Sonoma State University

"my experience as a student-athlete under Coach David Lawrence Jr. at Sonoma State University. In light of the recent decision to shut down the athletics program, I feel a responsibility to speak out—not only for my own healing, but in the hope of protecting future student-athletes from the harm I experienced under his leadership. Coach Lawrence cultivated a toxic coach-athlete relationship that severely impacted my mental health and overall well-being. His behavior was manipulative, inappropriate, and crossed professional boundaries on multiple occasions. Below are specific examples of my experience: -He consistently broke me down mentally, creating an environment rooted in fear, emotional instability, and dependency. -He sought to take on a paternal role in my life, blurring the line between coach and confidant, which I now understand to be a calculated manipulation tactic. -He targeted athletes from vulnerable backgrounds—especially those from low-income, first-generation, or single-parent households. -Despite knowing that I financially support my family, he gave me unsolicited and inappropriate financial advice that was not only unhelpful, but invasive. -He forced me to wear uniform items, that did not fit me, ignoring my personal boundaries and bodily autonomy. -When previous complaints were filed against him, he manipulated me into becoming his emotional support and defender. At the time, I was unaware of the manipulation, and I deeply regret the role I played in invalidating the concerns of my fellow teammates. These experiences have left lasting damage on my mental health. What’s most alarming is that, unless this pattern is acknowledged and addressed, Coach Lawrence will likely continue this harmful behavior elsewhere—potentially affecting more young athletes who trust him with their careers, dreams, and emotional wellbeing. This is not a matter of a “tough coach” or “miscommunication.” This is about the abuse of power against women, manipulation, and crossing personal and professional boundaries in ways that no student should have to experience. Ask any coach that has met him, he gives off an unusual attitude, and cold shoulder to everyone. Traveling with the team felt like a ball and chain around your ankle. You were not aloud to interact with other teams and would be interrogated if he noticed even a conversation at the start line. He isolated us from the rest of Sonoma state’s athletics and did not like us attending athletic events and made us sit away and did not like us interacting with other sports. We could not walk around at track meets. Before I had graduated from Sonoma there were about 9 HR formal complaints towards him. His narcissistic behavior is hard to explain but as soon as an athlete knew of his manipulation he would ghost you, not formally cut you from the team, this was a repeated issue in the department. There is a stigma on campus when being apart of the track team because of David, and students often would stop athletes and ask what is with the coach or if we were ok. I urge any institution considering hiring Coach David Lawrence Jr. to conduct a thorough investigation into his conduct and the complaints filed against him. The safety and health of student-athletes must come before all else. For athletes that are thinking to committing to the next program he runs, I urge that the way he runs a program is not normal. I now work in a job where I work across multiple collegiate teams and my experience was not ok, but I would have never known that, this was my only collegiate team I had been apart of. "

"He’s is a very good coach and cares about his athletes."

"Very dissorganized with very bad communication skills and multiple groupchats for the team in which some are left out. Doesn't really seem to care about his athletes. Often belittles people and plays favorites. (For example he will ignore certain people after races whether they do good or bad) Extremely hard to talk to since he ignores your thoughts and it's his way or no way at all. Can't even ask simple questions because he will get mad at you. Tends to lie about things and is hard to tell when he's telling the truth. Puts on a good show and can act really nice at times but other times he's very mentally manipulative. Everyone on team is scared to say anything or speak up do to the toxic environment he creates. "

"Do not put your daughters or your Soccer career in her hands. She is the most disorganized person and lets her players suffer for her mistakes. She is unreliable, cruel, blames players for her own bad coaching decisions, and does not deserve to be a college coach. I’m not surprised her team had the worst record in the CCA. She is a total mess"

"I firmly believe that Emiria Salzmann is one of the worst coaches in the CCAA. She runs down her players, encourages the most harsh words to be said to the girls, and gives power to her captains who use it in the worst ways. She has called her players the worst team she has ever coached, that they are absolutely awful, and she has given up hope on her team. Everyone is mentally and physically drained from the abuse that is inflicted upon them. Going over the CCAA rules, trainings that are over 2 hours as well as lifting weights right afterwards. Extremely disorganized regarding travel trips. Every minute was spent out and about giving players absolutely no time to rest and recover from the harsh conditions they are out through. Emiria does not care about her players health. Pushing them through injuries and ruining their bodies, mentally draining them from extremely negative comments all throughout training sessions. She has stated that many people in the past have tried to report and get her fired. But she managed to escape the accusations many times. We should not let her keep getting away with ruining the sport for many talented girls. Emiria does have knowledge of soccer, yes, but she does not care about the team environment, or players mental and physical health. "

"Emiria is tough, intense, and can be a harsh coach. But she is also honest, caring, and has a heart of a champion. My daughter has had the toughest struggles of her soccer career with Emiria, but she also has had the greatest gains and growth as a player and woman on her team. Her captains are driven and expect nothing short of excellence from the players, this is cultivated by Emiria and Luna, her assistant coach. Emiria coaches and expects her captains to lead these young women on and off the field. Yes, being a Sonoma woman soccer player is not a walk in the park. It's not the fun experience of youth club soccer or high school. It demands that you grow and go beyond anything you thought you could achieve on and off the field. Yes, you will cry, scream, fall dead with exhaustion, but if you can make it beyond the pain you will have memories and friends to last a lifetime. I hope players will look beyond the few bad reviews and go and experience Sonoma Womens Soccer and make their own opinions."

"Sadly my daughters's love to play soccer was ruined by playing for the SSU team. Overall, the coach created a negative environment by criticizing the girls by making them feel like failures telling them repeatedly that they are the worst team she has ever had. She also allowed the upper classman to treat the freshman with no respect. I watched many games and practices and these freshman girls were hard working, great soccer players. My daughter has played soccer for 15 years with wonderful coaches and teammates. Unfortunately, not the case at SSU!"

"Emiria is a very harsh coach. Obviously at a college level that is to expected but not like this. Being told you are the worst team she has ever coached to telling us not to show up to practice the next day because she does not want to see us. She would also give this power to her “captains” so all of the players would be too scared to speak or do anything without being put down or punished in someway. Personally that place took away my love for the sport and I dont recommend that on anyone. "

"Coach Emiria promotes mental toughness. She wants to win at all costs. Unfortunately her style of coaching promotes an unhealthy environment. This trickles down to how negative players can be. Players are afraid to make mistakes, they cannot speak freely and there is no unity amongst the team. It’s unfortunate that players come into this team with so much excitement, a desire to contribute and a yearning to belong, but end up feeling beat down (mentally and physically) at the end of the season. When you win, things aren’t as bad, but if you lose, be prepared for an onslaught of negative comments instead of constructive coaching."

"All of Emiria's teams win by being VERY fit and having great players, but lose at the end of the season because of how run down, tired, demoralized, disheartened, and dispirited the players have become over a relentless negative season along with mediocre game tactics. Emiria's style is Autocratic with a powerfully negative emphasis. Players are afraid to play, speak, act, and feel how they want to, due to her overwhelming negative style and personality. "

"I can't recommend Cal Water polo because of the coaching staff. regardless of how much effort you put in and talent you have, she picks favorites. She will never be honest with you and will continue to lead you on to believe you are going to play. If she thinks you aren't talented, she will completely disregard you in practices."

"Jose is amazing, very passionate about what he does. Very knowledgeable and intense. Best tennis coach our there! "

"Values hard working people above talent. If athlete is willing to put in the effort, she will reward that. "

"Really cares about the people and has so much to offer if you reach out to her "

"She's amazing! I am still learning so many new things every single day and I'm incredibly greatful for that! "

"Coralie is a great coach. She is very knowledgable and experienced in the sport of water polo. Her practices are tough, but fun too. She respects athletes who are though and work hard everyday!"

"If you are the best player on the team, she cares about you. If you aren't the best player, she will make you feel nonexistent. Doesn't care about her players, isn't organized, and terrible at communication. Not direct, blunt, or honest. "

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"I can not recommend cal water polo to anyone because of how horrendous Coralie is. "

"Coach Goelz & SSU gave me the opportunity to play baseball and get a great education. I left my junior year after signing a professional contract. I eventually fulfilled my dream of playing Major league baseball. That was 15 years ago, and still to this day John Goelz and SSU continue to be a positive influence in my life. "

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"Make’s inappropriate comments about women’s bodies, doesn’t make environment feel safe and puts his athletes at risk for injuries and doesn’t get along with athletic trainers or coaches from other teams. He makes Sonoma state university look embarrassing and isolates us from other teams. He also embarrasses his student athletes in front of other teams at meets too. He also disregards mental health issues. Unless you’re looking to burn yourself out mentally and physically, don’t join this program. I agree 100% completely with the other person who complained. Way too many group chats and forces people to respond even while you’re in class. "