Meghann Burke
Personal information
Full name Meghann Kay Burke[1]
Date of birth (1980-10-11) October 11, 1980[2]
Place of birth St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2002 Saint Louis Billikens
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000 Fort Collins Force
2001–2002 Memphis Mercury
2003 Carolina Courage
2004 Asheville Splash
2004–2005 Bristol Rovers
2006–2007 River Cities Futbol Club
2008 Boston Renegades[3] 14 (0)
2010 Chicago Red Stars 0 (0)
2010 Sky Blue FC 4 (0)
2018 Asheville City SC 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Meghann Kay Burke (born October 11, 1980) is an attorney and executive director of the National Women's Soccer League Players Association (NWSLPA), the trade union for players in the NWSL, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Burke led the NWSLPA to its first collective bargaining agreement in 2022.

Burke is also a retired soccer player and coach. As a player, Burke was a goalkeeper for teams in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), and was most recently a player and coach for Women's Premier Soccer League club Asheville City SC.

College career

Burke attended Mehlville High School and was named Metro Goalkeeper of the Year in 1998.[4] She was part of the United States U16 team in 1996–97.[5] In four years at Saint Louis University Burke was a first-team starter and was named to various select teams.[4] She also acquired the nickname "the Burkeinator"[5] and was declared the university's Player of the Decade.[6]

Club career

Amateur

After 2000, Burke featured for a number of W-League and WPSL teams.[6][7]

She played for Bristol Rovers in 2004–05, helping the English club reach the semi-finals of the FA Women's Cup.[7]

Professional

After graduating from SLU, Burke was drafted by Carolina Courage of the WUSA.[6] She returned to the professional ranks as a development player with Chicago Red Stars of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2010[6] before joining Sky Blue FC as a free agent in August 2010.[8]

Burke studied labor law while playing in WPS.[9] She graduated with a juris doctor from the Northeastern University School of Law.[10]

WPS Players Union

In 2010 while still playing in WPS, Burke helped organize the WPS Players Union to represent players under the league's new ownership structure.[11]

Practice

Burke worked for the firm of Brazil & Burke in Asheville, North Carolina, as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney from 2011 to 2021.[12][13]

NWSL Players Association

The NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) hired Burke as its general council in May 2017 at the association's founding. Burke had been a teammate of the association's founding executive director Yael Averbuch in 2010 while at Sky Blue FC.[9] The association appointed Burke its chief operating officer in November 2020.[9][12] On April 1, 2022, the NWSLPA hired Burke as its full-time executive director, replacing Brooke Elby.[12][14]

In June 2022, AFL-CIO members elected Burke to its executive council as a vice president.[15]

Collective bargaining agreement

The NWSLPA began negotiations with the NWSL toward its first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in March 2021.[16]

The union and league ratified the agreement on January 31, 2022, less than a day before players were expected to report to clubs for the 2022 preseason. The agreement provided improvements to player salaries and benefits, facilities, parental and mental health leave, and initial steps toward free agency for long-tenured players.[17] Burke said the association worked with players' unions of other professional sports leagues to help draft the CBA, particularly the Women's National Basketball Players Association, and also worked to make the NWSL CBA public.[18]

Free agency arbitration

The new CBA provided players with sufficient tenure whose contracts were expiring as of August 26, 2022, the option to begin negotiating with clubs as free agents. However, the league interpreted this provision to exclude players whose contracts had options to extend, even if the club had not determined whether it would exercise the option or notified the player of any decision to extend. The league's interpretation would delay those players' negotiations until November 15, the deadline for clubs to exercise options. The NWSLPA disagreed on behalf of 22 affected players who had expected to begin negotiations in August.

Burke worked with NWSLPA president Tori Huster to dispute the league's interpretation through an independent arbitrator per the CBA's terms, and on October 17, 2022, the arbitrator ruled in favor of the NWSLPA and granted free agency to 22 of the affected players. Burke and NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman both praised the use of the arbitration process, which had been added by the CBA, to resolve the dispute.[19]

Abuse investigations

In July 2021, Burke warned then-NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird that players would submit a serious complaint against North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley. A complaint filed with the league in the same month alleged that Riley was inappropriately discussing players' weight and required a player to send him details about her weight daily for two months.[20]

In September 2021, The Athletic published a report detailing accusations of sexual abuse of players and misconduct by Riley spanning years and across the NWSL and WPS. It also reported that the NWSL had disregarded players who reported the issues in 2015. Burke spoke again with Baird about the report before Baird resigned on October 1, 2021.[21] On October 26, 2021, Burke suggested that Baird's resignation did not address the systemic issues that led to the alleged abuse.[22]

Burke worked with the NWSL to launch a joint league-wide investigation into reports of abuse and misconduct. The league and association each hired law firms to serve as independent investigators.[23] The joint investigation reported its results in December 2022, which led to the permanent bans of former coaches Riley, Richie Burke, Rory Dames, and Christy Holly, and uncovered several instances of misconduct across many of the league's teams.[24][25]

In October 2022, Burke was featured in an E:60 documentary, Truth Be Told, about the abuse scandal. In the documentary, she suggested that the league's low professional standards in its early years contributed to the abuse.[26]

Sports ownership

Burke is a co-owner of Asheville City SC[27] and helped to co-found the club's Women's Premier Soccer League side with Stacey Enos and Lydia Vandenbergh.[28]

Personal life

Burke is married to Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, a Buncombe County commissioner and executive director of LGBT advocacy group Campaign for Southern Equality.[13][10][29][30] Burke had served as lead counsel for Campaign for Southern Equality and co-authored the organization's amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark gay marriage case Obergefell v. Hodges.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "College of Arts and Sciences, Degree Candidates – May 17, 2003: Bachelor of Arts". Saint Louis University Commencement. St. Louis, Missouri: Saint Louis University. May 17, 2003. p. 10.
  2. ↑ Howell, John (April 1, 2010). "WPS Chicago Red Stars Announce Opening Day Roster". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Boston Renegades". USLsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Player Bio:Meghann Burke". SLBillikens.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Profile with Meghann Burke" (PDF). Soccer America. November 13, 2000. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Meghann Burke". WomensProSoccer.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  7. 1 2 "W-League Combine 2008" (PDF). USLsoccer.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Scorecard: By the numbers". Pioneer Press. August 14, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 Burke, Meghann (September 27, 2021). "Hot Take: Meghann Burke, Executive Director of the NWSL Players Association". Burn It All Down (Interview). Interviewed by Lindsay Gibbs. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Walton, Beth (July 9, 2015). "Equality mission advances: What's next for gay rights?". Citizen Times. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  11. ↑ Belson, Ken (September 12, 2010). "Owners Will Run W.P.S. As Commissioner Exits". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  12. 1 2 3 Kennedy, Paul (April 5, 2021). "Meghann Burke takes on role of NWSLPA executive director". Soccer America. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Meghann Burke". Brazil & Burke. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  14. ↑ Lewis, Michael (April 5, 2021). "BURKE'S LAW: Meghann Burke named new NWSLPA executive director". Front Row Soccer. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  15. ↑ Lewis, Michael (April 24, 2023). "EXECUTIVE COUNCIL: NWSLPA's Burke elected as AFL-CIO VP". Front Row Soccer.
  16. ↑ Murray, Caitlin (January 31, 2022). "Free agency, higher salaries part of first-ever CBA between players, NWSL". ESPN. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  17. ↑ Herrera, Sandra (February 1, 2022). "NWSL players make history with first-ever collective bargaining agreement ahead of 2022 preseason". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  18. ↑ Burke, Meghann (May 6, 2022). "The NWSL's first ever CBA raises the bar for women's sports" (Interview). Interviewed by Alex Azzi. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  19. ↑ Azzi, Alex (October 17, 2022). "Twenty-two NWSL players eligible for free agency after arbitration decision". On Her Turf. NBC Sports. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Abuse in the NWSL: A complete timeline of allegations, reports and inaction". The Athletic. October 10, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  21. ↑ Carlisle, Jeff (October 4, 2022). "Former NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird stands by decisions during turbulent tenure". ESPN. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  22. ↑ Herrera, Sandra (October 26, 2021). "NWSLPA's Meghann Burke, Kealia Watt want player safety prioritized as NWSL grapples with 'systemic failures'". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  23. ↑ Burke, Meghann; Berman, Jessica (September 30, 2022). "NWSL & NWSLPA's joint investigation, one year after Paul Riley: Where it stands, what's next" (Interview). Interviewed by Meg Linehan. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  24. ↑ Linehan, Meg (December 14, 2022). "NWSL, NWSLPA joint investigation report details 'widespread misconduct'". The Athletic. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  25. ↑ Yang, Steph (January 9, 2023). "NWSL bans Paul Riley, Christy Holly and others following joint investigation". The Athletic. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  26. ↑ Azzi, Alex (October 10, 2022). "Yates report takeaways extend beyond NWSL: 'Guardrails' are essential for women's pro sports". On Her Turf. NBC Sports. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  27. ↑ Holcomb, Aubrie (June 20, 2021). "EPIC NIGHT AT GREENWOOD SEES BLUES TAKE DOWN UNDEFEATED EAGLES" (Press release). United Soccer League. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  28. ↑ Davila IV, Jose (November 6, 2019). "Asheville City's Departure for USL". Protagonist Soccer. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  29. ↑ Janes, Théoden (October 12, 2014). "Charlotte attorney for same-sex couples celebrates anniversary – and legal win". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  30. ↑ Vaillancourt, Cory (March 3, 2021). "Buncombe Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara wants Madison Cawthorn's seat". Smoky Mountain News. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  31. ↑ BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE CAMPAIGN FOR SOUTHERN EQUALITY AND EQUALITY FEDERATION IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2015.
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