'My mental strength has been tested': Kurtz sets Courage club record after 'roller coaster' time with club

Cary, N.C. — North Carolina Courage defender Kaleigh Kurtz made club history last Saturday in Louisville by making her fiftieth consecutive start, which set a new club record.

"If you would have told me (years ago) I was going to get consecutive starts, 50 in a row, it would have been, 'You're kidding, right?'" Kurtz told the media Thursday.

Kurtz had every reason to be skeptical she would still be with the Courage for what is now her sixth season.

"The last few years have definitely been a roller coaster," Kurtz said. "My mental strength has definitely been tested."

It all started with former coach Paul Riley who was fired in 2021 after alleged harassment and sexual misconduct and was banned from NWSL in January.

In an investigative report by National Women's Soccer League and its players union released in December, Kurtz told investigators Riley had made comments to Kurtz about her weight.

"(Riley) talked to me about how I was too chubby, un-dynamic and I needed to lose 14 pounds in 10 days," Kurtz said.

Kurtz also alleged in the report Riley sexually harassed her, and she repeatedly asked team officials to trade her. "I definitely had my fair share of trials and tribulations with this club, but I think they have turned it around on so many fronts," she said.

The first step came when the Courage fired Riley and replaced him with Sean Nahas. Kurtz also has seen a culture change in the club. "They've really tried to put in the effort. They've asked the players questions to figure out what's the best course of action to help us...because the club is going to perform best when we're at our best," Kurtz said. "They've done a good job of setting their egos aside to make sure the players are taken care of first."

While several high-profile players left the Courage in the seasons following the Riley scandal, Kurtz decided to stay and sign a three-year contract extension.

The roster turnover also meant a more prominent role for Kurtz. "My first two, three years I didn't get to play much," said Kurtz, who spent those seasons behind defensive stalwarts Abby Erceg and Abby Dahlkemper. "Sometimes you have to grind it out. You got to keep working. You got to learn from the players who are playing and wait your turn, which is what I had to do, which is a lot easier said that done."

Now, the time has come for the 28-year-old Kurtz. "She's a massive piece of what we do," said Nahas. "She played every minute of every game last year, and she's done that this year. It's hard to give her a rest because she's the veteran back there."

"I want to be the player who, even when things are bad, people look at me and say, 'Yeah, she's putting the work in...she's going to get after it,'" said Kurtz.

But while the painful memories from the Riley era will never vanish completely, Kurtz claims to be in a better place mentally, "I'm on the other side of it, and I've come out stronger," she said.