Cal Berkeley Coach (women) abusive

oh canada

oh canada

GOLD
Appalling if true...especially at a university that is supposed to be so "woke" :

Fox 2/KTVU, the local Fox station in the Bay Area, released a reported on Sunday detailing allegations of verbal abuse within the Cal Women’s Soccer program from the past decade. Fox 2/KTVU interviewed a number of current and former players from the program about the behavior of head coach Neil McGuire, who is in his 13th season in charge of the team.

“I was so scared of this man,” former player Hannah Koski told KTVU about McGuire.

“I ran until I couldn’t feel my arms anymore,” former player Olivia Sekany said about a punishing workout. “And on the last lap that we were doing, my vision went black as I crossed the finish line, and I started saying, ‘I can’t see! I can’t see!”

Indigo Gibson, who declined to be interviewed on camera, wrote a letter to the News Station about McGuire.

"[McGuire] would discuss my relationship with my father as a sign of weakness in my development as a player,” Gibson wrote in the letter. “It is the fear of Neil [McGuire] that sticks out in my head.”

Other players expressed how their interaction with McGuire ruined their joy of the sport.

“Any love I had for soccer, he completely took away,” former player Caroline Clark told KTVU. “I just wasn’t happy anymore.”

According to KTVU, multiple players reached out to administration at the school in regards to McGuire’s behavior. The university declined to make anyone from the athletic department available for an interview and cited pending litigation.

Former player Renee Thomas is suing the university following being cut from the team after her freshman season. Thomas was a non-scholarship player during her freshman season in 2018. She played 304 minutes during the season, but she was one of five players cut from the team in the spring even though she was awarded the “most improved player” award at the team banquet.

The case was dismissed from the district court in March of 2020.

Cal did confirm to KTVU that the university was looking into the allegations that the news station brought forth during their report.

California is 18-17-5 over the last two seasons, and has not made it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament in the last decade.
 
Sandypk said:
Hopefully the incoming class will speak up if they need to and make him accountable for his actions.
Click to expand...
Sounds like multiple players have been speaking out for some time with no help from the university. Jekyll during recruiting and Hyde once you're on campus and part of the team.

www.ktvu.com

Surviving the Game: Allegations of abuse in Cal's soccer program

Women from UC Berkeley's soccer team break their silence about what they allege was emotional abuse, bullying, intimidation, and mistreatment from their long-time coach.
www.ktvu.com www.ktvu.com
 
People have different views of what is abuse but everyone is clear about what is a successful program - do they win games? Do they win championships? If a coach employs tactics that don’t work to achieve those goals then they should be kicked to the curb just like players are quickly kicked off the team. Why do AD’s allow poor performance of the coaches year after year but coaches can freely kick players on rosters? same standards of high expectations for D1 players should be applied to the D1 coaches. I get so tired of coaches acting like Gods yet get to skate by without accountability for their own performance
 
Dude been around a long time. In women’s soccer most schools Cal included don’t care about winning over graduation rates, running a operation neutral budget(or close to), & staying clean in compliance. College Admin has very little time or appetite for investing in women’s sports beyond lip service. How many girls does it take to for a public university to take some kind of action. He just pulled in 12 recruits to a roster already at 22. 34 players is ridiculous, and is part of the systemic problem in girls soccer from club to college. Have a problem with a player? Cut her, bench her, ostracize her and allienate her from the team and she will quit on her own. Then you can say she was the quiter, she didn’t want true competition, she was weak, couldn’t take it and my favorite She wasn’t that good anyway! When in reality the coach is weak, and quit, and couldn’t cut it. Those are HIS PLAYERS. At some point where is the accountability? The lie in girls soccer is that 1 plus 1 equals 2. When really 1 plus 1 equals banana. It’s a shell game. Too many schools are talent collectors. Consuming a never ending appetite of greed all to feed their ego. The player or consumer needs to take back their power that for too long has been freely given to coaches, clubs, schools out of fear. They don’t own you or your soul. They the institutions, coaches have access to the soccer player for soccer and related activities. That’s it. I’ve seen this first hand year after year. Freshman loose their identities, becoming robots, lost and isolated. Too much has been given away in the pursuit of status, playing time, and compliance. No excuse for even 1 player to have to go through what these young women did. Ever. Sorry for the rant, but I hope parents get involved and don’t let these coaches recruit your kids. You recruit them.
 
suzysoccer1 said:
Dude been around a long time. In women’s soccer most schools Cal included don’t care about winning over graduation rates, running a operation neutral budget(or close to), & staying clean in compliance. College Admin has very little time or appetite for investing in women’s sports beyond lip service. How many girls does it take to for a public university to take some kind of action. He just pulled in 12 recruits to a roster already at 22. 34 players is ridiculous, and is part of the systemic problem in girls soccer from club to college. Have a problem with a player? Cut her, bench her, ostracize her and allienate her from the team and she will quit on her own. Then you can say she was the quiter, she didn’t want true competition, she was weak, couldn’t take it and my favorite She wasn’t that good anyway! When in reality the coach is weak, and quit, and couldn’t cut it. Those are HIS PLAYERS. At some point where is the accountability? The lie in girls soccer is that 1 plus 1 equals 2. When really 1 plus 1 equals banana. It’s a shell game. Too many schools are talent collectors. Consuming a never ending appetite of greed all to feed their ego. The player or consumer needs to take back their power that for too long has been freely given to coaches, clubs, schools out of fear. They don’t own you or your soul. They the institutions, coaches have access to the soccer player for soccer and related activities. That’s it. I’ve seen this first hand year after year. Freshman loose their identities, becoming robots, lost and isolated. Too much has been given away in the pursuit of status, playing time, and compliance. No excuse for even 1 player to have to go through what these young women did. Ever. Sorry for the rant, but I hope parents get involved and don’t let these coaches recruit your kids. You recruit them.
Click to expand...

Is it a full moon or are you auditioning for a job at KTVU? That is some seriously melodramatic s**t.

“The lie in girls soccer is that 1 plus 1 equals 2. When really 1 plus 1 equals banana”?

“It’s a shell game”?

“Too many schools are talent collectors. Consuming a never ending appetite of greed all to feed their ego”?

“They don’t own you or your soul.”

“Freshman loose [sic] their identities, becoming robots, lost and isolated”?

Really?
 
EOTL said:
Is it a full moon or are you auditioning for a job at KTVU? That is some seriously melodramatic s**t.

“The lie in girls soccer is that 1 plus 1 equals 2. When really 1 plus 1 equals banana”?

“It’s a shell game”?

“Too many schools are talent collectors. Consuming a never ending appetite of greed all to feed their ego”?

“They don’t own you or your soul.”

“Freshman loose [sic] their identities, becoming robots, lost and isolated”?

Really?
Click to expand...
Maybe the point gets lost in too many words for you. So your take is pro coach? Did you read the letters? Your on a soccer forum where we parents talk soccer and your take is what? F those girls? F that poster trying to defend girls being subjected to bullshit.
So Yeah I’m melodramatic about this so what. If there was anything to be passionate about why not this? Why not support these girls?
 
suzysoccer1 said:
Maybe the point gets lost in too many words for you. So your take is pro coach? Did you read the letters? Your on a soccer forum where we parents talk soccer and your take is what? F those girls? F that poster trying to defend girls being subjected to bullshit.
So Yeah I’m melodramatic about this so what. If there was anything to be passionate about why not this? Why not support these girls?
Click to expand...

I think you’re caught up in a narrative that does not accurately reflect the overall reality. I think there are far more players aware of what is really happening there than you understand. I think you have bought into a lot of hyperbole coming from a handful of players and not much to back it up.
 
EOTL said:
I think you’re caught up in a narrative that does not accurately reflect the overall reality. I think there are far more players aware of what is really happening there than you understand. I think you have bought into a lot of hyperbole coming from a handful of players and not much to back it up.
Click to expand...
My overarching theme using this article as a reference is watch your kids and be careful in recruiting. Especially now. In regards to the article, everyone has their own narrative. For me I’ve been in this conference a long time. I know what I’ve seen, heard and watched. Don’t wish any program any bad will but a handful of players is enough now. One is enough. No reason this should get this far. But it did, because those in charge allowed for it to. Accountability in all areas all the time not just when it suits a narrative.
 
“Talent collectors“ is scary. It’s human nature to want the accolades, the love and bragging rights.. When a player has those things, they’re blind to the cost. The quiet, creeping innocuous abusive treatment.
 
suzysoccer1 said:
Maybe the point gets lost in too many words for you. So your take is pro coach? Did you read the letters? Your on a soccer forum where we parents talk soccer and your take is what? F those girls? F that poster trying to defend girls being subjected to bullshit.
So Yeah I’m melodramatic about this so what. If there was anything to be passionate about why not this? Why not support these girls?
Click to expand...

if you had stopped at the sentence ending with "22", your post would have made more sense.
 
Giesbock said:
“Talent collectors“ is scary. It’s human nature to want the accolades, the love and bragging rights.. When a player has those things, they’re blind to the cost. The quiet, creeping innocuous abusive treatment.
Click to expand...

It is very easy to disregard the most obvious and actual reason the vast majority of people choose coaching as a line of work. It isn’t some nefarious scary desire to “collect talent”. It is primarily to help people grow and provide them with opportunity.

It’s funny how a bunch of people here are demanding that the Cal coach be fired because he isn’t winning enough, and then turn around and claim that trying to recruit the best people to do that very thing constitutes “scary talent collection”. Such a load of b.s.

How often do women’s college coaches even get fired for not winning enough? Shoot, many coaches have been around 10-20 years who regularly have losing records. Have you ever heard of a women’s college coach getting fired because making the tournament 12 of 13 years isn’t good enough. And anyone who think someone should when they graduate such a high percentage of players as Cal does has some really screwed up priorities.

And as for these “massive rosters” that people are complaining about, how much do those contribute to kids getting into colleges that would otherwise not been accessible to them otherwise? The undeniable truth is that very few of the kids on the Cal roster, and a lot of rosters, would have been admitted without soccer, including the recruited walk ons. Those “massive” rosters provide opportunities to thousands including, apparently many who have delusional expectations and don’t understand that making a team is only part of the battle, but hard work and discipline are also necessary to achieve major goals.

I am not surprised that so many people here reach such bizarre negative inferences when it comes to women’s soccer. That has been my experience with most youth soccer parents.
 
EOTL said:
It is very easy to disregard the most obvious and actual reason the vast majority of people choose coaching as a line of work. It isn’t some nefarious scary desire to “collect talent”. It is primarily to help people grow and provide them with opportunity.

It’s funny how a bunch of people here are demanding that the Cal coach be fired because he isn’t winning enough, and then turn around and claim that trying to recruit the best people to do that very thing constitutes “scary talent collection”. Such a load of b.s.

How often do women’s college coaches even get fired for not winning enough? Shoot, many coaches have been around 10-20 years who regularly have losing records. Have you ever heard of a women’s college coach getting fired because making the tournament 12 of 13 years isn’t good enough. And anyone who think someone should when they graduate such a high percentage of players as Cal does has some really screwed up priorities.

And as for these “massive rosters” that people are complaining about, how much do those contribute to kids getting into colleges that would otherwise not been accessible to them otherwise? The undeniable truth is that very few of the kids on the Cal roster, and a lot of rosters, would have been admitted without soccer, including the recruited walk ons. Those “massive” rosters provide opportunities to thousands including, apparently many who have delusional expectations and don’t understand that making a team is only part of the battle, but hard work and discipline are also necessary to achieve major goals.

I am not surprised that so many people here reach such bizarre negative inferences when it comes to women’s soccer. That has been my experience with most youth soccer parents.
Click to expand...
Cal Berkeley women's soccer coach job should be one of the top 25 in the country---a plum post for any coach--so should be fairly easy to find a coach with some organizational skills who doesn't abuse players. Is that such a high bar to achieve? You don't get multiple accusations of specific abuse unless there is some real THERE there. Indiana held onto Bob Knight until there was actual video of him choking out a player in practice. Hopefully, Cal won't have the same appalling standard of proof requirement. Debating the win-loss record and talent collection issues are red herrings. We're talking about raising and treating other human beings. If my daughter is a 2021 commit, I'm putting out feelers for other options immediately. Why put your girl in a place for four years where there is ANY known risk of abuse (let alone LIKELY risk)? Cal would be smart to find someone else. Guaranteed there will not be any more #1 recruiting classes as long as he stays.
 
oh canada said:
Cal Berkeley women's soccer coach job should be one of the top 25 in the country---a plum post for any coach--so should be fairly easy to find a coach with some organizational skills who doesn't abuse players. Is that such a high bar to achieve? You don't get multiple accusations of specific abuse unless there is some real THERE there. Indiana held onto Bob Knight until there was actual video of him choking out a player in practice. Hopefully, Cal won't have the same appalling standard of proof requirement. Debating the win-loss record and talent collection issues are red herrings. We're talking about raising and treating other human beings. If my daughter is a 2021 commit, I'm putting out feelers for other options immediately. Why put your girl in a place for four years where there is ANY known risk of abuse (let alone LIKELY risk)? Cal would be smart to find someone else. Guaranteed there will not be any more #1 recruiting classes as long as he stays.
Click to expand...

You are seriously comparing the Cal coach to a guy who who choked a player, hit others, threw chairs and regularly made racist comments?

There is no known “risk of abuse”. There are a handful of former players who are unhappy about a handful of incidents, and the severity of the hyperbole compared to the lack of severity of the incidents described over a 10 year period raises a more questions about them than it does the Cal coach IMO.
 
EOTL said:
You are seriously comparing the Cal coach to a guy who who choked a player, hit others, threw chairs and regularly made racist comments?

There is no known “risk of abuse”. There are a handful of former players who are unhappy about a handful of incidents, and the severity of the hyperbole compared to the lack of severity of the incidents described over a 10 year period raises a more questions about them than it does the Cal coach IMO.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Based on prior posts I would have thought for sure you would champion standing up for the powerless.

Btw, that's what they said about The General for years. And, how the typical blame the player mantra goes. Aww, she's just not tough enough; just unhappy about playing time; just an unstable girl. BS. Did you read the players' letters? I'm not aware of any other Top 40 women's soccer coaches with abuse claims alleged against them are you? Because there are multiple allegations at Cal, that creates an environment with a "risk of abuse" greater than other schools where there are no allegations. Good on these young women to courageously come forward.
 
I can agree with your last point. As the dad of a well rounded student athlete, what I’m driving at has nothing to do with a coaches win loss record or a singular instance of abusive coaching methods.

I think collegiate coaches in non-revenue generating sports are probably retained more for their stature as role models and how they embody the values that a particular institution is trying to project into the world. Presidents office, Fundraising and PR departments drive that.

I called talent collecting scary because it sets aside any real thought of what’s in a young person’s best interest. It may put them in a situation where they become enamored with the name recognition and prestige of a program and loose sight of what may be best for them.

Better to be the head of the snake or tail of the dragon?

Better to warm up alongside a National team player but sit on the bench? Or better to be a leader, playing big minutes and coming out of school ready to be a force in the world rather than broken down and disappointed with how you were treated?

Just adding my two cents to an important conversation...you want to bash my viewpoint as stupid or dumb, please feel free.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top