VANDERBILT former athlete exposes mentally harmful coaching in new article

I read the article this weekend. Was hard to make it through. I thought only football players had to deal with this.

These girls need to toughen up. This is Division 1 athletics. Don’t like it? Quit. Be a regular student. Easy.

here wrote:

These girls need to toughen up. This is Division 1 athletics. Don’t like it? Quit. Be a regular student. Easy.

The anchor is the scholarship. Many will stay on the team to keep the scholarship. Most P-5 schools now guarantee for all 4 years, but you only lose it really for quitting.

Then don’t write a blog crying about it after you just received 250k in free university and a coach was a little mean to you.

It's really easy to say this, but you gotta realize these are college kids. Not everything is rational and optimized, especially when you're going through the eye of the storm.

Very relatable and encouraging stuff from this young woman. Glad to hear she is moving forward stronger and happier in life.

here wrote:

These girls need to toughen up. This is Division 1 athletics. Don’t like it? Quit. Be a regular student. Easy.

Yeah, I couldn’t disagree more. A lot of student athletes, particularly girls, find their self worths tied up in who they are as athletes or high level students. They have absolutely no balance in their lives, and the coaches who should be making a difference in their lives are only exacerbating the negative aspects. The depression is real. Remember the girl at Penn who killed herself a few years ago?

I don’t think this is about Vanderbilt. I think this is about college coaches everywhere and “the system.” It took courage to write this article, and it’s a warning shot for many would-be athletes in the same boat. All of us were competitive runners at some point, but we all come to the end of the rope. And you know what? Eventually, we all realize that it doesn’t mean squat. Running is not life. It’s just not.

"Look, my paycheck and job security is determined by the performance of a bunch of young women. If I let everyone take a race or practice off when they were feeling depressed, I would lose my job. I can't let every little mental health problem get in the way of the end goal. Maybe you just aren’t cut out for this.”

Truer words were never spoken.

This article is infuriating.

Looks like Vanderbilt just kept her around to raise their team GPA.

This coach probably makes $75,000+ and Vanderbilt is perennially DFL in the SEC in track and mediocre in XC.

"So what exactly is it that you'd say that you do here?"

First, I doubt she got a full scholarship. Second, the coach sounds more than just a "little mean". Third, I am betting if this were your daughter you would be screaming online. Fourth, it is a lesson that any athlete going to college get a real good feel for the coach; ask the other athletes in private what the coach is really like; talk to former athletes too (often who will feel more free); ask questions about the training methods of the coach. Fifth, she admits that she had issues before she went off to college and being tossed into a pressure-filled situation was not a great choice.

I was a bit confused in that she talks early on about how she had no one she connected with on the team, but later in the blog she says she has connected with some other girls on the team. Maybe there were new girls on the team by then.

I'm just going to put it out there that you're only hearing one side of the story. I'm very sorry for her struggles but I'm guessing that the coaching staff has a different take on things.

DanM wrote:

"Look, my paycheck and job security is determined by the performance of a bunch of young women. If I let everyone take a race or practice off when they were feeling depressed, I would lose my job. I can't let every little mental health problem get in the way of the end goal. Maybe you just aren’t cut out for this.”

Truer words were never spoken.

Maybe she is more successful if the coach writes training plans that do not consistently get runners injured. Maybe if there is a system for helping athletes with their mental health they perform better and the coach gets the rewards.

I bet she was on 0 scholarship. She's paying your salary coach.

You accepted the woman onto your team so you coach her, not make her want to kill herself.

Unfortunately a very common and overlooked part of the sport. It's rare these days to find a competent college coach that values the wellbeing of each of their athletes regardless of performance. When a coach pressures an athlete to push ignore mental illness or injury at the expense of the runner's long term health, that coach is a complete pos no matter the prestige of the program they coach.

snowman212 wrote:

I bet she was on 0 scholarship. She's paying your salary coach.

You accepted the woman onto your team so you coach her, not make her want to kill herself.

If she wasn't on scholarship, I don't think she would not have stuck around for 4 years. Quite honestly it doesn't sound like she ever really loved running even before she got to college, which makes her almost impossible to coach. Given that she was a high achiever in Biomedical Engineering, she probably wasn't getting enough sleep to stay healthy. It is hard to serve two masters. I majored in Engineering and I can understand why a person's athletic achievements would be limited given the intensity of an engineering curriculum. As far as scholarships are concerned, they should not be guaranteed for four years. There are plenty of walk-ons vying for those scholarships and if they outperform the incumbent, they deserve to be rewarded. Ultimately, she prioritized her education, which is the smart move and she has a promising career in the field of her choosing from a school with a good reputation. That being said, coaches don't always get it right.

DanM wrote:

"Look, my paycheck and job security is determined by the performance of a bunch of young women. If I let everyone take a race or practice off when they were feeling depressed, I would lose my job. I can't let every little mental health problem get in the way of the end goal. Maybe you just aren’t cut out for this.”

Truer words were never spoken.

Replace "you aren't" with "I'm not" in the last line of the quote and maybe I'd agrer with your assessment

Give me a break. By her own admission, this girl was a train wreck long before she met her college coach. The real villains of this tale are barely mentioned. Her parents had to be aware of her mental struggles. They should never have allowed her to be dropped into the pressure cooker of D1 sports. What should the coach have done? Can she realistically be expected to be a mental health counselor and a track coach at the same time? Caring and supportive I can see, but should she allow an athlete to dictate her own training program and decide which races she wants to run? Should the rest of the team get the same treatment? I would like to hear from the coach and the other athletes, but it sounds like the coach was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

People who come from hard working families called these people spoiled. People who come from well to do do families call these people mentally ill. Regular people know they needed more kicks in the butt while softies think everyone else should treat them better.

DanM wrote:

"Look, my paycheck and job security is determined by the performance of a bunch of young women. If I let everyone take a race or practice off when they were feeling depressed, I would lose my job. I can't let every little mental health problem get in the way of the end goal. Maybe you just aren’t cut out for this.”

Truer words were never spoken.

Untruer words were never spoken

Yeah, missing a few workouts in a season is really going to make a big difference in one's fitness. BS.

Too add to my point, the Coach was not going to lose his job my someone missing a race or practice. Total BS. And Luv2Run is right with what he or she posted as well.

So glad that it was only a visit. And runners who are suppose to know the sport and know it well can't figure out why so many athletes get injured and lose an entire season. It's ridiculous!