The NWSL has opened an independent formal review of Bay FC’s coaching staff, a league spokesperson confirmed to The Athletic on Friday. The review was first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle following a two-month investigation by the publication into allegations from former players and staff members of a “toxic” environment under head coach Albertin Montoya.

“The NWSL takes all concerns related to player well-being extremely seriously,” a league spokesperson said in a statement. “We have established clear and confidential mechanisms for anyone in the NWSL ecosystem to report any concerns. Based on information shared with the league, we are initiating a formal review of the communications between technical staff and the players at Bay FC and will take the appropriate steps necessary based on the findings of that review.”

Montoya has not been suspended and no other formal action is being taken against him at the start of the review. He is expected to coach the team, barring any changes, as Bay FC begins its 2025 season on Saturday, March 15, in Utah against the Royals.

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman addressed the new review in public remarks ahead of Friday’s Challenge Cup match, reinforcing that the league felt “confident” in its systems and processes regarding player complaints and investigations.

“Based on information that has come to our attention, a review is underway by an independent third party, and we’re very confident that the system we have in place will ensure that we surface the issues that need to be addressed,” Berman said Friday.

The league’s review of the Bay FC coaching staff follows the short-lived hiring of Graeme Abel as the head of domestic scouting for the club. Abel resigned on Feb. 26, roughly a week after his hiring was announced. Abel was at the center of a 2024 investigative report conducted by The Oregonian, which looked into his conduct and allegations of verbal abuse during his time as head coach of the University of Oregon’s women’s soccer team.

Graeme Abel parted ways with Bay FC a week after his hiring amid reports of previous allegations of abuse. (Robin Alam / Getty Images)

Asked if the initial hiring of Abel would be in the scope of the league’s review, Berman said: “I can say in general about our hiring practices and protocols is that we are always … reviewing and analyzing the things that we can continue to do, the things that we think need to evolve and shift. We are confident in what we have in place right now, and to the extent we decide to make changes, we’ll implement that in consultation and in partnership with the Players Association.”

Per the Chronicle’s investigation, two complaints had been filed against Montoya. The first complaint was filed in the summer of 2024, “after a player felt targeted by personal comments directed by Montoya toward her during review meetings.” The club’s ownership cleared the complaint after an internal investigation, the team told The San Francisco Chronicle.

“Regarding the first complaint noted in the (Chronicle) article, as soon as we received it, we took it very seriously and immediately looked into the complaint,” Bay FC said in a statement provided to The Athletic. “Following follow up by a third party, the inquiry did not find any evidence of misconduct.”

Details of the second complaint were not shared as they may have identified a player who submitted the complaint using the league’s anonymous reporting line.

“We were recently made aware of feedback from the league about our end-of-season survey that is related solely to communication challenges,” Bay FC said in a statement. “We take all feedback very seriously and are working closely with the league to review and will take the appropriate steps necessary based on findings.

“The feedback referenced in the San Francisco Chronicle article appears to have come from the midseason survey, it is also important to understand that the end of season player survey showed marked improvement in Bay FC’s ranking amongst the NWSL Clubs, improving from 11 out of 14 midseason to 6 out of 14 at the end of the year. The feedback received about the mid-summer player surveys was also related solely to communication challenges. We took the feedback very seriously and implemented new procedures to improve our communications across the team. This included executive coaching, setting a clear framework around our team values and one team culture, as well as team communications and one on one interactions for staff.”

The Chronicle also reported that “multiple former staff members” had signed nondisclosure agreements preventing them from speaking about their time with the club. That’s a notable mention, considering that one of the safety recommendations following the Yates Report included prohibiting the use of NDAs to “shield information about abuse allegations.”

A source with knowledge of club proceedings said that Bay FC employees do sign nondisclosure agreements related to the club’s proprietary information, which includes current and prospective player performance information, as well as marketing and business information. Departing employees are asked to refrain from public commentary about Bay FC following their tenure. Neither of these applies to players, however, as they are not Bay FC employees — all players sign their agreements with the NWSL.

The Athletic spoke to two current Bay FC players who expressed confidence in Bay FC’s processes for handling player feedback and complaints.

“This has been handled exactly how it should,” forward Tess Boade told The Athletic on Friday. “I don’t think it should be, ‘No complaints come up.’ I don’t think that’s ever a truly achievable goal. A high performing, high achieving environment, there are always things that can be better. I think there were things voiced that we didn’t know about until this article (from the Chronicle) came out, but it’s obvious that Bay FC handled it how they needed to, getting a third party to review it.”

“For us, all we can do is be open and honest,” defender Abby Dahlkemper added, “and we know that the coaches and staff at this club care about us players.”

No timeline was established on when the formal review would be completed by the league and its third-party investigators. Berman said that they take each review and investigation on a case-by-case basis when it comes to sharing any results or reports publicly.

Bay FC starts its second season in NWSL on Saturday, March 15 against the Utah Royals. (Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)

The Bay Area club is entering its second NWSL season, after debuting as an expansion team in 2024. After a rocky start, the team became the second in league history to reach the postseason in its inaugural year.

Montoya, whose ties to the Bay Area and its youth soccer scene run deep, was hired in September 2023. Montoya previously had served as interim head coach for the Washington Spirit for two months in 2023 and had a short-lived tenure with the FC Gold Pride in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer league.

According to the Chronicle’s reporting, Montoya has a close relationship with Bay FC’s principal owner Alan Waxman through his ties with Mountain View Los Altos Soccer Club, a top youth program in the Bay Area. Montoya, who still serves on its board of directors, has been a longtime coach in the club. His wife also still coaches there, and Montoya is still listed as head coach of an under-8 boys’ team.

Berman said the league is “building tolerance” around the system being used proactively. The league does not want players or staff to be afraid to report an issue or to use the reporting system to ask questions about behavior they’ve experienced or witnessed. Berman said the league fears what would happen if the assumption that every report ends in disciplinary action and that they think it might deter people from raising concerns.

“We actually want questions and concerns and potential issues to be brought to our attention early so that we can put the systems in place through education, other resources and tools to make sure that we’re supporting our technical staff and our coaches with what they need to be successful,” Berman said Friday. “That’s a mind shift given the history of this league, which I understand will take some time as we move forward.”

(Photo: Eakin Howard / Imagn Images)