OL Reign’s Megan Rapinoe knew from the second she heard former Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames yelling from the sideline during a game that he was not a nice person.

Everything she had heard about then-Portland Thorns coach Paul Riley and then-Sky Blue FC coach Christy Holly of Sky Blue FC made her feel the same way. Dames, Riley and Holly were the coaches at the center of Sally Yates’ report on abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in the NWSL, which was released Monday. Rapinoe was playing in her first season in the league when she heard Dames yelling that day in 2013.

While the rest of the women’s soccer world processes the findings in the report, NWSL and U.S. women’s national team veterans like Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Crystal Dunn have known for years about complaints their teammates have filed to team, league and federation authorities, only for those people to ignore them. Balancing soccer with emotional exhaustion is nothing new to them. They’re also used to speaking to reporters about off-field issues, which in the past has also included equal pay, LGBTQ+ rights and racial justice.

So, Rapinoe, Sauerbrunn and Dunn volunteered themselves to answer the tough questions from the media this week about how the national team is doing as they prepare for two friendlies in Europe against England and Spain. Helping protect the younger players while also showing them how they can carry the torch someday is the way the USWNT has always operated.

“As sick as this sounds, I feel like we’re used to having to take on so much more than a game plan and tactics,” Rapinoe said. “I feel like we have an incredible ability to shoulder so much … The older players can help shield and shoulder a lot, whether it’s media attention or just what we do, how do you act. It’s probably, as a younger player, like, ‘The f— is going on? Like, how do I even deal with this?’ They can always look to us, just as we can always look to our older players.”

They hope they can make enough a difference so that the young players on the current USWNT roster — including 17-year-old Alyssa Thompson and NWSL rookies Naomi Girma, Savannah DeMelo, Sam Coffey and Jaelin Howell — won’t have to address off-field issues as often as Rapinoe’s generation has.

Megan Rapinoe has called the findings of The Yates Investigation, which uncovered widespread emotional abuse and sexual misconduct in the top tier of women's football in the United States, as horrifying. pic.twitter.com/JTltbgtOUz

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 6, 2022

For the two-time World Cup champion, it’s not only about setting an example. Less experienced players need to be given the space to do their jobs and make their mark on the national team. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski has been evaluating new talent throughout the last year as he builds a 2023 World Cup roster.

On Friday, the reigning World Cup champions play a highly anticipated friendly against England, the defending Euro Cup champions, in front of a sold-out crowd at Wembley Stadium in London. Everyone has to be ready.

“We’re players, first and foremost. So I feel like that’s the first team that we play for, all of us,” Rapinoe said. “I think for us, it’s just always a matter of trying to keep the team in the best situation possible and sort of using every ounce of leadership or knowledge or whatever to just make sure that everybody can show up and do their job, and also just trying to make everyone as comfortable as possible in a time that’s really uncomfortable and we can’t really get away from that.”

Success on the field is what gives the USWNT the platform to have a voice in the first place. Growing the game both on and off the field is a responsibility that all USWNT players have borne through the years.

“It’s something that this team has always taken pride in and taken on and ensuring that we leave the game in a better place,” Rapinoe said. “I think the game is already in a better place after this report than it was the day before it came out.”

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

UCLA-bound high school senior Sienna Betts led the West team to a decisive 104-82 victory over the East in the McDonald's All-American Girls Game held last night at New York's Barclays Center.

The 6'4" forward contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, earning MVP honors for her performance. ​

Betts is currently the class of 2025's No. 2 overall recruit. Only Texas-based point guard Aaliyah Chavez, who recently committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, ranks above her.

Betts to join sister Lauren Betts at UCLA next year

Betts's performance is a good indicator of her potential impact at UCLA next year. There, she'll join forces with her sister Lauren Betts, the senior currently leading the Bruins to this season's NCAA Final Four after transferring in from Stanford.

The Betts sisters' arrival is highly anticipated, with Lauren opting to forgo the 2025 WNBA Draft in order to play out her final year of college eligibility alongside her little sister.

“For me, it [committing to UCLA] was a lot about how the coaches care about you off the court, and the coaches at UCLA, they really care about your mental health,” Betts told The Flagler College Gargoyle after committing last year. “Every team that I’ve ever been on, we’ve been a family… So, they really cared about that part of basketball for me, and they showed me that on my visits and when I called to talk to them.”

Betts in good company as McDonald's All-American Game MVP

In Brooklyn, Betts showcased her ability among the sport's best high school talent. Recent McDonald's All-American MVPs have all gone onto fuel prominent NCAA programs, including top-ranked recruits UConn's Sarah Strong, South Carolina's Joyce Edwards, USC's JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and UCLA's own Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez.

The McDonald's All-American Game has a storied history of highlighting promising players, with past MVPs subsequently laying the foundation for future superstars.

Less than a day after Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles shocked the women’s basketball world by opting to enter the transfer portal rather than declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft, the Irish’s transfer fall-out has continued.

Sophomore guard Emma Risch and freshman forward Kate Koval have also entered the portal, with Koval — who started in 10 games this season — leading the Irish in blocks.

Between transfer moves and graduating seniors, sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo remains Notre Dame’s only returning starter — a sharp turn for an Irish squad ranked No. 1 in the country just six weeks ago.

Other top NCAA programs see transfer portal movement

Notre Dame isn’t the only top-tier program experiencing a roster shakeup after exiting the 2025 NCAA tournament.

LSU sophomore forward Sa'myah Smith entered the transfer portal after the Tigers’ season ended in Sunday’s Elite Eight. USC sophomore guard Aaliyah Gayles subsequently followed suit after the Trojans fell to UConn on Monday.

Schools like TCU have become national contenders via the transfer portal, with the Horned Frogs recruiting both Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince ahead of their first-ever Elite Eight run. Former Kentucky center Clara Silva is the latest transfer to commit to TCU, as the team comes off their best tournament finish in school history.

The modern era of NCAA roster-building is upon us, with top players taking the reigns as ambitious teams scramble to fill offseason gaps.

The NWSL is looking to sign a new Sunday night TV deal, according to a Sports Business Journal report published this week.

The league is targeting a two-year deal starting in 2026, with both new and existing TV partners interested in picking up additional NWSL games.

NWSL looks to build on multimillion dollar TV deal

The NWSL is currently two years into a four-year, $240 million TV partnership with ESPN, Prime, ION, and CBS Sports. However, the current contract doesn’t cover the entire schedule. And with league expansion planned for 2026, even more inventory is on the way.

SBJ notes that the market for this season’s lineup has been strong. In fact, all four media partners have already sold out all their 2025 advertising slots.

“You cannot find a place to spend right now,” IMG’s Hillary Mandel said at a recent Business of Soccer event hosted by SBJ. “We know what’s motivating interest is the fact that there’s no place to invest. That’s a phenomenal story in such a short period of time."

ESPN spotlighted for TV network-owned Sunday lineup

ESPN could be a prime candidate for a Sunday package, with the network set to move on from Sunday Night Baseball after the 2025 MLB season.

The NWSL has traditionally leaned into network-owned nights, with Prime airing Friday night matchups and ION running Saturday double-headers.

The NWSL’s most recent contract subsequently added serious value to the league. And the returns have networks coming back for more, setting up a potential bidding war and easing growing pains as new teams join the fold.

UCLA will hit the court for their first-ever NCAA Final Four on Friday, but as they extend the most successful season in program history, the Bruins have looked anything but green.

“We said talent was going to be our floor,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said after Sunday’s Elite Eight win over LSU. “Our character, our chemistry, our habits were going to be our ceiling.”

With just two losses on the season, UCLA’s status as a first-rate NCAA title contender has actually been years in the making.

Roster-building paves the way to the Final Four

In 2022, the Bruins signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, stacking their roster with top high school standouts Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, and Londynn Jones.

UCLA then upped their game even further last year, when 2022 No. 1 overall recruit Lauren Betts transferred in from Stanford — a move that fueled the Bruins all the way to the Sweet 16 with the promise of even greater success.

“Everyone came to UCLA for this reason: to do something we haven't done in a really long time,” Jaquez said on Sunday. “[I’m] just really proud of my teammates, the staff, the coaches, just continuing to get better every day and grow from each season prior.

With Lauren Betts at center, UCLA leans on depth

As one of the most dominant post players in college basketball, Betts is at the literal center of every UCLA performance. But that doesn’t mean the Bruins lack the depth it takes to handle a team like Final Four opponent UConn.

“When we have a deep team, I don’t have to be in the game at all times,” Betts said. “I have a team full of players who are just amazing and talented in their own right, and they put in the work.”

All in all, UCLA is coming into their own after developing much of its squad from the ground-up. Now it's time to make the case that patient roster-building can pay off on NCAA basketball’s biggest stage.