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I want to start off by thanking Sinead Farrelly & Mana Shim. The courage both of you showed in sharing your stories to ensure the safety of others has impacted me significantly over these past few days and influenced how I wish to comment on what has been happening in the NWSL.

The injustices that our teammates are experiencing in the United States are issues that all professional players (regardless of gender or league) should be paying attention to and taking seriously. My solidarity and complete admiration goes out to all my friends and colleagues in the NWSL that are supporting and caring for each other during this time.

Investment has played a crucial role in the development of women’s soccer in the United States and has led to its infrastructure being recognized as highly advanced on a global scale. But even the most advanced infrastructures have some horrible cracks in its foundations. And because of that, there needs to be an awareness that weaker foundations can also have equally if not more horrible incidents swimming beneath the surface.

Which led me to write this today.

Reading The Athletic article made me reflect on many things and made me sure that coaches who use their power to manipulate their players are more common than we often want to admit. And as much as we try to ignore it, or move on with our lives, things won’t change until we start making the tough decisions. It is up to EVERYONE (players and non-players) to stop these injustices.

I grew up within the confines of a Venezuelan National Team that was led by a specific person who shared a lot of the abusive characteristics described within the article. As I read line after line of the piece, I was brought back to the many moments I had lived through personally or heard about from colleagues — colleagues who, for fear of retaliation, had chosen to only speak in hushed whispers to those they trusted.

For a long time, we had all convinced ourselves that these experiences were normal. I had assumed that this machista environment built on exploitive control and degradation was the price a woman athlete had to pay to be a professional player.

But I was wrong. And I knew I was wrong as soon as I saw the level of professionalism and respect the entire coaching staff at FSU demanded from themselves individually and each other as I played collegiate soccer in Florida. In those moments I understood that my formative years as a young woman developing as a soccer player had been lived under an abusive culture.

And I want to speak out on it.

Today, I decide to write these lines to serve as a voice and platform for the thousands of amateur and professional soccer players who live in fear of speaking out and reporting the abuse they’ve been forced to live.

For many years I thought what I saw and lived was normal, but I write this to let those athletes that come next know that none of it is normal.

• It is NOT normal for a coach to use his power to manipulate you to do things you don’t want to do. That is not a coach, that is an abuser.

• It is NOT normal for a coach to bribe people in exchange for favors. He doesn’t do that for the greater good, he does it because he knows he can go about his ways without anyone reporting it.

• It is NOT normal for a coach to ask players to come into his room to give them a massage during team camps and /or trips.

• It is NOT normal for a coach to question your sexual preference.

• It is NOT normal to begin feeling tiredness or to lose the desire to play soccer and think it is a consequence of your mental weakness; that’s emotional abuse.

• It is NOT normal for a coach to use your weight to make you feel bad and degrade you. That is not a demanding coach, he is a coach who uses manipulative methods to compensate for his lack of competency.

• It is NOT normal for people to see what is happening and who COULD do something to change the situation choose NOT to do it; they are not victims of the situation, they are accomplices.

• It is NOT normal to excuse this behavior by saying “this is soccer in this country” or “things have always been this way” to justify the abuse; these are signs that the wrong people are in charge.

The title of coach does not mean absolute power over your person and your body. The ability to start a game or receive more minutes on the field must NEVER be the result of manipulations by your coach.

I close this off by once again thanking Sinead Farrelly & Mana Shim.

Sinead, Mana — I know that it must’ve been hard to relive all those moments again at the expense of the greater good and while I wish none of this would’ve never happened to either of you and so many others, please know your bravery has become a catalyst for leagues to implement significant changes that not only protect the players but eliminate nonsensical rules that promote control over those same players and that have no place in any professional soccer league.

Lastly, my admiration goes out to my colleagues at the Venezuelan National Team for the bravery displayed today ( letter here) I am extremely proud of each and every one of you for collectively raising our voices so that no other soccer team (amateur or professional) must endure our experience.

While they will constantly try to silence us, the only way to demand changes is by supporting each other and demanding dignified treatment in our profession.