California State University (Chico)

"Angel Shamblin is not head coach material anymore. She may have been at some point in her career but at this point I believe her time has come. She needs to retire for the sake of future student athletes that will attend/play at Chico State. She 100% plays favorites and if you are not her favorite then you just get treated like some second hand person(sometimes you dont even get treated like a person). When things get hard as a player and you start struggling, not able to hit, etc., she does not help you through it even if you ask. She will just let you drown and continue to blame you for the outcomes of games and your poor performance. When things get hard and the team is not winning she will blame her non-favorites. The mind games and the manipulation is prominent when she somehow turns your own personal insecurities and struggles onto you and provides no help or comfort as a coach. You feel completely inadequate as a person if you are not performing up to her standards on the field, which are unreachable unless you are a coach's pet. While playing under her, I never felt like she had my back or believed in me even though I knew I had talent and was a good player. She single handedly destroyed my confidence and mental health. I had to take months to work on myself and get my mentality right again to gain my confidence in myself back. She destroyed my love for the game for a period of time. I will never get that time back, but I was able to save myself and gain some appreciation back for the game through my own personal growth. I might say I wish I never played at Chico, but then that means I never would have been able to be here for my teammates and close friends that I made on the team and help them through the absolute struggle that it is to be a student athlete under Coach Angel Shamblin."

"Coach Shamblin created an environment that often felt discouraging and unwelcoming. Instead of building players up, her approach made it hard to stay confident and motivated. She clearly played favorites, showing strong support for some while ignoring others, bending the rules for a few but holding the rest to harsher standards. In meetings, she would break players down emotionally to a vulnerable state, then use it against them by blaming their personal struggles rather than taking accountability for her own behavior. Communication was often negative and left many feeling unheard, invisible, and isolated. The atmosphere she fostered took away from the love many of us had for the game. A coach’s job is to develop and believe in every athlete — not tear them down and pick and choose who matters."

"Would’ve rather saved me mental distress instead of playing for her. EXTREMELY MANIPULATIVE. She’s fat phobic, she’s passive aggressive. It’s hard to talk to her. You want a coach who is willing to understand you and who you could talk to. She believes she’s above her players and if something isn’t working for someone it doesn’t matter. No respect. No fight to win a game. Not fun. "

"Not fun. Super hard to love the game playing for this coach. If you have an issue, the last thing you do is bring it to her. She won’t give you the light of day. Very manipulative and a gaslighter. Only thing going for her is that she somehow recruits good players but many people who end up playing for her end up playing worse than they’ve ever played before for an unknown reason. "

"Heard horror stories about this coach. Did not care for her players at all, mental health is NOT a priority. Treated players unfairly and does not hold each girl to an equal standard. Lets players cuss and use inappropriate insults to each other and causes players to lose love for the game. VERY VERY HARSHLY FATPHOBIC. Some players work harder than others and never have a chance to compete, while other skip and still get opportunities. "

"Doesn’t care about her players or their academics. Unfair to girls. Had several conversations with her and each time made me more disconnected. You can’t play freely she makes you feel like you have to be perfect. Creates drama among girls on the team. Does not stick by anything she says when recruiting players. She is a business woman and will convince players to come and act completely different once you get there. She never yells but is very manipulative. She will ask questions in a way that will result in a certain answer she wants. Is not knowledgeable about the game. Makes players worse tbh. Will try to change players game which results in poorer performance from them. "

"He’s the best! Like a father figure to me and my teammates! "

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"He’s a great coach. Cares about his players and always has a winning culture"

"Unapproachable. She made my college career awful. She does not believe in her players at all, especially if they are struggling. In one on one meetings, she’d constantly tell me I was doing everything right but still never give me a chance. When your coach doesn’t believe in you, you can’t believe in yourself. I remember distinctly doing a drill where we hit live. If you struck out, you’d go to first base for the purpose of the drill. She turned away and I was on first. She literally assumed and asked if I struck out. I said, “No, coach, I was walked.” How awful. I literally needed therapy after playing for her. When I made the tough decision to leave, she tried to gaslight me and guilt trip me, even though she probably wanted me to quit anyway. I ran into her just passing by on campus a few years after I quit and she asked if I was still working on my degree. I said no, I’m in a masters program and almost ready to graduate. She also lied when recruiting me. I had no idea I was not going to play my main position until I showed up. I feel so validated by reading these other reviews because she truly is an awful person to play for."