Racing Louisville players remember bringing their concerns about former coach Christy Holly to the organization. They also remember those concerns being dismissed.

One current and three former Racing players were in the midst of an interview with WHAS11’s Tyler Greever on Wednesday when the Louisville club issued its statement addressing the recent U.S. Soccer report into abuse in the NWSL.

The findings from U.S. Soccer’s investigation included details of Holly’s abuse of former Racing player Erin Simon, which included multiple instances of groping and unwanted sexual advances.

According to the players who spoke with WHAS11, previous concerns regarding Holly had been brought forth but were not taken seriously by the team.

The current Racing Louisville FC player I spoke with today is Louisville native and UofL alumna Emina Ekic. The three former Racing players I spoke with are Julia Ashley, Jorian Baucom and Taylor Otto. These are their reactions to the club's statement after I read it to them: pic.twitter.com/MK7enDID82

— Tyler Greever (@Tyler_Greever) October 5, 2022

Racing Louisville club president James O’Connor apologized to Simon in the letter released Wednesday, and he called hiring Holly “a mistake” that the team has learned from. He also noted that Holly was “terminated within 24 hours of us being alerted to the behavior.”

Yet the players said the team only took action once reports of Holly’s behavior reached “worst-case scenario” of abuse while dismissing other issues.

“Last year, there were so many people that went up to the higher ups and spoke and addressed their concerns,” former Racing player Taylor Otto said. “And they did absolutely nothing. They said, ‘Oh, we’ll look into it. Oh, are you sure that happened? Oh, well, what was the context?’”

Otto estimated that as many as 10 people voiced concerns over Holly’s behavior.

“So you’re telling us that you’ve changed, you’re listening and you’re going to address these issues when players come to you and you hope they feel safe coming to you,” she continued. “But how do you expect your players to feel safe coming to you about these problems when you did absolutely nothing?”

Former Racing player Julia Ashley noted that when Simon reported Holly’s abuse in August, it was the “breaking point.” But Ashley said when players brought their issues to the front office before that point, they were asked to present “the facts.”

“We went in early and spoke to James spoke to HR about all the small things that were happening — not small things, but things that accumulated over time that were smaller in comparison to the sexual abuse,” she said. “The sexual abuse is what is being brought up right now because it is the most prevalent and it is the biggest part of it.

“But all of these small things are getting pushed aside. And they’re not being recognized.”

Current Racing player Emina Ekic noted that players were told they were “weak” and that front office members brushed off Holly’s actions as “criticism” and “yelling.”

“We could still be sitting here with nothing being addressed if it didn’t get to the worst-case scenario, which was assault,” she said. “It had to escalate to the worst possible thing for us to be sitting here and talking about it and recognizing that everything that’s happened and what the club did was wrong.”

Jorian Baucom, a former Racing player who now plays for the North Carolina Courage, called out the organization for failing to call Simon’s situation what it was. She recalled the club informing players that Holly had been fired for “an inappropriate relationship.”

“What still irritates me is that James [O’Connor] and Racing will not say that Erin was sexually abused and that Christy Holly was a predator,” she said. “I’m sorry, but that’s not a relationship. He sexually abused her. And he preyed on her and what he did that needs to be addressed.

“If they’re saying they commend Erin, they need to say they need to personally apologize to her. They came out in 2021 with that statement that was so absolutely vague. We didn’t need to say Erin’s name, you could have very well still brought up the fact that a player in the organization was sexually abused by Christy Holly, and no further questions.”

In his statement, O’Connor said Racing is “not the same club that we were in August of 2021,” but Baucom said she believes she is still seeing “kind of the same patterns” with the club.

Other players have also spoken out about their time in Louisville, with Brooke Hendrix detailing the powerlessness she felt in being unable to help Simon. Simon, meanwhile, issued a statement Wednesday saying that she hopes soccer can become “a safe place.”

With the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season in full swing, top collegiate athletes are already eyeing mid-April's national championship in Fort Worth, Texas.

Unlike elite gymnastics, where difficulty can outweigh execution, the college level values precision over big tricks, so Division I athletes all aim for perfect 10s in their competition performances.

Despite this difference, many of the world's most decorated elite gymnasts also compete in the NCAA. Two-time Olympian Jade Carey is back for her senior season with No. 14 Oregon State while her US teammate in both Tokyo and Paris, Jordan Chiles, is entering her junior year at No. 11 UCLA.

The Bruin, who took the 2024 NCAA season off to prepare for last summer's Olympics, will attempt to reclaim the national titles on uneven bars and floor exercise that she earned in 2023.

Top teams poised for the podium

After earning their first national title last spring, No. 2 LSU is hitting the 2025 mat armed with a stacked roster, headlined by 2024 all-around champion Haleigh Bryant and social media star Livvy Dunne.

Add in last year's freshman phenom Konnor McClain, whose prowess on the balance beam ultimately clinched LSU the NCAA trophy, and 2024 Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, who opened her NCAA career with a 9.825 vault two weeks ago, and the Tigers are more than capable of a back-to-back run.

LSU isn't the only SEC team predicted to make a deep run this season, as the conference is once again flush with perennial contenders.

Elite US stars Kayla DiCello and early Freshman of the Year frontrunner Skye Blakely will join two-time US Olympic alternate Leanne Wong in trying to return No. 7 Florida to the NCAA championship meet. At the same time, new SEC team No. 1 Oklahoma, winner of seven of the last 10 NCAA trophies, could see senior Jordan Bowers de-throne Bryant for the 2025 all-around title.

Also causing early national championship chatter are 2024 finalists No. 5 Cal, who return two of the country's best all-arounders in senior Mya Lauzon and junior eMjae Frazier, and Big Ten champs No. 6 Michigan State, whose veteran-heavy lineup boasts stars Skyla Schulte and Sage Kellerman.

How to watch NCAA gymnastics this weekend

Some of the country's top NCAA gymnasts will take the mat when No. 7 Florida visits No. 2 LSU at 7:30 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage will air on ESPN2.

The NCAA unanimously approved implementing a women's March Madness revenue-sharing plan on Wednesday, aligning the women's side with the compensation program the men’s edition has enjoyed since 1991.

"This is a historic day for women's sports, women's basketball, and the NCAA," said NCAA president Charlie Baker in the college sports governing body's statement. "Today's vote means our members have the opportunity to do even more on campus to promote and support female athletes. I can't wait to see all the incredible things they do."

Sparked by 2021's landmark NCAA gender equity review, the decision ultimately actualized after years of pressure from administrators and coaches.

"The long-awaited, hard fought for, and well-earned day is here," said UNC coach and Women's Basketball Coaches Association president Courtney Banghart. "I am so grateful for the effort of so many to bring this reality to our sport."

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Deep March Madness runs earn more revenue

Beginning this year, each team competing in the Division I tournament will now receive performance-based units of revenue, with deeper runs earning more units.

With plans to grow the prize pool to $25 million by 2028, this year's inaugural $15 million purse represents 26% of the competition's $65 million media rights valuation — putting it proportionally on par with the percentage allocated to the men's fund.

Distributions will begin in 2026 and, like the men’s program, they will be paid directly to conferences, whose member schools will collectively decide how to best invest the unrestricted funds.

For the 2025 edition, a unit will reportedly be worth $113,636. According to ESPN's calculations, a Final Four team could amass approximately $1.26 million for its conference over the next three years.

With conferences and schools set for an influx of funds should their teams flourish at the national tournament, the revenue plan becomes a significant incentive for institutions to further invest in women's basketball.

Ultimately, the NCAA's move not only addresses the sport's equity disparity, it could also bolster the annual tournament's level of competition.

Unrivaled basketball hits the court for the first time on Friday and, according to ESPN, the debut league's style of play will look a little different from the 3×3 Olympic game's rules.

Unlike the half-court version currently played in major international 3x3 basketball competitions, Unrivaled's full-court edition uses slightly smaller court dimensions from a traditional 5×5 setup.

Similarly, the inaugural league's format follows a four-quarter setup, but opts for seven-minute periods rather than the WNBA's 10-minute quarters. The shot clock will also be a speedier 18 seconds versus the professional 5×5 game's 24 seconds.

Unrivaled victories, however, rest solely in fourth-quarter play. This "winning score" quarter denotes that the win goes to the first team to score 11 more points than the highest final third-quarter score. For example, if a game's third quarter ends with a 45-43 scoreline, the first team to post the target score of 56 points in the final period walks away with the victory.

This system essentially eliminates the possibility of overtime. League organizers also hope it deters the late-game fouls used strategically and prolifically in 5×5 contests.

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Unrivaled 3×3 format revamps fouls

Speaking of fouls, Unrivaled is also condensing the free throw system to keep the game moving. Each player has six fouls to give, but each shooting foul will earn a single free throw at the line.

Those awarded free throws, however, will contain different point opportunities depending on the foul incurred. Fouled two-point shots grant a single free throw worth two points, while a free throw awarded from a three-point attempt will be worth three. All and-ones are worth one point.

With six players rostered on each of Unrivaled's six teams, the league also tweaked the traditional rule of fouling out to ensure games can be completed should they become especially chippy. If an athlete fouls out with only three available players left on their team, that player can continue competing. She will instead incur a technical foul — resulting in one opponent free throw — for each additional foul.

The new league's rules all point to Unrivaled's efforts to put an engaging, fast product on the court.

"This game is rooted in how you would play basketball as a kid on a black top," Unrivaled president of basketball operations Luke Cooper told ESPN's Kendra Andrews on Tuesday. "There's flow, there's pace. When you are watching, it feels like you are watching basketball... it's not a gimmick."

The WNBA free agency carousel started spinning this week, with teams evaluating rosters and coring athletes to either retain talent or trade players for a return.

Thus far, cored players include Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally, and Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams.

Squads employ single-use coring on WNBA stars

Each of the WNBA's teams can core one unrestricted free agent on their roster, ensuring them exclusive rights to that cored athlete. Cored players receive an offer for a one-year, supermax salary contract, along with the option to negotiate different terms.

Cored athletes are unable to directly sign with another franchise, but they can be part of a trade offer by their coring team.

New York cored Stewart after she expressed interest in remaining with her 2024 WNBA Championship-winning squad. Sabally, on the other hand, will likely be part of a sign-and-trade deal after telling media late last week that she is looking to leave Dallas in 2025.

Plum's situation with the Aces is less clear-cut: The two-time WNBA champion could re-sign with her team, though Las Vegas could be exploring opportunities to cash in should she want to compete elsewhere.

Other offers spark WNBA free agent negotiations

In addition to coring, WNBA teams have also begun sending qualifying offers to certain restricted free agents, allowing them to initiate negotiations with those players.

Most notably, despite making Monday offers to three players — guard Dana Evans, forward Michaela Onyenwere, and forward Nikolina Milić — Chicago has yet to extend a qualifying offer to the Sky's 2024 points-leader Chennedy Carter.

Ultimately, while negotiations kick off next week, WNBA contracts cannot be finalized until free agency revs up in February, meaning more shuffling is on deck as teams gear up for the longest and most competitive roster-building season in recent memory.