DC Trident makes Semi-Finals and heads to Eindhoven, Netherlands
The DC Trident staff of Head Coach Cyndi Gallagher (retired UCLA), Assistant Coach Susan Teeter (retired Princeton Univ.), Assistant Coach Javi Sossa from Team Elite and Assistant Coach Cullen Jones of Speedo will head to Eindhoven, Netherlands for the Semi-finals of Season 3. Trident Up!
As we approach its five-year anniversary, Cara Mattaliano ’16 & head coach Sabrina King reflect on how former @PUCSDT women’s head coach Susan Teeter played a role in the team’s mindset shift during its historic 2015 @IvyLeague title run. pic.twitter.com/hBy4A4OQ3K— PrincetonVolley (@PrincetonVolley) November 11, 2020
S. S. Teeter and Associates is excited to announce new COVID pricing on customized TEAM Building, Leadership, Staff or Culture based workshops. Please reach out at ssteeter@gmail.com to discuss how we can help you, your staff and your team succeed!
DUE TO COVID THIS WORKSHOP IS BEING RESCHEDULED FOR 2021
We’re excited to announce that we have launched the 1st Academy “virtually”. This launch is open to girls in high school, juniors and seniors (or high school graduates taking a GAP year prior to college due to COVID). Registration closes September 4th at ssteeter.com under The Athlete LEADership Academy. Only 40 athletes (girls only for this) per Academy. Stay tuned for future dates coming soon. Read more about us or email us at athleteleadershipacademy@gmail.com . The Athlete LEADership Academy can be geared towards high school or college, girls/women, boys/men, Transgender/gender fluid, co-ed or a team as a whole. Follow us on Instagram @athleteleadershipacademy
Women do better when they have a group of strong female friends, study finds
In May of 2018, three student-athletes from UMKC softball shared with university officials allegations of sexual harassment by their assistant coach, Greg Bachkora.
Less damning than Bachkora admitting these allegations were true is the fact that the university failed to discipline him until after this story was announced and shamefully dissected by the public. The players complained to administration of repeated incidents where Bachkora would enter the locker room to use the microwave while the athletes were undressing. Rather than analyzing this behavior and investigating for the safety of its student-athletes, UMKC opted to purchase a microwave for its peeping staff member. One of the athletes even reported saying “He’s seen me naked more than my boyfriend has.” The investigation into the truth of these allegations is still ongoing.
I honestly wish I was writing about athletic administrators’ blind eye to the inappropriate behavior of their male coaches as being an anomaly. Unfortunately, it is not. While I blame each of the listed male coaches for their own behavior, equally to blame is the leadership in college athletics who simply look past these repeated resignations and continue employing these men without a second thought to their victims. These victims are the student-athletes.
If you are wondering if I hunted down any examples of abusive female coaches in my research, yes I found a few. However, this is less about proving the guilt or innocence of the coaches in this piece and more about the fact that the handling of each case is so drastically contrasting when it comes to the issue of men being rehired while women are methodically excluded.
Based on the list below, the secret to longevity in the NCAA after you’ve committed missteps or been slapped on the wrist for abusing players, is simple. Your odds are at their best if you are male and even higher if you are a male in a revenue sport like football or basketball.
The below list includes only a few examples of the countless men in athletics who have been removed for athlete physical abuse, inappropriate player relationships and mistreatment yet have successfully landed on their feet before the ink on their previous resignation could dry.
Leach was fired as football coach at Texas Tech after he was accused of sending an injured player into a storage shed as punishment. Leach has since been hired by Washington State and recently had his contract extended through 2023 despite another player accusing him of abusive behavior.
Earleywine was fired over investigation and multiple accusations rolling over from the previous administration that included player treatment and abuse. After AD Jim Sterk reopened the investigation, Mizzou found these allegations to hold weight. Earleywine was sent packing but was hired by the Jefferson County Public School system as an AD in Missouri in less than 45 days after being dismissed from Mizzou.
The former Illini staffer who had one winning season in five years and was sued two years ago for allegedly abusing players was also marked by complaints of racial tension. Seven former players filed a lawsuit in 2015 accusing Bollant and former assistant coach Mike Divilbiss of creating a racially abusive environment. A IU report said the claims were unfounded but paid out $375,000 settlement to be divided among the players. Bollant’s garbage was picked up less than 30 days later in a less than lateral move by its neighbors to the south in Charleston, at Eastern Illinois University. Bollant is serving as the head women’s basketball coach of the Panthers currently.
In November 2016, Woods was suspended as head coach at Morehead State as result of an investigation into player mistreatment. Woods resigned after being charged with battery of two of his players and was subsequently charged when a player’s father claimed to ESPN that Woods head-butted his son during a game in Evansville. Woods was rehired as an assistant at Stetson less than a year later and is presently the head coach at Southern University out of Louisiana.
After Southerland’s wife came forward alleging his inappropriate relationship with a female diver prior to his tenure at ISU, she claimed this behavior led to their divorce. Southerland as well as the victim reportedly admitted their relationship to his wife. Southerland was suspended during the investigation conducted by the Center for Safesport. ISU Athletic Director Rob Spear had been recently fired himself, after complaints surfaced that he improperly handled sexual misconduct allegations against a former football player. Southerland was re-instated as head coach of the diving team.
Winslow molested a young swimmer while at Arizona State University in 2006, but then was re-hired at Utah where he was eventually fired for inappropriate behavior. Utah’s Athletic Director Chris Hill said he should have been fired earlier.
Freeze was cited by the NCAA in 2016 for 21 violations while at Ole Miss and earned his program a 1-year department-imposed suspension from the post season. While the violations did not lead to termination, Freeze eventually resigned after an investigation revealed he made over a dozen phone calls to an escort service on a university issued cell phone. Freeze was named head coach at Liberty University under former Baylor disgraced AD, Ian McCaw.
Seeley was let go from Clarkson University after an investigation and accusations for abusive behavior toward players. Quinnipiac University then picked up the conference opponent coach and hired him. Seeley was eventually removed once more from coaching at QU in 2015 after 5 years of athlete complaints surfaced during Seeley’s attempt to countersue the university for wrongful termination. Although given a second chance at coaching college hockey, Seeley has not been given a third. Seeley was briefly issued a shot at coaching the Chinese National Women’s Hockey Team in 2015, but was eventually dismissed from that post as well.
April of 2014 Stevens was mysteriously issued a leave of absence after rumors surfaced with the administration that he was issuing inappropriate attention to a certain player. Stevens resigned within weeks of his temporary leave and was hired less than 60 days later by the University of North Dakota where he currently holds the head softball coach post.
Bouman was released in 2017 after ISU relieved him of his duties. Director of Athletics Sherard Clinkscales made a public statement that Bouman had created an “environment that just wasn’t conducive for student-athletes to able to thrive and excel beyond their abilities” as well as referring to Bouman’s team culture as not yielding kind of environment the department wants. Bouman was rehired by the Christ-centered Northwestern College in Iowa in 2018.
Heath was fired as the College of Charleston’s head baseball coach for alleged verbal and physical abuse of his players. The matter is pending in a lawsuit where Heath claims wrongful termination; but while he waits, he is collecting a paycheck as the pitching coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin.
Lee Dobbins, former head coach Ottawa University Arizona, Softball
This coach’s name popped up absolutely everywhere in the softball community when we asked our coaches to list out consistent resignations under suspicious reasoning. We saved Coach Dobbins for last because while his resume is a mile long it’s actually quite impressive that institutions who typically turn applicants away who demonstrate multiple short term commitments, have no problem recycling Dobbins back in. Dobbins has been a head coach, assistant, GA and recruiting coordinator at the below schools. Dobbins has been one of the most successful coaches at covering his tracks than any coach we have ever researched.
Ottawa University Arizona ’17-’18, MidAmerica Nazarene University ’16-17, University of Buffalo ’14-’15, Southern University ’13-’14, Emory University ’12-’13, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ’10-’11, Austin Peay State University ’08-’10, Texas A&M International, Laredo Texas 07’-’08, Lander University ’05-’06, Tusculum ’02-’04, Tennessee ’99-’0, Chattanooga State Community college ’96-’97
Let’s now refocus our lenses to another list. The following is a list of women who were fired and then won their suit or settlement in a court of law where fault was found to be with the university. While very few coaches in the business of college athletics are able to sustain financially to fight the system, there have been a few women who have fought the decisions of their termination in a court of law. Even when female coaches go to court and cleared of allegations, history provides us little evidence that they will ever be recycled back into the system.
Rutgers fired Martin in November 2017 after complaints over her leadership style. Martin denied the allegations. The university cleared Martin of any misconduct and paid her remaining contract with an additional $200,000 in emotional damages for a total of $725k. Rutgers Athletic Director Patrick Hobbs was required to write a letter of recommendation for Martin as she seeks future employment.
Jody Runge, former head coach, Oregon Women’s Basketball
Runge resigned in the spring of 2001. According to a few of her players, then-athletic director Bill Moos, held a meeting to pry for information against Runge. The hope was to extract dissatisfied feedback on their coach. Runge eventually resigned believing she would have a future somewhere else. Runge’s tenure included great success with the Ducks. The Pac-10 coach led her program to the NCAA tournament in each of her eight seasons, with two Pac-10 titles and victories in 70 percent of her games. Despite her resume, Runge has not been accepted back into college basketball.
Lamott Sparks was fired by Quinnipiac for alleged abuse. Lamott Sparks was also a Title IX whistleblower at the institution and eventually settled the retaliation and wrongful termination lawsuit. During Lamott Sparks’ tenure, she and five of her athletes filed a Title IX lawsuit against Quinnipiac University to improve the treatment of female athletes and save the volleyball program from elimination. The suit has been one of the most important Title IX cases to have been litigated in many years, and a number of important legal precedents were set in the five legal decisions that they won. The case settled in June 2013. Since then, Lamott Sparks has applied to intercollegiate coaching positions 30 times and counting and not been rehired, despite being exonerated.
The five-time NCAA national championship coach and arguably the most accomplished women’s hockey coach in the history of college athletics was let go in 2014 after the university claimed that her salary was too high. Miller sued the university for gender discrimination and Title IX retaliation and won her case in federal court for 3.74 million dollars in 2018. Miller has not been rehired or considered for a position anywhere in the NCAA.
Johnson-Klein was fired from Fresno State after the university argued that she was abusive. Johnson-Klein was awarded $19.1 million in her sexual discrimination lawsuit against Fresno. Despite the unanimous jury verdict and Klein cleared of allegations, she has not been rehired in the NCAA.
Despite having positive performance reviews and a successful program Banford’s contract was not renewed at UMD in 2015. Banford publicly stated that she believed she was being retaliated against for supporting Shannon Miller and the women’s hockey program. Banford retained legal counsel to combat the discrimination she alleged against UMD and her case was sent to state court. Banford has not been rehired.
Burns filed a civil suit in San Diego Superior Court in 2014, claiming wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation for complaining about potential Title IX violations. The California State University system alleged that as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Burns had mistreated subordinates and hit one. The case went to trial in the summer of 2016 and a 12-person jury unanimously awarded her 3.35 million. After a four year wait, Burns was hired as an assistant strength coach at the University of Louisville.
Greisbaum and her partner Jane Meyer were awarded over $6 million in damages after a jury unanimously decided to hold Athletic Director Gary Barta and the Hawkeye department accountable for their discriminatory and sexist practices they exposed these women to.
Greisbaum, a well known, wildly talented NCAA D-I field hockey coach was forced to part ways from the university and despite winning her case hands down, she now holds a post as volunteer assistant field hockey coach at Duke.
One of the most successful and professional coaches in women’s NCAA athletics has been sent down to the minors and despite the jury agreeing that Greisbaum was not at fault for her termination, she will be forced to re-climb the ladder of an entry level 25 year old all over again if she ever wants to coach in D-I athletics.
In attempting to collect voices from the women’s coaching community to share the stories of their elimination from college athletics, many have confided their stories to the Fearless Coach, but remain far too fearful or bound by gag-orders to go on record.
The Reality For Female Coaches
Choosing to fight is rare but winning as a woman against the system and being welcomed back into the business of college athletics – almost unheard of.
Second chance employment in college athletics continues to be evasive for women while the male coaches listed in this piece were all were issued do-overs and rehired back into the system regardless of who they hurt and when.
Let’s not forget the countless women who have been eliminated from athletics but are not listed because they lacked the funds, time or opportunity to fight back in a court of law which is an even more alarming statistic. Continuing to turn our backs on hiring the women who have been eliminated from coaching despite unanimous verdicts and settlements proving they were not at fault, reveals several things about the NCAA and its membership administrators:
The NCAA and its members have a genuine chance to heal its wounded image in the wake of what feels like countless, consecutive and damning scandals involving sexual abuse at Michigan State, rape at Baylor, abuse at Penn State etc. Not only will bringing this issue to the forefront help the NCAA deal with its black eye on their inability to protect student-athletes, but hopefully force them to face the truth that the unlawful removal and blackballing of some of our best coaches in the business, all happen to be women.
St. Olaf College alumna Sheila Brown ’68 was a force for the inclusion of women in collegiate athletics. As an athletics director at Simmons College and at St. Catherine’s University, she was passionate and thoughtful about supporting women as athletes and leaders, and coaches as mentors. Launching her career just as Title IX was implemented, she added varsity programs and facilities, made head coaching positions full-time, and cheered on student-athletes and all her staff alike — everyone was equally part of the team.
When she died after battling cancer, the void she left was undeniable.
“She was a phenomenal friend — and a great friend to everybody. Of course we were all devastated,” says longtime colleague Sheila Abbott, who worked with Brown at St. Kate’s.
“Her commitment for women’s sports came from such an authentic place,” says Shelley Emerick ’68, another close friend and fellow Ole. “She wanted the athletes she worked with to embrace the joy of sports and competition as much as perseverance, team building, failure, and success.”
Now an anonymous gift in Brown’s honor supports women’s participation in the Ole Leadership Academy, a yearlong program for St. Olaf sophomore student-athletes. Presented in partnership with the Piper Center for Vocation and Career, it pairs an exploration of leadership models with self-reflection, group work, sessions with alumni athletic leaders, and skills building. After a successful first year, the women’s cohort has grown to 17 this year.
—Shelley Emerick ’68
“The academy comes at pivotal time in these women’s lives,” says St. Olaf Head Women’s Soccer Coach and Senior Woman Administrator Rachael Sushner, who leads the academy. “The issues that our men and women grapple differ when it comes to leadership. For women, it’s primarily a lack of confidence.”
Since Title IX’s implementation in 1972, participation by women in varsity athletics has increased steadily. At the same time, fewer women are athletics directors and head coaches due to an array of factors, according to the NCAA, though gaps are smaller at Division III schools like St. Olaf. It is an issue Sushner hopes the academy can help rectify.
“If you are told repeatedly you can’t do something, even if you obviously can, it takes a toll,” says Sushner. “Many women have never had a female coach in their sports until they come to college. Seeing themselves as leaders with unique strengths who bring effective, diverse styles means a lot on- and off-field. They don’t have to wait to be a leader — they can impact people around them all the time.”
—Rachael Sushner
One thing the Sheila Brown Fund for Leadership in Women’s Athletics helps provide is professional development for women coaches and leadership academy members. Last year several student athletes had the chance to attend the Women Coaches Symposium at the University of Minnesota — St. Olaf had one of the largest groups of coaches and athletes — where renowned former Princeton University head swimming coach Susan Teeter talked about a group she formed to empower women in college sports. Three of the Oles who attended — Claire Bash ’20, Maddie Etienne ’20, and Emily Jarnigan ’20 — are now pursuing the chance to create a similar group connecting academy alumni with middle school athletes in Northfield.
“Girls drop out of athletics at twice the rate of boys by the time they are 14, due to social stigmas and a lack of positive role models and opportunities,” says Etienne. “We wanted to create a program to pass on what we learned about resilience and believing in the value we all bring as leaders. We really didn’t want the academy to end.”
“Encouraging that growth and that confidence in the younger players is super important,” says Bash. “It’s so evident that no matter what age you are, what grade you’re in, whatever group you’re in, that you can make such an impact on your team as a leader.”
As the program continues, each varsity team will have at least three Oles who have gone through the academy. Ultimately this will help all student athletes be more cohesive and supportive of one another.
“All of our teams are better off because of it,” says Jarnigan. “I’m glad that we’re going to continue it.”
S.S. Teeter Associates 