In 1973, Vicky Brawley used a portion of her wedding money as seed funding to co-found Rainbow Soccer, a nonprofit recreational soccer league open to Chapel Hill residents from all walks of life. For Brawley, Rainbow was never about winning — it was about community.

“It was born to include boys, girls, skilled people, non-skilled people, disabled people,” Brawley said. “It was all-inclusive.”

Rainbow’s first season began with only eight teams, but the organization quickly gained traction. Anson Dorrance — former head coach of the UNC women’s soccer team — began his coaching career with Rainbow Soccer. According to a survey conducted by Rainbow Soccer in 1978, more than 50 percent of respondents from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area felt that the organization was an important recreational activity in the community. 

Yet, the organization often found itself in precarious financial situations. 

In a 1978 letter obtained by The Daily Tar Heel, cofounder of Rainbow Soccer — and Brawley’s ex-husband — Kip Ward requested funds from the Town of Chapel Hill. Underneath a subheading titled “Rainbow in Crisis,” he wrote, “If the Rainbow program is not rescued financially, it may fold.” 

“Rainbow Soccer was not about making money,” Brawley said.

More than three decades later in 2005, the Triangle United Soccer Association was born out of Rainbow Soccer with a different, more financially lucrative goal: satisfy the need for competitive soccer in the Chapel Hill area. An investigation by The DTH reveals a decades-long history of TU’s exploitation of Rainbow Soccer.

In 2023, TU reported $2.3 million in revenue and $63,000 in net income. Top executives at the organization earned more than $100,000 each. 

According to hundreds of documents obtained by The DTH, executives and board members of and concerning both organizations siphoned Rainbow’s players, fields and resources to propel TU and its executives’ financial success — at the expense of local Chapel Hill families searching for affordable opportunities for competitive youth soccer.

Early exploitation

In 2003, Rainbow board members began amending the organization’s bylaws and strategically restructuring the board to eliminate Brawley’s voting power.

Despite numerous potential conflicts of interest, these individuals used their positions to establish agreements between the two organizations. The agreements gave TU sweeping access to Rainbow’s financial statements and effectively prevented Rainbow from offering competitive soccer, all while exploiting a loophole in Rainbow’s field lease agreement with UNC.

Among other local soccer fields, Rainbow Soccer plays on the athletic fields near Glen Lennox, part of the 56-acre land donated to UNC by Frank Kenan and Walter Clay Hamner Jr. The fields exist on a flood plain, which prevents development on the land.

Rainbow Soccer inherited these fields through a lease renewed yearly since 1986. By 1990, the lease evolved to state that the premises of the field may not be used “for any commercial business or purpose other than Rainbow,” nor can Rainbow “sublet the premises or any part thereof.” However, TU held practices for its players on these fields.

In 2003, the Rainbow board amended its bylaws to remove “members” from Rainbow Soccer.

Prior to the change, membership was open to the community, and members met annually, in addition to the Board of Directors’ meetings. Following the change, community members could no longer be present at meetings. The amendment states that “the interests of the members would be represented by the board.”  

Brawley served as president of Rainbow Soccer until 2004, when a second round of amendments were proposed by the board to alter her role to executive director. Under this new title, Brawley would continue her previous duties but could not cast votes on any decision. 

“I was a nonvoting member, but I was still earning a living — and that’s where my bottom line was,” Brawley said. “I still got paid. I still showed up for work. I still had the field work. I still had contact with all the players and coaches, which was my lifeblood.”

She maintained her compensation, but the amount was up to the board’s discretion.

An amendment was also made to add a Conflicts of Interest section addressing the several personal, professional and financial conflicts on the board. 

Following the amendments, Pam Hemminger, who would later become Mayor of Chapel Hill, stepped into the role of President. Her husband, Bradley Hemminger, served as the board’s secretary. Pam did not respond to The DTH’s request for comment, and Bradley declined to comment. 

Mike Hickey, managing partner at Triangle Real Estate Services and current executive director of Rainbow Soccer, was later elected onto the board in 2009.

In 2010, the board decided to replace Brawley’s position again. They appointed Colleen Minton, someone the board believed could facilitate stronger finances for Rainbow. Minton left the organization two years later. 

Brawley said she felt that the board was squeezing her out. 

“It was just the culmination of too many successive experiences that made me certain it was time for me to go,” she said. 

Brawley resigned from Rainbow Soccer in 2012, though she is still listed as Rainbow’s registered agent by the N.C. Secretary of State at the time of publication. She was inducted into the Class of 2025 North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame for her contributions to Rainbow Soccer and recreational soccer in Chapel Hill. 

Formation of Triangle United

Rainbow had various sub-leagues for both children and adults: Rainbow, the children’s recreational league, Chapel Hill United and the Advanced Development Program, intended for more competitive play.

At least one member of the board represented the interests of each league. Michael Strand, the current executive director of TU and former board member of Rainbow, was responsible for CHU and ADP. Hickey said CHU was a quasi-competitive league with generally much better volunteer coaches. 

At the time, CHU had higher fees than other leagues, charging approximately $500 per year, due to its more competitive structure. 

During a Nov. 5, 2004, Rainbow board meeting, Strand introduced a proposed merger between the Chapel Hill United League of Rainbow Soccer and the Durham-Chapel Hill Strikers Club, officially known as the Carolina Youth Soccer Association. 

The merger was meant to fill a growing need for a more competitive level of soccer in Chapel Hill.  

“The Durham-Chapel Hill Strikers club had been around for many years,” Strand said. “They were, N.C.-wise, a competitive club that had the highest level of competition, which the Rainbow group did not.” 

The DTH obtained the board minutes from this meeting which show that Brawley and other members of the board raised concerns that they were not formally notified of the merger, prior to Strand publicly discussing it at Rainbow’s open house. However, the minutes indicated that Strand didn’t feel the proposal was ready.

“Mike indicated that he felt we were not at the stage of having actual proposals at this time to present to the board (i.e. discussions had been underway for 5 years off and on again),” the minutes read.

The Triangle United Soccer Association was established in 2005 as a product of the merger. Strand became executive director, a paid employee, and still holds that position today. He continued to serve on the Rainbow board as a voting member until 2012. Pam Hemminger also joined TU’s Board, and continued to serve on the Rainbow board until 2015.

“It was part of the plan to stay involved with this new organization by having some Rainbow board members also serve on the TUSA Soccer board of directors,” Pam Hemminger wrote in a letter to Jannice Ashley, director of the University Property Office, explaining Rainbow and Triangle’s relationship.

Potential conflicts of interest

A document obtained by The DTH titled “Examples of potential Conflicts of Interests for Rainbow,” written by Bradley Hemminger, lists several of these potential conflicts.

Personal relationships between Brawley and Alan Grier, her current partner, and Pam and Bradley Hemminger were listed as potential conflicts of interest.

The document also states that an interest free loan was given to Rainbow Soccer by two board members at the time, Bradley and Pam Hemminger, which may “make people feel Rainbow is beholden to outside interest.” 

It also states that the overlap between Rainbow and TU — as Strand and Pam Hemminger held positions with both organizations — presented the potential for a conflict of interest.

Section 10 of the Rainbow bylaws dictates that each director should maintain a list of potential conflicts of interests with the secretary. It does not, however, strictly require board members to uninvolve themselves in such potential conflicts of interests. 

The policy states that directors may “voluntarily excuse him/herself and will vacate his seat and refrain from discussion and voting on said item,” but the extent to which the director(s) refrain and excuse themselves is left to their own discretion. 

Board minutes from Sept. 29, 2008, show a unanimous vote in favor of extending the existing agreement between TU and Rainbow. Strand and Hemminger were present, and there were no recusals from voting.  

TU-Rainbow agreement

Board members of and concerning both organizations were aware that subletting Rainbow’s fields to TU was in violation of Rainbow’s lease with UNC. They found a loophole. 

TU players were also registered as Rainbow players — they were all “Triangle United Participants” — although they did not play for Rainbow Soccer. 

All TU players paid an extra $15 registration fee to TU for Rainbow. TU paid $21,000 per year from 2005 to 2012 in order to use the fields which, per Rainbow’s lease with UNC, were intended to be used only by Rainbow players. 

“There was a caveat that part of their registration fee was registration for Rainbow,” Strand said.

David Kaminsky, a litigation technology analyst, sent an email in 2005 to Robert Smith, a Rainbow board member, in which he expressed concern about TU’s use of Rainbow fields. In an interview with The DTH, Kaminsky said that his concern was not with TU, but with the organization’s use of Rainbow fields.

“I was concerned that UNC might terminate the lease due to the potential violation, and that could jeopardize Rainbow’s ongoing operation,” Kaminsky said.

After concerns were raised by Kaminsky and others, an agreement between Triangle United and Rainbow was signed in 2007 and read that “Rainbow, and its sister organization, Triangle United, look to benefit each other by sharing burdens, distributing costs, looking for ways to economize on scale.” This agreement was intended to last until 2010.

Although TU rented multiple fields in Chapel Hill, the agreement exclusively reserved a portion of Rainbow’s fields and resources for TU.

Another Letter of Agreement and Cooperation was initialized between the two organizations on June 1, 2009, and lasted until May 31, 2012, with additional terms. 

The new agreement required Rainbow and TU to share organizational budgets and player censuses with one another and allowed board members of one organization to attend the meetings of the other. 

The agreement further dictated that all training would go through TU, and Rainbow Soccer coaches were required to be trained by TU. This system restricted Rainbow’s ability to provide competitive soccer programs in Chapel Hill and required Rainbow to refer players interested in playing competitive soccer to TU. 

Hickey motioned for this “preferred provider status” to go into effect before the contract was signed. The motion was approved.

While the contract is no longer in effect, its long-term effects on the organizations’ functionality remains. Rainbow Soccer’s office still exists within the Triangle United office.

“You register for Rainbow in the Triangle office,” Brawley said, a change that happened after her departure.

Strand said that now, TU uses the Rainbow fields occasionally for overflow or clinics. The initial years of access gave way for TU’s accelerated growth, though. From the years of 2005 to 2012, TU’s revenue increased 30-fold, from $59,052 to $1,546,781.

Present day

Rainbow now charges between $95 and $120 for children’s recreational soccer. With eight soccer leagues available, Triangle United charges up to $1,900 for their most competitive players.

Tutu Alicante, a human rights and anti-corruption lawyer who has been coaching at Rainbow Soccer since 2016, said he believes in the Rainbow philosophy which allows the community to interconnect as human beings.

“When you separate kids between those kids whose families can pay thousands for them to play all year long and have access to all the fields and on the other side, you have kids of immigrants and single parent families, et cetera, who cannot pay thousands of dollars, you’re harming the community,” Alicante said.

Former Rainbow and TU coach Will Lloyd’s daughter went through Rainbow’s all-girls program from 2016 to 2020 followed by two years with TU. He said that players in the mid-tier leagues pay for the higher leagues, despite receiving the same quality of coaching at Rainbow Soccer.

Lloyd paid $700 for his daughter to play in a lower league at TU, a step above recreational soccer but still coached by volunteers. He said although competitive soccer can be expensive, the mid-tier leagues were not worth the price they charged.

“When you’re paying $700 for the exact same amount that you’re getting from the rec level, then somebody’s making money.” Lloyd said. “I don’t know who it is, but it’s the same fields.”

After a negative experience with TU coaching, Lloyd moved his daughter to a different soccer organization, where he found that many shared his experience.

“I now work at a different soccer club, and a significant portion of our club members are here because of the club they were at, not always Triangle, but more Triangle than not,” he said. 

Alicante has witnessed a similar effect. He said that he has seen many players leave his Rainbow team, go to TU, and come back to Rainbow because they felt disconnected from soccer and found Rainbow to be a more nurturing environment.

Often, promising players from Rainbow are referred to Triangle through coaches, a practice that began as a result of the 2009 agreement between the two organizations. Despite there being several other soccer leagues in the Triangle, referred players go on to pay substantially higher prices for various levels of soccer at TU.

Rainbow has now become a feeder program for TU — a competitive league money machine, Brawley said. 

The financial disparity between the two organizations has continued to grow over the past decade, with Rainbow reporting negative income in 2025 while TU has effectively established a corporate monopoly over the soccer community in the Triangle.

“That community still exists and it evolves. But it has become a business,” Brawley said. “It has become a self-interest specialization that’s really hard for me to get into.”