"Would not recommend. Not a good person and not a good coach. Would someone who is such a "great coach" have such polarizing reviews? "

"Barb is genuinely the best coach I’ve had over my 20y in field hockey. She pushed each and every one of us to become better people on and off the field. I’d restart my 5 years under Barb IN A HEARTBEAT. I can’t believe what some of the people on here are saying - Barb truly is the best and was my rock in the most crucial years of my life, she helped me become who I am today and couldn’t be more proud of it BARB WE LOVE YOU"

"I grew as a player and individual under Barb. She created such a great atmosphere and found me my best friends. We worked hard and enjoyed our time. I came in dealing with mental health struggles and she was my biggest supporter. Nothing but amazing things to say about her desire for her players to be happy and healthy. "

"UMASS was the best experience of my life! I would do ANYTHING to do it all over again but I would only do it with Barb as head coach. WE LOVE BARB! BEST CULTURE, BEST TEAM! ROLL"

"Runs her players out of the program and convinces them they are mentally ill. I would not recommend."

"Horrible. That’s it. Just horrible"

"Has not changed her bullying and manipulative ways. Unfortunate and disheartening to watch young girls be pushed away from the sport they love, while the athletic department condones this nasty, toxic, and disgusting behavior. It is a good thing the university was pushed down to the MAC, maybe Weinberg can pull off some wins. Her heart is not in the right place- it is about money and pushing athletes out the door. I advise all future student athletes to see past the facade Weinberg portrays- she does not care about you or your growth. "

"Coach Barb led her team to the Final Four with the best team culture out there. Her players have a fantastic all-around experience at UMass. My daughter would not change her experience for anything."

"Dishonest and has shown absolutely no personal personal growth. Still an insidious human being only attempting to financial screw young women. Deceptive and disgusting. If you're going through the recruitment process be careful and don't fall for her trap. Unfortunate to society and the university that she is still allowed to coach, bully, manipulate, and mentally destroy young women. "

"Barb is a great leader who cares about us as people first. She is a second mom and her door is always open when we need anything. I cannot imagine being a student-athlete anywhere else!"

"Coach Barb creates a great team culture that is both a family away from home and also an elite, competitive atmosphere. She has taught me so much on and off the field and I am grateful for my experience at UMass. "

"I know Barb as a coach and a person who will give anything to anyone. She is one of the most caring and empathetic individuals I have ever met. Barb always puts her team first and does what is in the best interest of the goals and values they have built. I stand behind her and the decisions she has made regarding the UMass Field Hockey program. "

"Lack of personal development and character development. I would recommend the University to anyone, but Weinberg is the downfall of the university and the field hockey program. In addition to the team's ability to win a championship. Creates inner turmoil and attempts to push people away from the program while celebrating others. If you have a good exeperience, of course you're in support of Coach Weinberg, but for those (she has a high turnover rate of players) who do not, you have a terrible experience because she targets you and is relentless in her act of bullying and having meetings to degrade you. Recovering from her abuse on my self esteem even years after playing for her has been one of the largest challenges in my life. "

"Coach Barb helped me grow as a person; academically, athletically, and socially. She cared about my well-being above anything else. I could not have asked for a better experience at UMass."

"It is disappointing to see one former player continue to bully Coach Barb. We support her fully and what she is building at UMass. "

"Acts with zero ethics or regards to DEI. One of the least inclusive people I've ever met- going as far as making a point to make players feel excluded in order to get them to quit. Wins games barely... constantly going into strokes or OT against teams UMass should be beating during game play. The games are a painful watch under her coaching. Lack of understanding of keeping the players who deserve to be in the game- too busy being focused on a rotation and bullying players to quit for their recruiting money. Emotionless. Stone cold. Stoic. Will look you in the face and say the most blasphemous and rude statements with a straight face then stare at you with no emotions behind her stone cold blue eyes. It's sinful and a crime and honestly scary that this woman is allowed to work with student athletes who are young women. She has more allegations against her than A10 championship wins... Well, I guess it would be a start to have a single a10 championship win or a national championship appearance "

"It is disappointing to see one former player continue to bully Coach Barb. Any person can read between the lines and see what is really going on here. Barb is one of the most caring, passionate coaches out there and truly wants the best for the team."

"One of the least honest and most deceptive and manipulative people I have ever encountered. She has multiple cases of financial deception. Emotionally abusive. Truly a sickening human being. She should not be allowed to work around and emotionally abuse young women. Looks as if though statistics for the 2023 season aren't great. Stone cold heart. Has pushed people to their lowest emotional. Played favorites. Didn't act with proper DEI values. Singled people out and bullied those with anxiety and depression. Made a point to make players not feel included and attempted to bully them to quit to regain their recruiting money. You must know exactly what you're getting into."

"My daughter had an unbelievable all-around experience with UMass Field Hockey. She wouldn't change it for the world and neither would we. "

"My daughter had a fantastic, all-around experience at UMass under Coach Barb’s leadership. "

"I had a great experience with Coach Barb at UMass. She cares about her players on and off the field and is always there for us. I can think of many specific instances when she put mental health first, whether it be allowing a player to take a mental health day or encouraging us to speak up about issues we are facing. She also creates a positive team culture."

"For my review I am including a passage or text I sent across to the Athletic Director at Umass, to which I had no real response apart from asking to discuss via a call, which I agreed to (as long as it was recorded). I heard nothing back from this acceptance, which, in my opinion states what little regard is had for the views of Alumni. In October of 2019, a team mate and I raised a report with the administration of Umass athletics denoting many concerns we had regarding the umass field hockey program. These concerns were noted personally in a six page letter, that contained issues I have chosen not to mention in this account. These concerns varied from unprofessionalism within the coaching staff to extreme disregard to their athletes mental health. Covid then happened and little to no change was seen. I graduated and put my concerns to bed, maybe the program would change on its own, maybe coaches would see the error of their ways. However, it has recently come to my attention that nothing has changed. Athletes aren’t leaving this program with conference titles and rings, more so a bitter taste at the very least. I think it’s easy to read a report and brush it off as an isolated case. Maybe it’s time for those with stories to tell to speak about their experiences too, I’ll take my turn. Having grown playing hockey at a junior international level, I was no stranger to hard work and brutal setbacks - I thought the NCAA was where athletes went to have the time of their lives. I was unlucky to gain an injury my first day of preseason, leaving me on the bench for many weeks. I missed all of preseason and came back (arguably too soon) and nervous. My confidence was knocked and I struggled a lot mentally. While never explicitly said, it was made very clear in my opinion that the coaches deemed my weight an issue, I would be repeatedly asked about my nutrition and fitness levels. In one particular meeting I was asked which player I looked up to fitness wise, I gave my answer and was told ‘well she runs 12k every Sunday, are you going to do that?’. Pitting players against each other is a hellishly toxic thing to do to begin with, let alone when it is balanced on a perceived weight issue. Adjusting to college, especially when one is a D1 athlete is hard, let alone when you’re an international student 3,000 miles from home. In one particularly bad spell, I asked for a mental health day from practice. I wasn’t sleeping, I had an extremely low mood and the thought of facing practice that day made me feel physically sick, I would have been off the ball and risked injury. After the practice I was pulled into a meeting with our coaches and the mental health counsellor we had at the time. It was suggested I should be left at home for our forthcoming away trip, I viewed this as a punishment for taking a singular mental health day away from practice. If it wasn’t for our counsellor stepping in, I’d have been alone for four days, totally isolated as all my team were away while in a really bad mental health state - in what world would that be a sensible idea? It was around this time that I was asked if I’d be happier player for the club side. This was ludicrous to me as I did not have the desire to leave and not once had I ever alluded to not wanting to play varsity field hockey. Had I struggled with my mental health? Yes - a lot! But I still loved the team and my identity as an athlete. This was the first (of at least three) times when I was asked directly if I wanted to leave. It was apparent that they wanted me gone, maybe I didn’t fit the vibe, or I wasn’t the player they had in mind but one thing was apparent, they didn’t want me there. Now, as a player in a substantial scholarship, if I were to be cut they would have to continue paying my scholarship until I left. But, if I quit, I’d lose my scholarship, hence, in my opinion, their attempts to get me to quit. Now, anyone who knows me will know I am hellishly stubborn! If you don’t want me somewhere, you bet I will turn up everyday and stick it out, just to piss you off. From then on, no matter my mental state, I ‘put on a brave face’ and turned up to every practice giving it my all. Practice, from the very first training of preseason, had a feel of starters vs scrubs. If you were a player not getting many minutes on the field, you were totally expendable. This meant every session was an uphill battle for many of the team. But, I muddled through the season and made it out the other end. Spring came along and due to the graduation of our senior keeper, and the departure of the other keeper in my freshman class (the first of three keepers to leave the program in three consecutive years), I was the only keeper. I saw this as my shot, I poured everything into field hockey, going on extra runs in my own time, doing individual sessions multiple times a week, sometimes everyday. But really, all I was doing was keeping my head above water. The pressure in practice left me in a state of panic for the entirety of most sessions and I know I’m not alone in feeling that way. Before we knew it, it was sophomore season. Having made it to the A10 finals the previous season, we were ready to make this our year. This pipe dream came crashing down pretty quickly in a brutal 5-0 loss in our opening game. Next followed a trip up to Vermont where some athletes ordered baked sweet potato nachos, resulting in a verbal degradation citing the fact we ate nachos as the reason we got out ‘arses handed to [us] by Michigan’. That is only one of many occasions our food choices were ridiculed by staff, on one occasion a red-shirt ordered a grilled cheese as a meal on a road trip and was told off in front of the full team, meals on away trips were heavily regulated. However, for the coaches, anything was fair game. We as students had little support when it came to our academics. I remember it being commented that we spent too much time on our work and this coach had not known a team so focussed on academics. On one particular occasion we had a Tuesday night game over two hours away and a scheduled off day the next day, at 9pm on the way home from this game we were told our off day was cancelled. I had allotted that off day to catch up on work and study for a test. When I told Barb that I had had to stay up to 2am studying due to the off day cancellation at the last minute, I was told ‘if you don’t want to stay up late to study, you don’t have to be on this team’ - not particularly student first if you ask me. Physically, we were pushed to our limits. It was a generally accepted norm that if you could get out of bed, you should be at practice. This resulted in practicing while extremely unwell and prolonging the time it took us to get healthy again. I personally remember a particular indoor practice tournament where I was struggling with a quad injury. Being the only goalkeeper, due to my classmate stepping down from the squat and transferring colleges, I had to play through extreme pain and the coaches were finally reticent to let me rest while injured. I was made to feel like I was lying, that I wasn’t actually injured and it was some moral failing to be in pain. We as a goalkeeping unit had a joke of ‘sweat or tears’. While this was a funny game to us, the harsh reality was it was relevant due to the fact that in one particular season at least two of us would cry most sessions… We’re not weak people, we just had extremely unhealthy pressure put on us for no reward. During my sophomore spring, I decided to do everything in my control to be the starter in the fall. I attended individual training sessions almost everyday before practice, I ran extremely excessively and especially over the summer break I lost a lot of weight. This was praised by the coaches and began to cement an idea that the thinner I was, the more I was valued on the team. This spiralled and resulted in me spending the fall of my senior year juggling classes, practice and three days a week of intensive outpatient treatment for an eating disorder that had gripped me. I was so stuck in the belief that I had to be as small and as fit as possible I ran my body into the ground just to be good enough. Even while I was in treatment I was still required to go to practice on the field. The idea that you had to go extremely above and beyond was instilled in many of us. And, while arguably this could be seen as a good trait in moderation, it caused strong divisions in the team. It left us believe certain players ‘deserved’ less playing time as they couldn’t meet the rigid fitness test goals despite injury, or they didn’t deserve it because they weren’t going to multiple individual sessions a week. We had been truly brainwashed. It was not their fault at all, they were student athletes with great career goals and high academic standards, there was no time or mental energy to be doing five extra hours of workouts or training on top of the mandatory 20 hours. The coaches were so disconnected from the mood of their players that they were astounded to know that at the end of one season, at least 9 players on their roster had sought psychological help throughout the course of the season. It took the team athletic trainer to bring it to their attention, and quite frankly it is preposterous that they were unaware of the sheer numbers of unhappy players on their team that were mentally struggling. When you’re already feeling mentally low, realising your coaches don’t even realise really kicks you while you’re down. When, as a captain group, we raised the idea that many on the team were unhappy, it was brushed off by the coaches as it being players disgruntled by a lack of playing time. Despite the fact all of those struggling had varying playing minutes, including some starters. I was approached by many players, all of whom were receiving different amounts of playing time that have said they are not happy with how things are being run and working out but do not feel they can speak to the coaches about it for many reasons. For myself as a non-starter, I always felt my issues were brushed off because I wasn’t getting the minutes I wanted. No, I was horribly depressed, unsupported by my coaches and quite frankly had no desire to even wake up in a morning. Having your mental health dismissed and put down to just being down to playing time is heinously disheartening. Starters were scared to speak up due to fear of losing their spots, all of which lead to an environment where people were scared or unwilling to talk to the coaches. On one particular occasion in the fall of 2018 when I raised concerns to the coaches in a meeting (for which my parents were present) I was told if I didn’t like the way the program was run, I could leave. Were they really that fragile that the way they responded to criticism was to show me the door? One thing causing that caused me and others extreme pressure and sense of panic in practice was the extreme competitiveness in practice. This went way beyond the normal acceptable levels. Even after the coaching staff were made aware of this detriment by the head of sports psychology at the time, nothing changed. In fact certain players were asked in the weeks following what could be done to make practice more competitive. In my career at umass there had been so many occasions where I felt gaslit. The most resounding one of these came in the meeting in which I told the coaches I would not be returning for the season of spring 2021. I had spent weeks at home and finally started to get a grip on my mental health. I had really started to improve and see how toxic the field hockey environment had been for me and I knew had I returned, I would have gone back into a very bad mental place. I explained this to the coaches in a meeting and I was met with Barb telling me she was ‘questioning my loyalty to the team’. I had given three and a half years to that team. For the majority of my time there I was in such a bad mental state that I struggled to get out of bed each morning. Going to practice was an extreme dread and I cried my way through almost every session. But I was there for my team, so much so I had been voted as a captain my junior year, despite being a ‘scrub’. I had their backs, supported them out of their own dark places, and tried my hardest to make them feel like they weren’t alone. I stepped down from the program while the world was ravaged through covid, border entry to the US and back to England was complicated and the season wasn’t even confirmed and definitely wasn’t a ‘proper’ season. To be, in my option, gaslit, right until the very end is something that just leaves me saddened. Now, I accept I am not on the team currently, so some may argue I don’t have my finger on the pulse. However my lasting question having read recent events would be, when I reduced Barb to tears in her office in the fall of 2019 as I made her realise she had become the sort of coaching monster that had been plagued with in her career, did nothing change? Why are girls still going through what seems like the exact same thing that I, and many others in my class and since have been through?"

"She's a great coach who works hard to inspire and lead future generations. "

"Coach is a good person who cares about the well-being of her players on and off the field. To help players succeed she has to try to uphold standards and expectations. Not everyone likes that or being held accountable. Some players want to play DI to say they played DI, some play college sports for the clout and swag. Some can’t handle failure and want to place blame on others. I’m putting this here to show how Coach is a good person. If you are looking to find out who Coach is or who other coaches are, visit schools and talk to players there, talk to coaches yourself and form your own opinion. If you don’t like a coach, find one you do, and play for them. If you have a complaint or concern with anyone in any profession or in life, handle it professionally and respectfully or say nothing at all. Even if your concern is valid, if it’s made anonymously it cannot always be addressed. "

"Winning record. Players who graduate. Athletes who get better. Young women who enjoy each other. College sports aren’t supposed to be summer camp. Not everyone is picked. And just because you start one year, or or one game, or think everything is as you want it doesn’t mean it’s best for the team. That doesn’t make a bad coach. It doesn’t create a bad culture. A coach has to think of the program, of what is best for everyone rowing the same direction. This site may be Yelp for coaches. Yeah, anyone can post. But good restaurants get more good reviews than bad. And, there will be many more positive reviews on Barb Weinberg. That’s because she is solid - as a person and a coach. "