"I had a very disappointing experience with Notre Dame tennis, largely because of the coaching. Silverio consistently demonstrated poor communication, often failing to clearly outline expectations or provide constructive feedback. Practices felt disorganized, and there was little sense of a structured development plan for players. What stood out most was the lack of support for athletes both on and off the court. Instead of fostering a positive, competitive environment, Alison often created unnecessary tension and appeared to play favorites. Opportunities didn’t always seem to be based on performance or effort, which made it difficult to stay motivated and trust the process. A major concern was the impact this environment had on my mental health. The constant pressure without adequate support, combined with inconsistent communication, created a stressful and discouraging atmosphere. Instead of building confidence, her coaching style often left us feeling anxious, undervalued, and mentally drained. Over time, this kind of environment takes a serious toll, especially for student-athletes already balancing academics and high-level competition. Concerns brought to the coach were frequently dismissed rather than addressed. For a program like Notre Dame, you would expect professionalism, accountability, and a commitment to athlete well-being—not just performance. Overall, my experience with tennis was extremely frustrating and disappointing. Notre Dame is a great school but Notre Dame tennis will never be good with Alison Silverio as the coach! "

"It is a real bummer Notre Dame does not have a coach that can cultivate the culture that a Notre Dame team should have. "

"Toxic coach, Toxic culture. Pushes sports psychologist but needs her own. ND would fire her but they don’t care about tennis"

"I wish there was a more notable forum to talk about College Coaches and College Programs. It would have saved myself and my family a lot of time and aggravation if we would have known the history of this woman. First, I want to say that the recruiting process for a Coach and Team is a business and the program is trying to get the best possible players to enhance their program. However, this program is absolutely HORRIBLE and it starts at the top. I want to tell everyone about our experience with Alison Silverio, her Asst. Coach and the Notre Dame Women's Tennis Program. My daughter is a Senior in High School, ranked #20 in her class and was interested in Notre Dame Tennis. Alison and the Assistant Coach contacted my Daughter and spoke to her many times. They attended her matches and welcomed her on a visit to Notre Dame. The school is great but the tennis facilities are not good. We were still very interested in the program, even after ALL the Negative stories about Alison. This is where all the excitement starts. Notre Dame had 2 spots and had already gave a commitment to 1 player. That left 1 more spot. Alison told my daughter that the spot was hers if she wanted it. Again, my daughter was a highly ranked player who was talking to many SEC and ACC schools. My daughter decided to attend Notre Dame and called Alison with the news. Alison said she was excited and couldn't wait for my daughter to be a part of her program. We went on Tennis Recruiting Website and posted that she was going to Notre Dame. I then had her call ALL the other coaches that offered her spots and tell her about her commitment to Notre Dame. Signing day was still months away but we were very excited about Notre Dame. This is where things got fishy. We were at a tournament and another family told us that her daughter was being looked at by Alison for my daughters class. It was strange because they supposedly had only 2 spots. We spoke to Alison a couple of days later and she said that everything was okay and still was very excited for my daughter. One week before signing day Alison called my daughter and told her that ND was going in a different direction! You can't understand what this does to a teenage girl who has been playing tennis all her life. We quickly pivoted to the other schools that had offered my Daughter Scholarships but nearly every spot had been taken. Alison had waited to see if she could get another player before telling us, and she told us so late in the game that it really hurt our daughter's options. I spoke to the assistant and he denied knowing about Alison's intentions. My daughter has since landed at a school at West but this was a very stressful time. So forget about how Alison Silverio creates a TOXIC CULTURE for Notre Dame Tennis, forget that her players don't like her, forget that she CAN NOT develop players and FORGET that she is a POOR MATCH DAY COACH. The most important attribute of a coach is TRUST. You are TRUSTING somebody to watch after your daughter for 4 years. This women Alison Silverio is NOT to be TRUSTED!"

"Would not trust this women to take care of your daughter during an important time in their life. Horrible team environment and dosen't care about the individual. Stay away!"

"I brought my daughter to watch a Notre Dame Tennis Match in March. They were playing University of Miami, who were not ranked and finished the season at 10-13. My daughter was very interested in Notre Dame the school, but didn't know much about the tennis program. I did read ALL the Horrible Reviews that Alison Silverio has received on this site, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to see her in action as a coach. Notre Dame went in ranked #23 and on paper should have won this match easily. The Irish got crushed that day 4-0, but that was not the alarming thing. Watching Alison and her Assistant Coach try to manage her team through the match was very uncomfortable. The players don't respond to her and really seem like they don't want to win for her. No positivity from her at all. Really hard to watch. I am not surprised she has NEVER coached an All-American. A poor Match Day Coach and by reading the reviews the Team Culture is horrible."

"Does not live up to Notre Dame ideals. While at Notre Dame, has never coached an All-American in singles or doubles. Her teams have beaten almost no teams that have finished in the top 25 of college rankings. The results that Silverio publishes are misleading. The program needs funding for a new facility and she is definitely a liability. "

"I wish I knew about this site before I started this very stressful college committing process. I want to share my experience to help families with this journey. I have a daughter that is Top 25 in country and loves the sport of tennis. My wife went to Notre Dame and loved the school and everything it did for her in her career. She really wanted our daughter to go to the school. I met Alison many times and found her to be a good person and I want to say I have nothing against the woman. ND was one of 5 schools that we took official visits to. I will review All 5 school coaches on this site to help other parents and players make better decisions. The school (ND) itself was wonderful and the faculty seems excellent. The tennis facilities are okay. We left the visit slightly impressed with the tennis but really impressed with the institution. However, after speaking with other college coaches, players , parents and tennis pro's the real information was discovered. Former and current players talk of a terrible culture on the team and a horrible overall tennis experience. Other coaches talk of Alison not able to develop players. But the biggest statement we heard was from 2 of the 5 coaches that we visited saying that they didn't want to speak to harshly about the ND program because they wanted Alison to stay with the program. The reason- because if ND ever got a real coach in place they could really be a factor in Women's College Tennis. If we heard it from one coach that can be explained, but two coaches made similar statements about Alison and the program. Bottom line, if you want a top level education and don't care about the tennis ND is the place. We just felt that we wanted our daughter to enjoy the tennis and school. The school is important but please do your homework on the coaches."

"This coach looks like she is recruiting international players now because she isn't able to attract good US players. I've heard the team culture isn't good and that players feel unsupported by coaching staff. "

"My daughter was being recruiting by Silverio. She decided against Notre Dame primarily because of the coach. She has heard from several girls that player have not enjoyed the experience of being on Silverio's team. If you look at results during her tenure, players don't improve. She has never coached an All-American and had never finished in the top 25! "

"Coach Silverio coached our daughter for three years. She had an excellent experience as a player, and we, as parents, also had a wonderful experience. Coach Silverio had a vision for elevating the team to high levels. She excelled at communicating that vision to her team and to getting them to believe in themselves and their ability to achieve the vision. Our daughter loved her years of college tenns and learned a lot from her time playing under Alison: how to be a good teammate and that being part of a team means finding the greater good and not just focusing on oneself - not easy after years of playing junior tennis! Coach S has a strong work ethic and expects the same from her players - which shouldn't be anything new or unexpected for high-level tennis players. I always knew that if our daughter had a problem and went to Coach S for advice, she would receive excellent advice. I truly believe that Alison focused on developing the whole person and not just the player, and I really appreciated that. She was a great role model for our daughter. Listen, college tennis isn't easy. It's a transition to go from junior tennis to playing on a team where the overall goal is for the team to win (keyword: team). It's easy to feel frustrated if your kid doesn't make the lineup consistently or if you think they should play a certain position and they don't. The coach's job, ultimately, is to create a team that wins the match, and that typically means there are some parents and players who aren't 100% happy. In our case, the bottom line is that our daughter was recruited by a number of excellent universities and programs and ultimately chose her college because of Coach Silverio. It was a decision that she never regretted."

"I am not sure who is writing these bad reviews, but she is an amazing coach. I had the chance to play and work for her and she is 100% dedicated to her players development on and off the court. She has a high standard and pushes her players to meet them and develop as people. She is caring, fun, and knows how to develop a successful team culture. I am lucky that I had the chance to have her as a coach and mentor throughout my collegiate career and improved a ton on the court "

"This coach is a horrible communicator and unpleasant to be around. Doesn’t develop players. Horrible team culture. "

"only cares about herself and an embarrassment to Notre Dame. I’d never in a million years let my kid be coached by this bitch"

"Crazy and an embarrassment of a coach"

"Horrible. This coach is a total loser. Does not care about players or school work at all. She is dishonest and had a horrible personality! Stay away! "

"The absolute worst coach ever. Stay away from her. Team culture is not good. Not fun. Would never want to play for someone like her again."

"My experience with this coach was horrible. She is unfriendly and not fun to be around. Treats players bad and does not care about them personally at all. Very bad overall experience. She will not last long at this school. Nobody likes her. She plays favorites and will not speak to players after they lose. Acts like they aren't trying hard enough. "

"This coach is not only unfriendly but not knowledgeable about tennis. She is painful to talk to and dishonest with players. She's rude to players and does not promote a fun team atmosphere. The culture she has created at Notre Dame is toxic; she pits players against one another. She does not care about academics at all. None of the players like her or her style. She has a lot of weird personality traits and is generally not fun to be around. She has a very unusual relationship with her parents who are at every home match!"

"Not compassionate or caring. Teams historically underperform. "

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"A great coach who cares about the program and her players"

"I have a daughter that is Top 30 in the country, she is a Junior in High School this year. She is being recruited by Alison, horrible experience. This woman is a flat out liar and terrible person. I wish someone would have warned us about this coach and the Women's Tennis Program at Notre Dame. Stay away from this program!"