Former Whitecaps women’s player claims then-coach pressured her for sex during recruitment

Detailed allegations of abuse are emerging against a second former Vancouver Whitecaps women’s coach, who continues to work the soccer circuit abroad.

The claims are being brought forward by former player Malloree Enoch, who first spoke with the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. and identified Hubert Busby Jr. as the coach in question.

He is accused of trying to solicit sex from the player, who was 26 years old at the time, during the recruitment process around a decade ago.

New detailed allegations of abuse are emerging against a second former Whitecaps women's coach. In an interview with The Guardian, Malloree Enoch accuses now Jamaica coach Hubert Busby Jr. of trying to solicit sex from her during 2010/2011 recruitment process. More @CityNewsVAN

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) October 28, 2021

Speaking with CityNews on Thursday, Enoch detailed many of the claims against Busby Jr.

She says while she was trying to get on the team at the time, the coach had her fly to various locations and when she would arrive, he would say due to a booking issue, only one room had been reserved.

“I was very uncomfortable. I was in college. I didn’t have the means to be able to financially get me out of the situation,” Enoch said. “You’re chasing your dream and you kind of can’t say no, but you know you’re supposed to say no.”

The claims eventually escalated to Busby Jr. trying to get into bed with her.

‘It’s just ruined the game for me’

The situation has left a lasting impact on Enoch.

“I still feel the emotions today,” she said.

Talking about a moment in time when she flew home to rehab after an injury, Enoch says she struggled with whether she even wanted to return to the sport.

“I really, actually, didn’t ever want to play soccer again,” Enoch said, choking back tears. “I even have a hard time watching fellow players. It’s just ruined the game for me.”

Pro soccer has been a goal of Enoch’s since she was a young child. She says she’s always been goal oriented, even when she was five.

“I wrote on an index card … and one of the things that I put on that index card was that my goal was to be a professional soccer player,” she recalled of her childhood. “I always tell that story without people knowing the actual other side of it.”

She even took some time away, not playing soccer for four years. But she came back to the game, right before the allegations took place.

“I finally had my comeback and this type of situation happens and it just, basically, I don’t even want to say it takes your dream away, but it just makes it more of a nightmare when you grow up as a child thinking that it’s such a beautiful thing, a beautiful game,” Enoch said.

Allegations ignored, says player

Busby Jr., who is from Ontario, was announced as the Whitecaps women’s team head coach in late 2009. He and the Whitecaps parted ways in October 2011 after the team announced his contract had expired and would not be renewed.

Few other details were provided and the club never went public with the information it received about Enoch’s accounts.

“We tried to do the right thing at the end of the season and talk to management, and we were pretty much silenced,” she told CityNews Thursday.

Enoch says she and other players had tried at the time to bring the accounts forward, but were all turned away.

“I’ve talked to reporters since and it’s like no body wanted to pick the story up. Now, all of a sudden, unfortunately, people are coming out every single day, and it’s terrible,” she said. “I just feel with this climate that they have to do something. There’s no more just pushing people aside and telling them it’s inappropriate to speak in public about these things.”

In addition to the claims being levelled against Busby Jr., Enoch says the team essentially tried to muzzle the players.

“They threatened us to not go public, and they threatened us not to speak about it on social media, and that it was unprofessional,” she said, claiming the players were told to keep quiet in a letter from Dan Lenarduzzi, who was part of the leadership team at the time.

Just off phone with Malloree Enoch, former Whitecaps women’s player sharing allegations former coach Hubert Busby Jr. tried to pressure her into sex during recruitment in 2010/2011. Busby left team but Dan Lenarduzzi told players not to go public. Listen @CityNewsVAN #VWFC pic.twitter.com/A13CJc629n

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) October 28, 2021

“For us, we all were angry about it, because it just meant that they weren’t really doing anything about it.”

During Busby Jr.’s time with the team, he also served as the head coach of the Whitecaps U-18 prospects team.

While he no longer works for the Whitecaps organization, he now coaches the Jamaican women’s club.

“It’s really scary,” Enoch said of Busby Jr.’s continued career in the sport.

According to a statement from Jamaica Football Federation, it says it’s aware of allegations Busby is facing.

“The executive of JFF will convene next Tuesday to discuss the matter with Mr. Busby,” the federation added.

UPDATE: I am just off the phone with the Jamaica Football Federation. The organization’s executive will meet with Hubert Busby Jr. to discuss the allegations. My thanks to Jamaican journalist @karendmadden for her help looping me in on this new development. #VWFC https://t.co/J3p10CFw2M pic.twitter.com/pNpBpggna0

— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) October 28, 2021

Reflecting on recent accounts from former NHLer Kyle Beach about sexual assault allegations within the Chicago Blackhawks organization, Enoch says it’s hard not to hope this kind of thing doesn’t happen to others.

“The scary part is, I don’t think I’m the only person,” she said.

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• ‘I started crying’: Retired Whitecaps player relieved as former women’s coach charged with sex offences

• Former Vancouver Whitecaps women’s coach charged with sexual offences

• Christine Sinclair, teammates demand change amid sex abuse scandal in women’s soccer

Busby Jr. denies the allegations, according to the Guardian.

Enoch was signed by the Whitecaps in the spring of 2011. She left later that year, midway through the season.

While she’s gone public with these claims against Busby Jr., she says she’s worked to move on.

“As an athlete you’re kind of trained to push things aside. I’ve got a family, I’ve got a career, and it does me no good to hang on to it, in that sense. So I’ve shed it out for years, and I think it really finally just hit me [Wednesday],” she explained. “The emotion was strong in the beginning — like right after 2011 — but it’s now just all coming back.”

There has been a reckoning within women’s soccer in recent years. Most recently, Burnaby native Christine Sinclair added her voice to growing calls for change in the National Women’s Soccer League, amid a sexual abuse scandal that continues to grip the association.

Enoch hopes her coming forward will help in the push for change within sports — not just soccer.

“People don’t just come forward to say this stuff. We have to listen to people when they share their stories,” she added.

Today, Enoch says she has a strong support system and “a really good outlook on life.”

“It’s taught me a lot,” said Enoch, who now has a young son she is hoping to educate.

“I’m very, very lucky that I grew up in a very close family that I have the support. I think I’ve done fairly well for the circumstances.”

The claims against Busby Jr. come as a second former Whitecaps women’s coach, Bob Birarda, faces multiple criminal charges.

Birarda was charged in December 2020 with multiple sexual offences against four people spanning two decades.

He was due to appear in court earlier this month. That was delayed until Oct. 28, and once again pushed back until Nov. 25.

Allegations against Birarda were first brought forward by retired player Ciara McCormack in a 2019 blog post. She later detailed the allegations to NEWS 1130, saying she witnessed a number of problematic situations during her second and third periods with the squad.

Just last week, Canada Soccer announced it would conduct a review of the investigation of allegations against Birarda during his time with that organization after it came to light he still held a coaching licence issued by the league.

CityNews 1130 has reached out to the Whitecaps organization for comment.