"Melody is very, very intense. She is extremely old school in her teachings, and is a very punishment oriented coach. She will not care about your health. Whether you are healthy or injured, you will run. You will lift. You will cry. She will run you until you can't anymore, and then more. You will never get free time, she will make you train, or threaten you. Your academics don't matter to her past bragging rights for herself, and she will give you no time to do work. She has publicly shamed those who stood up to her. If you want to train like a top 10 division 1 athlete aiming to go pro, have zero life outside your sport, get shamed for your health or being injured in any way shape or form? then go ahead and hire her. But if you want to still love this sport, you should stay away."

"Do. Not. Hire. This. Person. Coach Melody Shotwell should never have been, and should never continue to be, a coach. Words cannot fully capture the extent of this walking red flag. She publicly hazes her players, sends old photos of players when they were heavier while making comments about their weight, continuously fat-shames, and forces various diets on her players. If you got injured or suffered a concussion, she would pressure you to lie to the trainer so you could continue playing. If you were a good player, she loved you, but if you needed actual coaching and help improving, she would verbally attack and single you out. She never actually coached during games, relying only on one or two girls to score goals, without creating a cohesive offensive strategy. If the team lost a game or championship, she would single out one specific player, blame them for the loss, and publicly announce it at every opportunity. She got fired for a reason, and frankly, she should have been fired sooner. It’s no surprise that so many girls quit because they couldn’t handle the constant abuse and the toll it took on their mental health from being constantly degraded. If you know what’s good for your program do not hire this person. "

"I am writing to strongly caution against the hiring of Coach Melody Shotwell, who was fired from SCAD due to her abusive treatment of players. While she may have tactical knowledge of the game, her behavior off the field was toxic, harmful, and entirely unacceptable for someone in a leadership position. She routinely belittled and humiliated players, creating a culture of fear, silence, and emotional instability. Any athlete who dared to speak up or express concern was met with swift retaliation. She weaponized scholarship money to control players, making them feel powerless and afraid to stand up for themselves. She made it explicitly clear that athletics came before academics, and players who prioritized their education were punished. For a collegiate environment, this is not only unethical but dangerous. Rather than building athletes up, she broke them down mentally and emotionally with no regard for their well-being. This coach is not someone who should be trusted with the development of young athletes. I strongly urge any institution considering her for a role to speak directly with multiple former players before making a decision. The damage she caused at SCAD should not be repeated elsewhere."

"Horrible Coach, fired from SCAD for abuse. There are so many horror stories from so many girls, they could probably make their own expose doc like Alex Cooper did. DO NOT HIRE THIS WOMAN unless you want your daughter to become suicidal."

"An inspiration to all who love the game. What an honor to play for her and learn all she has to offer me as an athlete. She challenged me in ways I never thought I could grow. She was always motivating and positive towards our team goal of winning and being great people in the community and on the field. Coach Melody’s lax IQ is top-tier and taught the team things we never heard of before, giving us that competitive edge to be successful. She is passionate about nutrition and fitness so that our bodies stayed healthy to perform and I really benefitted from this knowledge because my lacrosse performance greatly increased. There were many times in my career she would be available for me to talk after hours and guide me through hard times . I felt like I could go to her for anything. We had many team sessions with nutritionists that she organized for us as well as sports psychologists and fun team bonding trips and activities which allowed us to grow our team chemistry and work together, while keeping our minds and bodies strong as athletes. She was very organized, proactive and always communicated as soon as she had updates for the team which was helpful with our busy schedules as athletes. Winning came easy with this foundation and she was a very successful coach as a result of the culture she implemented winning many championships! I am so grateful for the opportunity to play for her and still to this day, have a great relationship with her and she has helped me get a great job after graduating!! "

"Coach Shotwell turned this program into a winning, positive environment where we were all held accountable and had to earn our playing time. She cultivated a culture of a true team, from bonding, to team events, community service, academics first, and buddies within our team. I’ve never felt so connected to a group of women, yet so far from home. Don’t be fooled by this being a NAIA level, Coach Shotwell runs this team like a D1 program in every way. It was too much for a few girls to handle, and they caused a lot of problems. Also it wouldn’t hurt if the school would actually hire a real athletic director instead of a washed up golf coach- the athletics program overall could use more leadership. "

"Awful coach, she believed in you for her own benefit. She is mentally and verbally abusive. Only cares about winning and if you don't benefit the team, you're dead to her."