GREEVER | Racing Louisville FC pays a captain's price in an attempt to make a needed playoff push

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For Racing Louisville Football Club, this was not just another transaction.

You do not trade your 24-year-old captain, one with the talent and community dedication of Jaelin Howell, unless you have a swing up your sleeve to do something that has not been done in this club's short history.

Step up to the plate, Ryan Dell and Bev Yanez. They paid a captain's price (plus $50,000) to bring in a bonafide striker and winner. Acquiring Bethany Balcer, whose 33 goals tie for the third-most goals in the NWSL since 2019, is the move that says Racing needs to make the playoffs. Now.

"This is something we have spent a lot of time thinking about," Dell, the second-year general manager said. "It's been a very difficult decision, but we obviously want to make the playoffs and that's the most important thing for us."

As it stands now, Racing is two points out of the final NWSL playoff spot and in need of momentum in this city. There are 10 games left and Louisville will start league play again Saturday night vs. Chicago.

Attendance and overall exposure, while improved, need to keep improving as Louisville tries to snap a five-match winless skid. During that stretch, the club scored just four goals.

Balcer has five for the season and is the only player to score at least five in every campaign since 2019, when she was the NWSL's Rookie of the Year.

"She doesn't see anything else but scoring goals," Yanez, who actually played with Balcer in Seattle in 2019, said. "She's very direct in the way that she is and will do everything she can.

"She understands that her role is to put the ball in the back of the net, and she embraces that role. And obviously, I got to see her in a rookie season where it was like, 'Dang, what the heck?' She was unstoppable, and then now, she has shown the consistency piece of it.

"I think that's the biggest piece in this league that everybody could agree with: Having one good year, then having three or four good years is very different and difficult in this league. I think she's shown that. So for us to have someone of that caliber here, and for me, it's what we need."

The 27-year-old striker has tallied the following goal totals for each season of her career: six, nine, seven, six and five (in progress). Any of those totals, excluding the current one that Louisville hopes keeps growing, would have at least tied Racing's leading goal scorer in any of Louisville's seasons. 

"We had always had a hope of bringing her to Louisville," Dell said. "She's an incredibly experienced striker in this league. She is a competitor and someone that we greatly value."

Dell said they had an eye on Balcer since the offseason. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he added both Reign and Racing had chances to meet with Balcer and Howell before finalizing the move.

"Midseason trades are never easy on anybody," Balcer said. "But looking forward to working with Bev was something that I was excited about. And, you know, sometimes change is good and it's necessary for growth."

Racing also announced a back line replacement after trading Carson Pickett to Orlando, signing a promising talent in Ángela Barón, who has already risen up the Colombian National Team ranks. But as Seattle fans have also pointed out with Balcer's mental health work in their community, Howell and Pickett also left major marks via community efforts with Down Syndrome of Louisville, Norton Children's Hospital and others.

"You can't understate what Jaelin and Carson meant to this community and to the people that they've impacted in this club," Dell said. "We want to take a lot of time to think about and share our appreciation for what Jaelin did for Down Syndrome of Louisville, this club, the city and the community.

"We hope to continue to carry those torches for her, so it does factor in. And it was a very difficult decision. I'm still having sleepless nights, you can ask my wife."

Howell herself said she was "shocked" by the move in an Instagram post. Balcer said she was not expecting it, but the former Reign mainstay sounded like she had been open to a change.

"The opportunity presented itself and I guess I thought the door had closed on it," Balcer said. "I wasn't expecting it. But I fully believe everything happens for a reason.

"I believe what's meant for me will be for me. I mean, I've carried that through even just making it to the league, coming from where I came from. I truly think that I'm supposed to be here, and so I'm excited to contribute."

The Spring Armor University alumna did not just become the first NAIA player to ever sign an NWSL contract. She took the opportunity and helped build Seattle Reign FC (formerly known as OL Reign) into one of the league's most successful clubs, winning an NWSL Shield, plus making multiple league and cup final appearances. 

"I think when you try to put players inside a box, that's when you don't get the best out of them," Balcer said. "And I think my time at Reign from the first day, the players and the coaches just said, 'Go be you. Go do what makes you Beth.'

"And so, I think trying to instill that in the younger players, really harping on the fact that mistakes are going to be made by everybody, and just creating that environment where people aren't afraid, I think really contributed to the success I had at Reign and we had collectively as a team. As I've gotten more versed in this league, I've been trying to bring those younger players alongside me and just give them the confidence that was instilled in me when I was starting out."

The path to needing Balcer for this role should not have been traveled. Louisville fired its first coach in Christy Holly for cause after accusations of various abuses emerged and the club failed in properly vetting a man who should've never been considered for the job. The decision making during his tenure, wasting draft picks and misfiring on other personnel moves, proved that too. 

So, Louisville hired its first general manager in Dell (partly mandated by the league), who later moved on from the next coach in Kim Björkegren to promote a promising assistant in Yanez. It was a move that had a clear motivation: This team needs to take the next step in making the postseason. 

There are two members of the original Racing Louisville roster left. Three of the club's four all-time first round picks don't play for Louisville anymore. Talent that was acquired in exchange for some of that talent wears a different uniform now. 

You have more than earned the right to be frustrated and skeptical as a fan. But for once in this whirlwind tale of a women's soccer club trying to find its footing, we have a very clear answer on something I feel has been an issue from the start: We know where the decisions begin, end and what the goals behind them are.

"What training looks like and how competitive training is throughout the week is to earn some sort of reward on the weekend," Yanez explained. "And I expect them to come in with professionalism. I expect them to come in and positively influence our culture, plus do it on the field as well. I have high expectations for them to compete and continue to bring this mentality of, 'We want to win.'"

This is officially Dell and Yanez's ship. The general manager and head coach have set the course by dealing their captain.

That is not always going to be popular with everyone. Welcome to the brutal business that is professional sports, which comes down to Racing currently sitting in a playoffs-or-bust season with...three victories.

"I think it provides new environments for both of us that hopefully, we can just add something new to our teams," Balcer said.

"It's a difficult decision, and it moved very quickly," Yanez said of trading her captain. "I think there's no secret what Jaelin has done for this community and what she's done for this team. Obviously, I'm always wishing her the most success.

"But for us, in our current needs from a team perspective, when this became available and as quickly as it moved, we obviously notified her as soon as it moved very quickly. So again, much thanks to Jaelin for everything that she's done for this club and obviously wishing her the most success."

The wrecking ball of a defensive midfielder has shown that when she is fully clicking, there are few physical presences who cover the ground she can. But injuries slowed the former No. 2 overall pick some during her three seasons in Louisville, rightfully frustrating her. And Racing acquired someone who unexpectedly became its best player this season at Howell's position: Taylor Flint.

Flint becomes an anchor for a midfield the club very much believes in as one of, if not the best, units in the league. As much as the spotlight will be on Balcer to score goals, there will also be a lot of attention paid to how that nucleus of Ary Borges, Savannah DeMelo, Marisa DiGrande and Flint performs. 

Louisville also has young attacking options. The dynamic rookie duo of Emma Sears and Reilyn Turner has combined for seven goals and assists. But consistency up top, particularly when it comes to finishing ample opportunities in big moments, has been something this club needed.

"Bethany's a striker," Dell said. "We felt we needed a lethal striker that can score goals for this group."

Each area of this team now has a veteran presence leading the way. Balcer brings immediate credibility and a winning pedigree up top. We went over the midfield. The back line, while understandably needing to gel after losing a productive piece in Pickett, still has a wealth of experience with Abby Erceg, Lauren Milliet and Arin Wright. And of course, goalkeeper Katie Lund stands with Milliet as one of two original members of this club. 

They need to see what everyone else who has invested time in running with Racing from the starting line has been waiting a while for: a finish line for a regular season that is only the start of a pathway to the playoffs. 

Racing Louisville FC Coverage:

• Racing Louisville FC trades captain Jaelin Howell to Seattle for veteran scorer Bethany Balcer
• Racing Louisville trades defender Carson Pickett to the Orlando Pride
• Racing snaps winless skid with second-half surge to open Summer Cup

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