Owain Evans

Dulle: No decision on Flemmings’ Rising future

“No decision has been made” on Junior Flemmings returning to Phoenix Rising next season, according to club general manager Bobby Dulle.

Speaking to the press today, Dulle would not rule out offering a contract extension to the Jamaican international. This comes just a day after the USL Championship announced that Flemmings will be suspended for six matches after using a homophobic slur in the club’s match against San Diego Loyal.

“We’re kind of focused on the moment, right now, and supporting Junior through this,” the general manager said. “There’ll be a time when we have to make that decision, but his contract does expire with us at the end of November.”

According to Dulle, the league’s investigation did not find evidence that the slur was aimed at Collin Martin, an openly gay player for San Diego. However, it did conclude that Flemmings had used the term while on the field.

“I do know that Junior wants to look forward,” Dulle said. “He wants to take this just like we [are] as an organization, as a learning moment. I do know that he has some things in mind that he’d like to do, but he just wanted to digest, he wanted to wait, he wanted to understand what the investigation, the league ultimately determined, and he wants to look forward.”

Dulle added that, among other options, “reaching out to Collin Martin, and San Diego are things that [Junior]’s certainly expressed to me that he’d like to do.”

However, when pressed on if Flemmings, who initially denied using the slur, had since admitted to the offense, Rising’s GM failed to provide a clear answer. Instead, he emphasized that the club is “going to respect [the league’s] decision and, again, move forward.”

On the field, interim head coach Blair Gavin admitted that the team will miss Flemmings, who has been awarded the USL Golden Boot after scoring 14 goals this season.

“We also have other guys, as you saw this past game, who can step up and perform really well, and that’s what it is,” Gavin said. “The next guy has to step up, there’s kind of no other option. We all miss Junior, and know what he can do for the team, but we’re going to have to try and pick up the slack.”

STILL NO END IN SIGHT FOR SCHANTZ

Gavin will remain in charge of team affairs with head coach Rick Schantz still on administrative leave. While no timetable was given for Schantz’s return, Dulle supported the coach in his efforts to undertake further work with LGBTQ+ organizations.

“We as an organization are going to monitor that, and evaluate that, and determine when we feel the time is right to bring Rick back,” he said.

Dulle remains in frequent contact with Schantz, and defended the club’s decision not to fire him despite public pressure.

“We don’t throw people out at their lowest moments,” Dulle said. “I think our club, one, wanted to let the process play out, and two, no matter what the results of it, the investigation, […] both Rick and Junior are fundamentally really good people who have good core values. We’re going to support them, and use this as an opportunity to move forward. And Rick is certainly committed to that, I think. You’ve seen some things that he’s put out on his personal channels, and we’re going to support Rick and Junior in this matter as we carry forward and hopefully all can be a force for change.”

Gavin said that it has been difficult for the coaching staff to adjust in the situation.

“We had a pretty solid workflow throughout the weeks, the months, and you get into this really good routine, and then all of a sudden its kind of thrown out of whack,” he said. “So this week, everyone’s been chipping in. Everybody’s been doing that much more to help the cause, and I’m very thankful for all the staff members here.”

HOME COMFORTS

After last week’s match against San Diego was awarded to Rising, the club now finds itself with the 2nd overall seed in the Championship. Without those three points, the team would have been 7th. Yet Dulle declined to admit any discomfort at the propsect of the team being given home field advantage over sides it otherwise wouldn’t have.

“We reached out to the league, and also notified San Diego. We wanted to understand what options that we have, and we wanted to let everyone know that we are open and willing to discuss and proceed with any direction, not only San Diego if they had some ideas, but [also what] the league would recommend,” Dulle said.

“Based on the fact that we are in the middle of the season, there’s nothing that […] we could do as a club, whether we wanted to, which we did. But the league itself obviously has some rules, and we defer to the league, and ultimately I do know, whether it be match results, whether it be eligibility for league awards, whether it be suspension length, that’s a constant review process and that’s something that I know the league will review with the leaders of the organizations in the offseason.”

While the discussions continue off-field about the best way forward for Rising, the playoffs will start on Saturday. For Blair Gavin, that means finding out how to manage a team of players with a lot of feelings around the current circumstances.

“Playing a game, it helped, because the people were allowed to get out there and do the thing that they loved, and kind of forget about the external things for a bit, and that’s the same for training,” Gavin said. “You get to get out. You get to kick. You get to run with your teammates. It’s beautiful out here.

“For me, training has been, I would say, the best part for the guys, because they get to do the thing they love. Now, when you start hearing all the other things, and the investigations, it does damper the mood. But I think training thus far has been really good for the guys.”

So what is the next step for Rising? According to Dulle, it’s taking part in education, and ensuring the team that he built is suited to that task.

“The players we recruit, the people we recruit to this organisation, we don’t just look for talent,” Dulle said. “We look for good people. We’ve been fortunate. We have a lot of really good people in this organization. It starts with the ownership group, and the players and the front office, and a ton of good people supporting us.

“This has been a tough moment. This has been a tough couple of days for our organization, for those that support us, for those on San Diego, the league itself, and for that we certainly apologize to everyone that’s been involved. But I do know that our players want to be a part of a solution. They want to get out there. They want to be vocal like they typically are on social media. But they were waiting on things to kind of pan out. Again, support all parties, learn from it, and be a force for change: [that] is consistently what we continue to hear from the players in our locker room.”

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE

  • Rising is still considering expanding capacity in upcoming games, possibly at very late notice. “I think we’re going to continue to watch,” Dulle said. “I think we’ve shown as an organization that the operational protocol, the distancing, some of the procedures we’ve put in place, that we’ve been able to do that. i think we’re confident that we could certainly continue to do that with an extended capacity. We haven’t committed to that yet, but depending on how things go, and how things are going in the community itself, this is a day-by-by. We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves, but we’re confident that just because of the support that we have from our partners and in the community from the fans, that if we gave an extremely small window, we know that those seats would be swallowed up pretty quickly.”
  • Both Damion Lowe and Kevon Lambert are expected to be available for selection on Saturday, according to Gavin. However, Lowe remains under close observation following his first half injury against San Diego a week ago.
  • Rising will be down one player, though, as Bobby Dulle confirmed that Jack Barmby has left the club by mutual agreement. Barmby is now returning home to England, after making just one start for Rising all season.