Rating #62396 Details

The Most Toxic and Damaging Coaching Experience of My Soccer Career I attended West Virginia University my freshman year on a full Division I soccer scholarship. I arrived as a highly recruited player who had worked her entire life for that opportunity. I was excited, motivated, and ready to grow as both a player and a person. Unfortunately, playing under Coach Izzo became the worst coaching experience of my life. I have never experienced such degrading, humiliating, and emotionally damaging treatment from someone who was supposed to be a leader and mentor. I was told things like “I know your kind” and “You’re a waste of money and time.” Those are words I will never forget. Imagine being an 18-year-old girl, hundreds of miles from home, having achieved your dream of playing Division I soccer, only to be repeatedly made to feel like you didn’t belong. Instead of being allowed to develop as an athlete, I was treated as though I wasn’t even part of the team. Coach Izzo would bring in practice players who weren’t on the roster and allow them to participate while making me stand on the sidelines as a ball girl. I was repeatedly denied opportunities to train and was instead made to run three times a day. I wasn’t afraid of hard work. I had worked my entire life to reach that level. What I experienced wasn’t coaching or constructive discipline. It felt like punishment, humiliation, and an intentional effort to break my confidence. I also witnessed other players being called “fat,” “stupid,” and other degrading names. In my experience, the environment was filled with fear, negativity, and emotional intimidation. What made it even worse was that my own teammates could see what was happening. I remember girls on the team telling me I needed to get out of there because of how badly I was being treated. When your own teammates are encouraging you to leave a program because they are concerned about your well-being, that should speak volumes. After enduring my freshman year, I made the decision to transfer. Instead of being encouraged to find an environment where I could succeed, Coach Izzo told me I would never make it anywhere else and that I should just quit soccer. She was wrong. I went on to play at another Division I university. But what people don’t always understand is that moving on doesn’t erase the damage. I still feel robbed of my freshman year, my confidence, my development, and an experience I had dreamed about since I was a little girl. What should have been one of the happiest chapters of my life became one of the most painful. Over the years, I’ve spoken with former teammates who have shared similar experiences. Knowing that others have felt the same way makes me question how this kind of coaching environment could continue. Now, as a coach myself, I understand even more deeply how unacceptable my experience was. A coach should challenge you, push you, hold you accountable, and demand your best. But there is a difference between being a demanding coach and being a degrading one. You do not have to humiliate an athlete to make them better. You do not have to destroy someone’s confidence to prove your authority. And you certainly do not have to make an 18-year-old girl feel worthless to be successful as a coach. I coach young female athletes today, and I make it a priority to ensure they never feel the way I felt at WVU. No player should ever leave a practice questioning their worth as a person because of the words or actions of their coach. To any young woman considering playing for Coach Izzo, I strongly encourage you to do your research. Speak to former players, not just current athletes or the people involved in recruiting you. Ask difficult questions. Don’t let a scholarship, promises, or the excitement of playing Division I soccer prevent you from looking deeper into the environment you’re entering. I would never recommend my experience under Coach Izzo to another athlete. I earned my scholarship. I earned my place at the Division I level. And I deserved to be treated with dignity and respect. I didn’t leave WVU because I wasn’t good enough. I left because I refused to continue being treated that way. Years later, I can still remember the things that were said to me, the humiliation I felt, and how much that experience affected my love for soccer. No athlete should carry those memories from a place that was supposed to help them grow. A coach’s impact lasts far beyond the four years an athlete spends in college. Unfortunately, not every impact is a positive one.