Vestavia Hills alumna shines light on ‘toxic’ culture at pro soccer club

When 2009 Vestavia Hills High School graduate Rebecca Cade took the job as the sideline reporter for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake, she couldn’t have imagined that two years later, she would be making national news for helping expose what she said is a “toxic” culture at the club.

Cade was working at FOX 13, a TV station in Salt Lake City, in her second sports broadcasting job when someone who knew Real Salt Lake (RSL) would be looking for a sideline reporter reached out, and her boss at the station helped get her in the door.

The job was a dream come true, Cade said, as she always wanted to work for a professional sports team. She reached that goal well ahead of her own schedule, she said.

However, it didn’t take long before things started to go wrong, she said.

FROM DREAM TO NIGHTMARE

Bosses at the club quickly began berating her, yelling at her and cussing at her when she made mistakes, she said. More than that, a culture of sexism and inappropriate male behavior quickly unveiled itself, Cade said.

Cade said she was accused of sleeping with team players, was told she was not allowed to talk to the players or coaches outside of work and was told to not post any pictures on social media in swimsuits.

Cade said that, at the 2018 MLS Super Draft, RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen grabbed her by the arm just before she was set to interview the newest member of the team, put his hand in her hair and fluffed it and said, “That’s better.”

While that was the only negative experience Cade said she had with Hansen, she said her interactions and relationship with Chief Business Officer Andy Carroll were a major problem.

Cade said that, early in her time at RSL, Carroll told her she needed to wear “frumpy” clothing so she wouldn’t be a “distraction” to the players. She said she was told not to laugh or smile at practice because it was a “distraction” to the team and was told to be “invisible.”

During a Friday after-work meeting between Carroll and other men in management, Carroll allegedly passed around scotch and said derogatory things about Cade’s body, she said, including lewd comments about her chest. While Cade was not in the meeting, she said she was given that information from a friend who was in the meeting and has a text message from that source with the information.

The only reason Cade didn’t complain to human resources staff was that she had been told by other women who had suffered harassment that human resources did nothing to protect the employees and instead protecte downers and higher-ups in the organization.

Cade’s comments about her experiences at RSL have made national news recently, being featured in an ESPN story, as well as in RSL Soapbox, a popular sports site dedicated to the team.

Both the club’s director of public relations and the legal representative for the club did not respond to a request for comment on any of the allegations raised in this story. Carroll has taken a leave of absence, and the club’s parent company, Utah Soccer, said in a statement that it is investigating the allegations raised in the RSL Soapbox article.

Hansen has come under fire for alleged racist comments made during his tenure as owner and has announced his plans to sell the team.

The allegations came to light after Hansen publicly complained about his players’ decision to not play against another club in light of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

Two years after her time at RSL, Cade said she does not care what happens to Hansen and Carroll, but she hopes that women in general will learn to speak up for themselves.

Reflecting on her experience, Cade said despite how intimidating and terrible it was, she wouldn’t change anything.

“I feel like I’ve become a completely different person,” Cade said. “It made me get to a point where I had to force myself to get empowered. ... It makes me want to fight. ...I like who I became.”

In addition to the alleged sexual harassment, Cade said there was disagreement over her continuing work at FOX 13. She did so with the consent of RSL, but the club eventually took issue with it, she said. That ultimately led to her being fired from the club, and while the official word from the club was that she “was not a fit,” Cade said a variety of factors, including her other work and the harassment she endured, led to her departure.

LOOKING BACK AND TO THE FUTURE

When Cade left Utah, she left what she said was a “fun” career in sports broadcasting, one that took her from the University of Alabama to Lake Charles, La., and then to Salt Lake City.

“Mostly I have fond memories,” Cade said.

Cade switched her major to sports broadcasting at Alabama and said seeing the morning show at Vestavia Hills High School was part of her inspiration to pursue a career in the field. She got connected to folks in the industry in Louisiana during the 2013 Southeastern Conference Media Days, where she worked as an intern for WBRC.

For two years, she lived in Lake Charles, and said she loved her boss there and enjoyed her time at the station.

After she moved to Utah, Cade began modeling and was told she had talent as an actress as well, after attending a mandatory workshop for her modeling agency. Soon, after being let go by RSL, Cade was faced with a decision: whether to try and find another sports broadcasting job or pursue another career.

Choosing the latter, she now lives in Atlanta, where she continues to act and do some modeling, and has recently helped open a dance fitness studio. Taking up boxing after a bad breakup, Cade said she fell into fitness.

While she isn’t sure where fitness or acting will take her, she is doing what she loves.

“I don’t need to be in the 1%,” Cade said. “I do it because I love it.”

Cade spent two weeks in Michigan in late September and early October working on an indie film called “The Bachelorette Games.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to find acting jobs, Cade said the fact that businesses in Georgia were open most of the summer made it somewhat easier.

Being a woman in the sports world, Cade said she was treated differently. As she now moves forward with her life and new career, Cade said women, no matter their line of work, should not put up with sexual harassment and sexism.

“Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself,” Cade said. “Say something. We as women have to stick together.”