"Coach Ghilardi is not the same person that recruited you once freshman season begins. It is clear from the beginning she will pick favorites and they will do no wrong in her eyes. Her “favorites” could make a mistake during a game and not be pulled out, however a “non-favorite” could make that same mistake and would immediately be pulled from the game. She will talk about players behind their back and put them against one another. It does not make for a cohesive team as you can see from the previous year’s records. The environment created comes from the top down and if all players do not feel valued, there is no way to create a winning team. She is on her third assistant coach in just a matter of a few years. She is very good at robbing you from the joy of lacrosse. Should a player have the unfortunate experience of having a medical issue or injury, you immediately become of no value to her. The support is not there and there is no opportunity to feel valued from that point on. Should a player ask how they can improve, she will not provide you with a direct answer. Coach cuts players and does not stay committed to them once on the team. "

"Think long and hard before committing to playing for this woman. Gaslighting, dishonesty and manipulation is how she gets players to come to her program and then you see her true colors. She behaves like a middle school bully who talks about players to other players behind their backs sharing their personal information violating trust. She can’t retain assistant coaches or managers due to her disrespectful behavior. So many red flags-beware. Her unsuccessful record speaks for itself "

"Multiple athletes quit the team when I was there under her coaching. Team environment was overall just terrible. I wish it had been better-just overall a hot mess and it seemed like it had been like that for years and years based on all the stories passed down from upper class men "

"Not a positive experience. "

"Perspective athletes — don’t waste your time unless Skidmore College is your daughter’s #1 choice. I wasted my time taking my daughter to a clinic this past weekend and it was a disorganized mess. Coach has NO PERSONALITY. If a coach can’t run an organized clinic that explains the abominable record and program in the pooper. Tuitions is very expensive so don’t get fooled. "

"The type of coach that tends to play favorites and becomes too close to certain players, which often leads to distrust between players and coaches. For example, having direct texting and phone calls with certain players while discussing other players is no way to build trust. Despite having a large roster at the Division III level where there is unlimited substitutions, he relies heavily on just 13–14 players. As a result, Skidmore frequently struggles late in games, giving up leads due to fatigue and overuse of the same athletes game in and game out. Even at the most elite levels, no one expects a player to be effective over 180 minutes in a span of 3 days. Last season(2024), this pattern contributed to injuries among key players and multiple games that ended in losses or draws, even when the team had been ahead. While the coach may be knowledgeable, his lack of trust in players he did not personally recruit is evident. He's a young coach and is trying hard to build a better team, but he's going about it in all the wrong way. "

"While Manny is undoubtedly passionate about rowing and brings a high level of intensity to his role, his approach to leadership raises serious concerns. He often frames his coaching style as fostering a “family-like team culture,” yet this has, in practice, enabled inappropriate behavior among athletes and blurred the line between professionalism and personal entanglement. In his first year, he appointed a rising sophomore as team captain—an athlete who went on to verbally abuse teammates over the next three years without any meaningful intervention. This lack of accountability significantly harmed team dynamics. By his third year, he appeared surprised when an entire women’s eight chose not to return, seemingly unaware of the long-term damage that poor leadership choices—enabled by his own oversight—had caused. This pattern suggests a larger issue: a coach who struggles with identifying and cultivating healthy, effective leadership, perhaps due to his own limitations in this area. Manny’s conduct has often felt erratic and unprofessional. He tends to single out athletes he disfavors and frequently overshares personal struggles, including mental health challenges, in ways that undermine his role as a stable and trusted leader. While openness can be powerful, it must be balanced with boundaries—something he often fails to maintain. His ego-driven coaching style limits collaboration and discourages input from others, even when they bring more experience or technical expertise. This contributed to the departure of the most accomplished coach the program had hired in recent memory—a significant loss for the team. Despite frequent rhetoric about a desire to win, results have not reflected meaningful progress. For instance, the men’s team placed identically at the end-of-season regatta two years in a row (third in the 3rd level final), despite his public insistence that the program has made significant gains. His communications to the broader rowing community often read more as spin than substance. Lastly, the team’s social media presence, which Manny manages, has not supported recruitment efforts. Frequent typos and awkward posts diminish the program’s credibility. Delegating this responsibility to student-athletes—who better understand what resonates with prospective rowers—could turn it into a more effective and engaging platform. This need for control, again, feels ego-driven. "

"Gail's loyalty lies with the institution of Skidmore college and not with the athletes. She has made that clear to the players on the Skidmore softball team over and over again when they have gone to her for help with an emotionally abusive coach. The coach does not prioritize the health and well being of the students, she is toxic and she has directly caused severe anxiety of many players, of which she seems to take pride in, and also caused several players to leave softball and the school in her 3 short years with Skidmore. ALL of the players (everyone one of them) have gone to Gail with stories of the coach's inappropriate behavior interfering with their mental health and confidence. They have told her of dismissive and malicious responses made to them by the coach regarding their own mental health struggles as well as physical concerns and she continues to defend the coach. Never mind the fact that the coach is not a capable coach when it comes to the game of softball. Gail, the student affairs department and many of other departments at Skidmore including the President are aware of the major problems that this softball coach has been causing since she began and they will not do a thing to support these girls, who have been continually asking for support from the beginning and it is extremely sad to watch. She walks away from a player meeting with her head held high after these girls have poured their heart out to her with very valid points. So the bottom line is that Gail absolutely does not support student athletes when there is any kind of conflict between a player and coach, and will dismiss, disregard and deny what the athlete has to say but will defend the coach she hired until the end. "

"Liz Neubinski is beyond disappointing. She plays mind games with the players as a way to distract and deflect from her obvious poor coaching acumen. She causes complete confusion among the team for nonsensical and unknown reasons. She constantly makes the players second guess themselves, therefore they always play anxiously which never leads to good results, personally or on the field. She does not accept any feedback or actively listen to her players who know more about the game than she does. At practice the coach is consistently on her phone, not coaching. The players have to ask her to critique their hitting but she doesn’t. She either stares at them with her arms folded or is on snapchat, because she doesn’t know how to suggest adjustments and corrections to their swings. The team is never fully game day ready because they don’t work on situations in practice, they don’t don't even know how to properly crash for a bunt…this is D3 softball. It is really sad to watch these players' talents be disregarded while another more competent coach would be capitalizing on them. When we play other teams such as Middlebury and Ithaca who have dedicated, interested and passionate coaches, our daughter always comments on how she wishes she had them instead of Liz as a coach. When your kid is hurting, a part of you hurts along with her…nobody wants that. It has been brought to the attention of the administration of Skidmore College many times by players and parents over the past three years and all of them/us have been stonewalled. It is a shame that the college allows this type of “coaching” to continue and for the situation to get this bad without making the necessary changes. The bar cannot get any lower and I would never advise that anyone play for this woman."

"I am absolutely disgusted with the college’s choice to keep this coach around. The lack of respect that she has for her players and knowledge of assistant coaches around her is absurd. If two assistant coaches quit under her administration, then she is clearly the problem. Seeing as several girls have transferred out of Skidmore due to the softball program, please do not consider recommending this program to any players that you know as long as Liz is the coach. It is really sad to see young girls experiences troubles with their academics and emotional state all because the school will not break the contract they have with her. She suffers from a unique type of narcissism that prevents her from acknowledging how disliked she is amount players and stepping down herself."

"Bad coach and bad person."

"Lost so bad to RPI she started CRYING. A d3 college coach started crying how embarassig is that. Can't wait for the rest of conference games to be a sh** show. "

"Coach Neubinski has very little knowledge of the game of softball. She clearly never strategizes and does not take practices seriously and she never emphasizes plays. After two rotations of grounders each at practice, she stops and tells them that is enough…no, it's not and everybody knows it. They don’t execute plays in games because they don’t practice game situations. Nothing is being taught to her players. Neubinski has no passion for her players or the game, and she brings undue stress upon the team. She punches in and punches out and just doesn't care. She is the first one out the door from practice, having no commitment to the team. It is a disgrace at this level of the game and I am extremely disappointed. Our daughter has worked so hard to get to this level of play and like most people expected that in college the coaches skills and knowledge would be higher than that of the players, but that is absolutely not the case with this coach. Please steer clear of Neubinski at all costs, she will destroy your child on many levels. "

"I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever heard stories about a coach that have been this terrible. As a former college athlete myself, I think that this person offers a perfect outline for what a coach should not be like. Someone so outlandishly confused and mentally lacking has no right being in any leadership position whatsoever. Coupled with her unbearable demeanor, she brings a combination of horrible attributes that would be almost impossible to find anywhere else. If this unbelievable, unprecedented level of coaching is what you’re looking for, I definitely recommend playing for Liz!"

"This coach ruined my love for the game, sadly. I have been playing softball for 20 years, and during my time on her team, was the only time where I did not enjoy playing- at all. Luckily, I have found my love for it elsewhere (no help from her), but she has taken something so important away from the game. I have never doubted myself like I have when I played for her. I have never been so afraid to fail, and even do something correctly, but not the way she wants it done. I have never had a coach yell at me for making a good play. I have never gotten yelled at for producing good statistics. I could be on liberty league honor roll, yet still feel like complete s**t every single day about how was playing. She ruins relationships between teammates left and right and has made me feel like s**t for having friends outside of the team. I have even been told that the rest of the team didn't like or respect me, which was very much not true, but this time of mind games ruined my relationship with my teammates for years. I was scared to speak up. I got yelled at when I did speak up for my teammates. I was constantly told that I was doing everything wrong and to stop helping my teammates when they came to me asking for advice on hitting/throwing/ anything. I have had bad coaches in the past, but I have never had a coach who either ignored me, or had something nasty to say to my face. She would answer simple questions with nasty responses and made it impossible to have a conversation. I was afraid to fail, which in a sport like softball, is not okay. Despite always having the talent, as the season went on, you just saw everyone's confidence cease to exist and you saw it translate to the field. I hope that if you are a perspective athlete, that you avoid playing for this coach. "

"When my daughter chose to go to play for Skidmore, we had high expectations. Skidmore was the last school we visited after receiving interest from 9 other schools, and we liked how the team atmosphere felt. After making her final decision, things started to fall apart. Assistant coaches began to leave; we learned that the entire senior class tried to get Neubinski fired the winter before, and there was much less team comradery than we previously believed. In short, we had just been had by the best-used car salesman and got a lemon. My daughter has played since she was five and has traveled all over the country playing against some of the best players and has been coached by some excellent coaches. A great head coach knows their strengths and weaknesses like a great CEO or manager. They surround themselves with other talented managers to bring the best possible outcome for the team. Not Neubinski! Just because you played the game at some point does not qualify you to coach a team. Something many ADs' fail to realize when hiring coaches. Just because someone graduates with a business degree does not make them qualified to manage a team of employees. She likes to preach something about accountability but fails miserably when it comes to her accountability. This could be the world's most boring and long novel, so I will gloss over a few points to spare all reading this and my brain recalling it. 1. If you have never pitched a day, YOU ARE NOT A PITCHING COACH!!! You cannot have a successful team without a pitching coach. Just because you watch YouTube does not mean you are a pitching coach. You were an outfielder for 2 years in college. You know nothing about pitching, managing pitchers, or calling games! When your #1 pitcher comes to you for a meeting to inquire about when a new pitching coach may be hired after two "new" assistants leave abruptly, the answer should never be, "I'm offended you are asking me this. I am your pitching coach." You couldn't coach yourself out of a dark closet. 2. While traveling with your team to Florida, bringing your wife and baby with you to live in the team house is not appropriate. IT IS A BUSINESS TRIP!!!! If they want to come to cheer you on, God Bless; I am all for it. But you are there to build a relationship with your team. The fact that I knew five other players down there at the same time from all different schools and to hear what they did together as a team while you did nothing but be with your wife and kid genuinely tells where your priorities lie. 3. I, like many other parents, would love to know where the $9k we raised went for food for our girls. Every single girl complained there was no food in the team house. I am betting it went to that SUV your wife had to rent for her and the baby. Transparency!!!! 4. How many other assistant coaches have to come and leave quickly before the school AD realizes the problem? How many years in a row, 2 to be exact, does the team have to threaten to quit unless the school does something about this coach? 5. A coach should never be heard speaking badly about players to other players! What are you 2? 6. Breeding an environment where players are rewarded for tattling on their teammates is not a good strategy for athletes. Perhaps a show on TLC would better suit your skill set. 7. If you enforce standards for teammates to live by, ensure you enforce them across the board. 8. Believe it or not, coaches do make mistakes. OWN UP TO THEM! Your players will thank you and play harder for you. Blaming them for your mistakes does not accomplish anything. As soon as you run into that player with a higher softball IQ than you, they are going to call you out. Unfortunately, Skidmore cares more about the coaches' feelings than the players. The AD met with the team last year after a letter from the players was leaked. What does the school do? They hire a psychologist—not for the players but for the coach. Good news!! Neubinski is on track to set a new collegiate record for losses due to the run rule! "

"She is by far the worst person and coach I have ever come across in my 15 years of playing. Has absolutely no knowledge of the game and you question if she had actually played the sport before. For the past 2 and a half years, herself and the school has gotten a long list of complaints and nothing has been done. She obviously has favorites just in the way she talks to different players and their playing time. Does not give everyone fair chances and would rather keep someone in who makes 3 errors a game when she has atleast 2 other players who play the same position. She doesn’t know how to handle conflict nor talk to females in their late teens/early 20s. She constantly gives backhanded complaints, attacks your personalities and gets defensive if you don’t see on the same page as her. I alone have a very long list documenting all the terrible things she has done and said to me. It is very evident in the teams record as ever since she has gotten hired the team hasn’t won more than 10 games. She destroys who you are as a person and player and doesn’t care about you. She treats her assistant coaches like her servants and because of this 2 outstanding coaches who have been with the program way longer than her have left, refusing to coach with her. The AD is no help and sees her as her friend. When coming foward with the teams worries we were told that it is our fault and we need to give her more grace and be nicer to her. She also has no passion for the game and will just stand on the side and not say a word. If you want to grow as a player she is not the coach to help as she doesn’t teach you anything, give you positive criticism, or even cheer you on. More than half the team talks about quitting or transferring atleast everyday. Bringing her child and wife to a team trip just so they can get a free vacation out of it is unacceptable. You are there to coach. If you want to focus more on your family that is fine, but this is not the job for you. You shouldn’t be playing with your kid in between innings or would rather sit there and do nothing than plan for the next game. There is so much more to say about this woman and examples of the horrible things she has done. If you love softball and want to have a good experience in college, avoid her AT ALL COSTS. "

"Is one of the worst coaches I have ever played for in my life. Not once have I been on a team currently and have half of the team quitting and wanting to quit currently 2025 team. Coach Neubinski will completely destroy your confidence as a player and person. Before I came to this school, I have had a love for the game my whole life. Now I find myself contemplating quitting the thing I used to love the most because of this woman. She has no love for the game or care for her players AT ALL. We have so much potential on our team currently and it's all going to waste due to having the worst coach in the liberity league. She will continue to play people who make countless mistakes and has no change to her order because she has a her favorites. My fondest memory of her is making me rate my own teammates on a pie scale based on whether they are a good person or not which mentally traumatized them to this day. Please do not play for her and get out of it while you still can!!"

"Lacey is an awesome coach! She is friendly, funny, enjoys creating positive relationships with her players. She allows players the opportunity to create a working relationship, she has an open door policy and schedules multiple meetings with her players. Her coaching staff compliments her well and has varying personalities that round out the team very well! She can tend to be a little too nice and not love difficult conversations but she is definitely getting better at it, overall it comes from a place of care. She definitely creates a family environment and has strong emphasize on team values! Great coach!"

"She’s a good coach that is direct with you and helps you succeed. She creates teams and lineups that win regardless of the handicaps given to her."

"Had a very poor experience with Rob. "

"What coach allows their wife and newborn child to stay at the house rented for 18 young women during the spring break training trip???? We all had to fundraise money and pay out of our own pockets to afford this trip while her wife and child get a free trip to Orlando????? When returning back from dinner with our families (because Neubinski did not want to pay for our dinners with the money WE fundraised), we would get shushed the second we stepped foot into the house because her child was sleeping. WELL WHY IS YOUR NEWBORN CHILD STAYING WITH US IN THE FIRST PLACE?????"

"For anyone actually reading these reviews, as you can tell all but one of them are very similar. Almost ALL of these reviews share that Neubinski is a terrible coach AND person who has no respect for the young women on her team and constantly degrades them. However, there is one very positive comment that stands out from the rest. As someone who was once part of this horrid program, it would not surprise me if someone close to Neubisnki (possibly the assistant coach) wrote that review in order to make Neubinski feel better about herself. The positive comment obviously does not come from a player due to the language used. No player is going to comment on the knowledge a coach has regarding the rule book. Additionally, what player would write that she "obviously plans practice before we're actually at practice" unless it was coming from someone who planned practices with her. Just some food for thought. It enrages me someone would come onto this website, pretend to be one of us, and write a positive review about her. This the ONLY place us players can discuss Liz Neubinski without repercussions (because those of us who did complain about her emotional abuse faced immense grudges and repercussions ALL season long). This is the type of stuff you face playing for Skidmore softball, having people dismiss YOUR OWN personal experiences with Neubinski after having to battle emotional abuse from her for MONTHS (years in my case!). Please do not play for this woman if you can avoid it. There are not enough synonyms in the dictionary to describe how horrid and nasty of a coach AND person she truly is."

"Coach Neubinski knows the game very well and is clearly very knowledgeable about the rulebook. She's explained to me how certain rules come into play within the game and why things are the way they are. She was upfront and honest about playing time and told me what I had to work on to improve. She is organized and obviously plans practice before we're actually at practice. I'd play for this coach any time. "

"Coach Manny cares about his athletes and team culture. As a parent and rowing coach, I know my son is in good hands. Manny has incredible energy and enthusiasm in developing a winning culture and sets some big goals that ignite a fire within his athletes. The assistant coach, Lenni, is also an excellent tech coach that does well in teaching proper body mechanics to prevent injuries. Great culture that balances academics and athletics. "