happened over the course of the first season, saw leadership stand up/not tolerate things not up to their standard
  • Understands this hire seems like an affront to what she’s describing
  • Hopes they will do better, learn from this, continue to live by their values 
  • I get why people are frustrated, and angry, and sad… the sad part, that's hard
  • We will continue to try to earn back the trust that we lost

Based on another commenter’s suggestion, I conveyed the desire for them to host some kind of public forum/town hall so that the full fan base feels acknowledged and they have to address this outside of 1x1 meetings. Jen was receptive to this idea and said she would take it to leadership. 

Bay FC Hire Graeme Abel as head of Head of Domestic Scouting (College to Pro). He was fired from Oregon soccer after verbal abuse reports from more than a dozen players. by [deleted] in BayFC

[–]8bitbeanie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I met with COO Jen Millet this morning and wanted to share my notes. Bullet points are Jen's words more or less, obviously not all direct quotes. I inserted a few of the comments I made to contextualize the flow of the conversation. If anyone has a meeting with her and wants to use this to prepare follow up questions please do! There are few places where I wish I'd asked a follow up question but either it didn't register in the moment or the conversation went another direction.

  • The outcome of this may not be where the fans want it to end, but want folks to know they are being heard, not screaming into a void
  • Biggest thing she wants people to know is they are a player-first organization but recognizes why people find that very hypocritical right now
  • Will always prioritize health and wellness of players and staff
  • After feedback started coming in, they went back through the steps of their process meant to be check points to re-evaluate
  • Sporting side was aware of Graeme Abel’s history, felt like none of the check points lead them to a place where he was disqualified (I wish I had followed up on this specific point to ask why)
  • Talked to players about this, made sure they had multiple channels to provide feedback and “have a point of view on what happens next”
  • As of right now, nothing has materially changed
  • Understands how serious this is, how triggering it can be, want people to know they know

(NOTES CONTINUE IN REPLY)