"Abusive, hostile, racially incentive, homophobic, created a culture of hate and derision. Retaliation is a common practice by this person. Would never let this person around any athlete or child. Was fired, after extensive investigation by university and title IX office. No program at any level should allow this person to be in a situation where she is responsible for the development of other people. She is petty and small, she has a terrible lacrosse IQ. Lynchburg should have done there homework. The ssc had also received complaints about her. Coaches in her conference thought she was a joke for her lack of knowledge about the sport. "

"Would pull her top players to put in the athletes she thought of as “less valuable” to prove what a loss is. Gave up constantly on the team. Would talk poorly about players to other players, I mean come on, if you’re still defending her it’s simply because you were the player hearing about your teammates. Give. It a break and grow up, recognizing bad coaching is a part of getting better as an athlete and it’s a shame to see people supporting her still."

"Coach raff doenst know the game of lacrosse If a lacrosse stick smacked her in the face… she is absolutely clueless, is immature and one of the most boring people I ever met. Her coaching styles are brutal playing her favorites no matter what. No in game adjustments whatsoever. Absolute garbage coach. Likes playing low comp to feel good ab herself only to get absolutely embarrassed by every team in conference . How she got this job to begin beats me man. But I wouldn’t hire her if my life depended on it."

"I mean you don’t need anything but statistics to reveal just how bad of a coach McKenzie Rafferty. She became head coach in 2019. In 2018 Florida Tech had a record of 17-3. In 2019, Florida Tech had a record of 7-9. Quite the discrepancy… Additionally, for this season and last season Coach Rafferty would only inflate her team’s statistics by playing low-level d2 teams, causing her team to get stunned in conference play with the significant increase in level of competition. Florida Tech women’s lacrosse will greatly benefit from a new head coach."

"Absolute worst coach I’ve ever had. I finally quit my junior year after 2 and half years of plain mental abuse. After 10 years of playing, she drained the love of the sport for me and several others. My freshman year, the whole team was required to go around in a circle and read off their stats and explain why they were ruining the team. A teammate in my graduating class had 0 minutes of playing time, clearly upset and uncomfortable, was required to explain why her 0 minutes was “hurting the team”. She blames specific individuals for losses in front of the entire team. While watching film, she would pick on one person to the point where the only feeling walking out of there is defeat and worthlessness. After this, she will completely give up coaching you, as if she did in the first place. Rafferty will completely lie to your face about not playing and tell you the same hopeful script she tells the other non-favorites: We see you working hard, and we will put you in where we need you. This coach plays her favorites through injuries and sickness over giving the non-favorites a chance. Her version of “chance” is the last two minutes of the game after the starters are gassed, where there’s no momentum and your legs are cold. The team culture is directly impacted from the toxic coaching. The captains the team voted for were completely ignored, simply picked the two favorites who worshiped the ground she walked on. This favoritism led to a lot of team tension and jealously. There’s no coaching, it was all giggling and mocking my teammates and I. In one of the games, I got excited once I heard my name and several of us on the sideline to finally get some playing time. Only to hear as you run onto the field she and the assistant coach saying they were putting the s*** players in to see what a s*** game looks like. If you want to lose complete self worth and love for the game, play for her. The only individual growth you will have is to be a cheerleader on the sidelines while watching your teammates have the chance you never had. Even though they were being worked into the ground with no changes in game play made. I will forever support my teammates, just from the freedom of the bleachers instead of under the control of a manipulative “leader”. There are so many horrid experiences I could share but all in all: WOULD NOT RECOMMEND even to my worst enemy. "

"I hesitate to say that I would only recommend playing for Coach Rafferty to my worst enemy, because I dont think anyone deserves the mental manipulation, anxiety, depression, and fat shaming that comes with playing under her. Coach Rafferty sabotaged our season by not coaching during games (she would only say our starting lineup and nothing else) and by playing favorites. She would matchup our worst 1v1 defender with the opposing teams fastest and best drivers which costs us games. She would play attackers that only care about their own stats. In fact the only statistic you need to excel in to receive playing time is time spent in the coaches office. Many practices were spent doing sprints after losses even if you didnt touch the field. After a one point loss, she yelled at a freshman in front of the whole team blaming her for the loss. She made us read our stats in front of the whole team and explain why we had turnovers and how we are causing the team to lose. On the quiet bus ride home from a loss her and our assistant coach made fun of multiple people on the team making comments like “You transferred from a D1 school but you dont know how to play defense?” instead of helping the athlete become better she put her down and made similar comments about others as she went down the stat sheet. This was a common theme, talking about how her players were not good enough, but doing nothing to teach them to be better. You would think after consecutive losing seasons in conference you would change the practice plan, but nope! We did the same practice for years and i watched my teams growth be stunted. If you think youre program has hit rock bottom and can’t possibly get worse, hire this coach as she will surprise you with her efforts. "

"Playing for coach raff has made me a worse player than when I came. I am a dedicated and highly coachable athlete, but I literally receive no feedback or communication in an average practice. She continually plays the worst players on the team due to her favoritism which has cost us our last season. We will never be successful with her as a coach and playing for her has drained all of my love for the sport. "

"Coach Rafferty’s performance can’t NOT be defended especially with regards to in game adjustments and playing the most game ready capable athletes on the team. When a team has 5 losses ..3 in the conference where they had a scoreless quarter(s) and 3 goals in the 2nd half..and NO lineup or substitutions are made it’s on the coach..Especially when there a MULTIPLE players of superior talent sitting..The stats of conference play don’t lie..she’s leaving the program with ZERO class of 2024 verbally committed athletes..there is pattern of not replying HS players emails and calls from club recruiting coordinators from Nationally known programs. "

"If you wanted a coach to never talk to you and only whisper and giggle about things you’re doing wrong then you’d love Coach Rafferty. Whether it was conditioning where no matter how fast you ran you were too slow or if it was at practice where she stared at you blankly without feedback, Raff was not transparent and only watched and cared for her favorites. She encouraged complacency by only playing the same girls every game no matter their mental or physical, and when the game wasn’t going our way she would fully blame the team and not implement changes when she had the chance. Overall, doesn’t show respect to her players and it shows"

"Coach Rafferty is the worst coach I have ever been under in my 13 years of playing. She picks favorites, lies, is not motivating, has poor practice plans, and doesn’t advocate for her athletes. While playing under her, she has created a toxic culture and has no consequences for inappropriate behavior displayed by one of her “favorites”. Despite all bias, she would not coach us during games, practically giving up, which costs us games on multiple occasions. She gave limited, if any, feedback during practices and was not hopeful or coach-like in individual sessions. I would NOT recommend her for any coaching positions in the future. "

"Coach Rafferty is very ego driven and creates no culture within her team. She rewards players who praise her and hurt players who do not play her games. She was also known to bully several members of the team who she recruited. Her style of play is free for all because she says a starting line up and that is the last thing players hear from her. She doesn’t make in game adjustments and does not even address the team at halftime and between quarters. "

"Very poor coach. Lacks motivational skills. Picks favorites. Laughs at players from the sideline. She needs to pursue a different career path."

"Horrible coach. Legitimately made me suicidal. No one should ever have to play for her. Does not understand how to coach (or maybe she does and just chooses to coach poorly). Horrible coach, even worse person. DO NOT PLAY FOR HER!"