NWSL investigation clears Albertin Montoya but recommends changes for Bay FC
Advertisement
Montoya will not face a suspension or any corrective actions. He was not suspended when the league opened its investigation in March and has coached the team through the first half of the 2025 season.
Following interviews with current and former players and staff, investigators from Debevoise & Plimpton provided recommendations to Bay FC, Montoya and the league concerning communication and support structures, but did not issue any sanctions or punitive measures. The list of recommendations was not provided in the league's statement, though the NWSL noted that all parties 'fully cooperated' with the investigation and are implementing them.
'We are grateful the league has identified opportunities for additional communication improvements which we are, and have been, implementing,' Bay FC said in a statement Tuesday. 'We strive to be a player-centric club and will continue to work hard to make sure we have a supportive environment for our players and staff. We believe in the culture we are building at Bay FC and will continue to support our players' growth on and off the pitch.'
The NWSL opened their review of the Bay FC coaching staff in March following two complaints lodged against Montoya, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The first complaint was made in the summer of 2024, and cleared by the club following its own investigation. Bay FC believe the second complaint was made via its midseason survey, and said in March that the club 'took the feedback very seriously and implemented new procedures to improve our communications across the team.'
In the 2024 offseason, the club hired two full time staff members for their player care and development department in an effort to provide additional support. As of March, Bay FC said those improvements included executive coaching for Montoya, as well as 'setting a clear framework around our team values and one team culture, as well as team communications and one on one interactions for staff.'
Advertisement
Montoya continues to have weekly sessions with an executive coach. Bay FC also has weekly meetings between Montoya and the team captains, and sporting director Matt Potter has weekly meetings with three player representatives outside of the captains group. Montoya meets with the club's mental performance coach twice a week to discuss player sentiment before and after each match. Bay FC has added additional positional meetings this season, and holds individual player touchpoints with the technical staff weekly as well.
Every player on Bay FC now has an individual development plan, based on feedback from the technical staff, high performance and mental performance department, and data analytics team.
While no statement was issued by NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman on the findings, the league will likely view the process of the Bay FC investigation as proof that the reporting system is working — though there may still be cultural issues around encouraging proactive reporting by players. Compared to findings from the Yates report and the NWSL/NWSLPA joint investigation, however, player feedback from player surveys directly resulted in a club making changes.
In March, Berman stressed that the league does not believe every report will end in disciplinary action, as they do not want that to deter players 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 ahead of the 2025 season. 'That's a mind shift given the history of this league, which I understand will take some time as we move forward.'
Bay FC is training Tuesday. Montoya, as well as players Tess Boade and Abby Dahlkemper, are set to speak to reporters as part of the club's regular media availability. This story will be updated following that availability.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ellis George LLP: CA Court of Appeal Upholds $5 Million Jury Verdict Against Bristol-Meyers-Squibb-owned Impact Biomedicines
Original verdict in Dr. James Brewer's fraud case reinstated by California Court of Appeal SAN DIEGO, July 21, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ellis George LLP announced that The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, has reversed a trial court order that reduced a jury verdict against Impact Biomedicines and instead reinstated the original $5,020,000 award. Impact Biomedicines, a division of Bristol-Meyers-Squibb, and Impact Biomedicine's founder and owner, Dr. John Hood, must pay San Diego physician and Alzheimer's researcher James Brewer M.D., Ph.D., more than $1 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages in a fraudulent concealment case filed in 2019. Dr. Brewer, chair of the neurology department at UC San Diego, was represented by Christopher W. Arledge and Courtney L. Mitchell, both of Ellis George LLP, and Peter Afrasiabi of One LLP. At trial in the San Diego County Superior Court, a 12-member jury awarded Dr. Brewer more than $5 million, finding that Impact Biomedicines and Dr. Hood had defrauded Dr. Brewer as part of Impact Biomedicines' effort to end an FDA-mandated clinical hold and get Impact Biomedicines' experimental cancer drug approved. The jury accepted Dr. Brewer's argument that Impact Biomedicines and Dr. Hood had misled the FDA about the work Dr. Brewer had done for them and the conclusions he had reached and then concealed its false statements to the FDA from Dr. Brewer. Later, the trial court agreed that Dr. Brewer had proven his fraud case but reduced the damages number significantly. At the time, Mr. Arledge said he disagreed with the court's decision to reduce the damages and predicted that the trial court's order would be reversed on appeal. Today it was. According to the Court of Appeal's opinion, "We conclude that substantial evidence supports the jury's findings on liability and damages, and the jury's award of punitive damages was not constitutionally excessive…" "This was a hard-fought win against a very well-funded opponent and one of the largest, most-prestigious law firms in the country. Now a jury, a trial court, and an appellate court have all agreed that Dr. Brewer proved his fraud claim, and we're grateful to the Court of Appeal for recognizing that the trial court's reduction in Dr. Brewer's damages was a legal error," said Mr. Arledge. "This is an important win for Dr. Brewer and for patients who must be able to rely on the FDA drug-approval process." Impact Biomedicines was represented by Colleen C. Smith, John T. Ryan, Andrew R. Gray, and Melissa Arbus Sherry, all of Latham & Watkins. James Brewer v Impact Biomedicines, et al. Superior Court No. 37-2019-00067876-CU-CO-CTL About Ellis George LLP Ellis George LLP is an elite litigation and trial firm based in Los Angeles and with offices in San Francisco and New York. Whether plaintiff or defendant, individual, Fortune 500 corporation or entrepreneur, clients call upon Ellis George when seeking litigation counsel of the highest quality, creativity, dedication, and ethics. Visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact:Jim Goldman, GoldmanMediaGroup, for Ellis George LLPinfo@ 408-427-4349
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen pulls out of the US Open after elbow surgery
NEW YORK (AP) — Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen withdrew from the U.S. Open on Monday, two days after announcing she had arthroscopic surgery on her right elbow because of 'persistent pain.' The sixth-ranked Zheng was coming off a first-round loss at Wimbledon last month. 'Over the past months, I've been dealing with persistent pain in my right elbow during training and matches,' the right-handed 22-year-old from China said on social media Saturday. 'Despite trying various treatments to manage it, the discomfort never fully went away.' Zheng said she anticipated her recovery would take months, so the exit from the year's last Grand Slam tournament was not a surprise. The U.S. Open begins Aug. 24. She was replaced in the field by France's Leolia Jeanjean. ___ AP tennis:
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Carlos Alcaraz withdraws from the Toronto Masters. Sinner, Djokovic and Draper already were out
TORONTO (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz pulled out of the Toronto Masters tournament on Monday, a day after Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Jack Draper withdrew from the hard-court event that begins next week. Alcaraz said Toronto 'comes just too soon for me as I recover after Wimbledon,' where he was the runner-up to Sinner on July 13, coming up just short of a third consecutive title at the All England Club. Alcaraz owns five Grand Slam titles, one more than Sinner. Sinner is ranked No. 1, Alcaraz is No. 2, Draper is No. 5, and 24-time major champion Djokovic is No. 6. ___ AP tennis:
