LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - Leading when times are good can be easy.
You soak up the spotlight and love the praise. Social media looks a lot more positive.
But true leadership is tested when times are not good. It is measured when you shoulder the task of shining a positive light when trying to leave darkness behind.
Racing Louisville Football Club's current leadership, one that is a product of its dark past, fairly felt it had to part with someone who helped build the new heart of the club it wants to be so it can be the winner it now needs to be. And former captain Jaelin Howell, who will walk out at Lynn Family Stadium Saturday night for the first time as an opponent with her new team in Seattle Reign FC to face Racing and its former Seattle striker in Bethany Balcer, knows she did all she could.
"It was pretty hard," Howell said of her initial reaction to being traded. "I think everybody here and across the league knows how much I poured my heart and soul into that club, to help build it.
"But at the end of the day, I think players need this in their careers to kind of kickstart the next chapter. And I think for me, after being here a couple weeks, this is exactly that."
Seattle Reign midfielder Jaelin Howell looks to shoot against North Carolina Courage midfielder Denise O'Sullivan, left, during the second half of an NWSL soccer match, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, in Seattle. The Reign won 1-0. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Before we get to the story of a very talented defensive midfielder trying to do that for one of the NWSL's most accomplished clubs, the story of that same player, and what she was tasked with from the moment a much younger club selected her with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, is one that goes like this:
Racing needed someone like Howell to help change a culture in need of change.
Her first season in a Louisville kit saw something she had no involvement in, which was the fallout from an inaugural campaign where the club's first head coach in Christy Holly was fired for cause due to what was later revealed to be various accusations of abuse, including allegations of sexual abuse from former Louisville defender Erin Simon.
Howell, who came out of Florida State as the nation's best college player with the Hermann Trophy, was officially a member of Racing on Dec. 18, 2021. The Yates Report, an independent investigation that revealed widespread abuse in the NWSL, came out during her rookie season on Oct. 3, 2022.
There was warranted outrage in Louisville, as Racing initially did not reveal the reasons for Holly's firing. Supporters flew banners demanding organizational change. The players on the team at the time released their own statement on the findings without any involvement from members of the club.
The community here needed to see the first top-tier professional team in Kentucky since the 1970s enact real change to connect with it and earn some trust back. Howell was absolutely key in doing that.
"I really had to focus on off-the-field stuff, trying to grow the club and provide everything with my leadership," Howell said. "And I intend to do the same with Reign. But obviously, with a new club, it was next level for me."
The only way to rise to it was to do the work. And I mean the *real* work. She earned some of that with her locker room presence as a rookie, later learning that former head coach Kim Björkegren would name the 23-year-old Racing's captain ahead of her second season in March of 2023.
"It was a lot of responsibility, but I accepted it and I wanted it," Howell said. "I loved the girls on the team. They're like my family over the past three years and I wanted to do that for them. I wanted to see the club succeed and I loved the city."
Howell showed it by extending a caring hand to a growing soccer city. She participated in a town hall to address changes Racing had made in the wake of firing Holly, consistently spoke at news conferences and showed up to promotional events, started an online segment with fellow midfielder and close friend Savannah DeMelo and much more.
Courtesy of Nationwide
"It was also easy because I never do anything 50%," Howell said. "It was 120%. And so for me, I have no regrets because I know on and off the pitch, I put 110% effort, like my blood, sweat, tears, heart, soul, the extra hours, every little thing possible I could have done to help the club grow."
The centerpiece of that effort was her impact on Down Syndrome of Louisville, which earned her the NWSL's Nationwide Community Impact Award. Carrying the passion from having a close family friend with the condition, she formed a special bond with the organization. Howell put on a dance and fundraiser for its members while also inviting them to games, honoring one after every match as an honorary captain.
For Racing Louisville FC captain Jaelin Howell, Down Syndrome of Louisville hits close to her heart.
"DSL has such a special place in my heart," Howell said. "I gave everything that I had to them, but I think they gave me more, honestly. Just the joy and the fulfillment I got working with them, even after games, no matter how the game went, I was looking forward to seeing our honorary captains."
Racing's Kayla Fischer and Katie Lund, who are close friends with Howell, carried the tradition on in the first match without their captain.
We loved having Alex out at Saturday’s game as our @DSofLou honorary captain! 🫶 pic.twitter.com/VOfDFH4dDH
— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) August 26, 2024
"The girls knew how important that was to me," Howell said, admitting seeing that post brought some tears to her eyes. "Katie and Kayla, I didn't even ask them, and they just filled that role. And that just shows them having my back. I think a lot of the team going up to them and saying hi, everybody's like, 'We'll take care of it,' and that just showed a lot."
On the pitch, Howell did the same plenty of times. She ranked second among rookies in minutes for her first season, making 22 starts, before seeing those minutes drop by a little more than 500 in 2023 thanks to injuries. Those, along with the maximum effort she made off the field, combined to have what she believes to be an adverse effect on her form. And an intense competitor also knew her team struggled to put wins together, something she couldn't help much with while trying to get healthy to start this season.
"I couldn't focus on the pure soccer as much," Howell said. "But I wouldn't take any of it back. I learned a lot through the process. I developed as a person and a leader moreso than anything.
"And so now, I can take those tools that I learned through that whole process and plug them into a fantastic club with a huge history, great leaders and coaches. And in the end, I think that it worked out for the best."
The 24-year-old is embracing the chance to work with the NWSL's all-time wins leader in Seattle head coach Laura Harvey as well as other members of an organization that has won a lot. Currently, Reign may not be living up to that tradition, sitting in a tie for next-to-last in the league. But a young leader like Howell can help initiate some change to get back to form while also learning to improve herself.
"I'm just ready to soak that all up," Howell said. "That's something that I'm really, really craving for this next step in my career: just world-class players who have a lot of experience winning in this league and at an international level.
"They're looking for a hard-nosed midfielder, competitor and somebody who who wants to win. I want to provide all of that for them."
She also wants to get back to the United States Women's National Soccer Team. The physical ball-winner aims to be the best at her position in the league and to help lead Seattle, who finished a win short of a league title in 2023, back to the top of the NWSL.
"All the highest goals possible," Howell said when asked where she wants to be in one year. "I think that's very possible in a year. And I want to get on track even sooner than that.
"This club can give me the platform to do exactly that and that's what I'm very excited about. And from the first day I walked in, I knew that. Just by having the conversations with everybody, I knew that.
I think this team is very special. And so, like I said, I'm just really excited to be a part of it. It's really unexpected, but it's a blessing in disguise. And I think it's what my career ultimately has needed."
Just remember: Racing Louisville Football Club needed her first. And hopefully, that is recognized when its former captain returns.
"I pride myself on my professionalism and I go 100% with whoever I'm with," Howell said. "And when I get on that field, I don't think about anything. So on the field, it is going to be very easy for me to flip that switch.
"And obviously, coming in so soon after the trade, I'm excited for it. Off the field, I can say hi to the girls on Racing, see them and say the goodbyes I didn't get to say.
"But as everybody knows, it's pro sports. So, when I step in that stadium and on that field, it's all business. I'm ready to come in and do my job."
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