Happy Juneteenth! What’s about to follow is a statement by me, Taylor Sorrels, about some upheaval within the Louisville Coopers Board of Directors. If you don’t come here for supporter group infighting news and want to skip to the part where I make bad jokes about recent Louisville City/USL/NWSL-centric soccer news, feel free to skip to the next header! But if not, please do continue.

BIG, BOLD FACED DISCLAIMER: The following are the views of Taylor Sorrels, and only Taylor Sorrels, and are not endorsed by or have even been subject to review by the Louisville Coopers. These words are my own, I intend them to be construed as such, and are in no way to be construed as the words or policies or positions taken by the Coopers on anything subject to further notice or adoption.

Depending on where you look, the Coopers’ Mission Statement is:

“The Coopers will organize and lead the supporters section at LCFC games, grow passion for the professional soccer team in Louisville, and support the growth of the game of soccer and The Coopers, through social and charitable endeavors.”

Constitution and Bylaws of The Coopers, as amended January 16, 2020

Or it is:

The Coopers are an independent supporter group of Louisville City Football Club and is an organization run by volunteers through an elected board of directors. We represent the best interests of all LCFC supporters, organizing in-stadium support, road trips, tailgates, watch parties and social events.

www.louisvillecoopers.com “About” page

When the Coopers were first founded, we wanted to organize and promote support for pro soccer in Louisville. We held events and marches and tifo and did all the things soccer fans do to support their club, and then we got Louisville City FC. Once we did that, the mission diverted a little. We were still promoting the game, but we were also focused on creating a top-notch in-game experience for LouCity games. I think the Coopers have done that, too. Then, when the club needed vocal support for building what is now Lynn Family Stadium, we provided it.

We also created tifo in support of the victims of the massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston back in 2015 and in support of the victims of Charlie Hebdo shootings. We’ve made tifo for Pride and promoted Prideraiser campaigns every year LouCity’s been in existence. We participated in Pride-related events. We try as hard as we can to incorporate our spanish-speaking members into our group, and promote Hispanic Heritage Month. The Angel’s Share charity arm of the Coopers has raised money for refugees, disabled veterans and at-risk women and children.

None of those things are included in the Coopers’ Mission Statement. Some members of the Coopers have had problems with some of these things! But the Coopers did them anyway. Having a platform and large membership like the Coopers do means that the Coopers have the ability to use that platform and encourage its membership to do things for the benefit the Louisville community.

However, there has recently been quite a bit of strife within the Coopers Board of Directors. I wasn’t party to any of those conversations or board meetings. My understanding is folks were divided over whether or how the Coopers should engage its platform to support Black Lives Matter. Some disagreements ensued, and resignations were tendered.

Suffice it to say I’m sad about that. It’s a pretty easy concept: Black lives DO matter. That doesn’t mean other lives DON’T matter. But it does mean that historically, Black people in America have had horrible life experiences in contrast to their white counterparts, and many of those experiences were at the hands of government policies built, intentionally or otherwise, to oppress them. Those government policies include things like slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, poll taxes, voter suppression, gerrymandering, redline housing policies, the ever-expanding criminal and penal code, and the list sadly goes on. And that’s just government policy, leaving aside the issue of everyday racism that pretty clearly hasn’t been put to rest by Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or the election of a Black President of the United States of America.

Putting a voice like the Coopers have behind the people that have borne the brunt of all of that injustice isn’t a political stance, it’s a human one. It’s a stance the Coopers have taken before for other groups of people. I, Taylor Sorrels, fervently believe, and federal law requires, that humans of any stripe shouldn’t be treated like lesser-thans based on their of race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs ANYWHERE, and least of all by and in a country that trumpets FREEDOM as its founding and guiding principle. Supporting Black people in their struggle for equality was and is a no-brainer in my book, the book of Taylor Sorrels.

It was also a no-brainer for the very club the Coopers support, as LouCity has made multiple statements in support of Black Lives Matter, are donating proceeds from the sale of a Black Lives Matter scarf to Black Lives Matter Louisville, are officially celebrating Juneteenth as a holiday, are actively engaged in talks with prominent members of Louisville’s Black community about how to help them, and, oh yeah, happens to employ no fewer than seven Black players on the senior team roster.

I’m also concerned about where that leaves the Coopers on the eve of the re-start of the USL regular season at our brand-freakin’ new stadium, which we’ll get to later in the links.

The Coopers are, if nothing else, an important part of Louisville City and soccer in Louisville. In the not-too-distant past, they’ve been even more than just that, and have been vocal supporters of people in need. I desperately hope that there are members out there who care about what the Coopers are, what they can be, and what they represent to the point that you want to get involved and help lead our SG to what should be a very bright future.

If you care about the Coopers, about soccer, and about Louisville, nominations for board seats and officer positions will be open soon. I’ll warn you that it’s not an easy job to be part of an organization like this. The job is to work on behalf of the members, and the truth is not all members see things the same way! But if we stick to the mission statement, where we promise to work “the best interests of all LCFC supporters,” I think we’ll be able to continue to carry on and make the Coopers even better than ever. The Coopers are a community, and a community needs to take care of itself. Be a part of it!

Now to the news you probably came here for:

LouCity to celebrate Juneteenth!

Their Twitter statement below really says it all:

That’s called using your platform for good!

USL and USLPA reach agreement on season re-start

I don’t want to take anything away from the good work Jeff Rueter does, so I’ll just link to his article at The Athletic and let it do the talking. The good news is this agreement was crucial to getting the USL season re-start off the ground. Now all we have to do is beat COVID and everything will be hunky-dory! Wait.

NWSL Expansion news!

Louisville is going to be home to the 10th NWSL team Name TBD starting in 2021, but looks like they’ll soon have some company. LAFC’s ownership group has been in talks with the league, and a group has filed corporate paperwork in Delaware that looks like the formation of a team. Keep it up, NWSL!

Wynalda fired as Las Vegas Lights head coach

The flaming, Gonzo circus that is Las Vegas Lights FC moved on apace this week, firing head coach and infamous US soccer talking head Eric Wynalda with less than a month to go before the season re-start. I don’t know what Lights owner Brett Lashbrook thought he was getting when he hired Wynalda, but the following quotes really sum up the entire short-lived era:

“Of course he’ll say no (it wasn’t cost-related),” Wynalda told LVSportsBiz.com Wednesday evening. Wynalda said Lashbrook wanted him to take a pay cut of about 70 percent. In the end, it was a mutual decision, said Wynalda, who expects to be in Europe in a coaching position in three to six weeks.

“I wanted to make it about soccer. Brett Lashbrook wanted to make it a show. His ideology is different from mine,” Wynalda said. “A lot of owners are under immense cost pressure right now.”