Kara Givnish wrote:
Beth Sullivan, coach at UT, needs to be held ACCOUNTABLE!
Kudos to Ben Frederickson at Knoxnews for breaking this story and keeping dirty college coaches like Beth Sullivan at the University of Tennessee, honest and honorable, as they are trusted with the lives of our children.
It's hard to fathom that in this day and age, we still have predatory college coaches that can just use, abuse and dispose of our young athletes like this with no repercussions. I say she needs to be held accountable and she need to go.
I wonder, did the athletic director Dave Hart know ahead of time what she was going to do to these girls? If he did, than he needs to be fired as well. Did the Chancellor of the school know ? This is a black eye for all of UT. It's absolutely OUTRAGEOUS. They were disposed of like garbage. These young women "committed" to Tennessee. Where is Tennessee's commitment to them? Certainly not honorable. They did not deserve to be treated so horribly. They did nothing wrong. They showed up ready to work hard and a couple of WEEKS into their first semester, and she dismisses them for NO reason??? C'mon....Where is her conscience? What kind of a wicked witch is this woman? How can she sleep at night? ( Maybe witches don't sleep.) Yes, college athletics is big business, but there is a level of decency we need to adhere to as adults, as coaches and as parents. These new recruits are fresh out of high school for pete's sake.
We, as parents of student athletes, need to PROTECT our children from vicious climbers like Beth Sullivan. Winning is great, but not at the expense of our girls.
Beth Sullivan should be fired immediately and I hope the families collectively sue for punitive damages. Can you imagine how traumatic this is for them? This is potentially devastating and life altering. They have been training since they were children with dreams of competing in college and quite possibly the olympics. Morgan Harvey of New Jersey won the gold watch at the Penn Relays last Spring for being the fastest female high school hurdler in America. She was recruited by Tennessee and then kicked off the team before she even got a chance to run. She signed a letter of commitment in good faith. She choses Tennessee over many other schools vying for her. She held up her end of the deal.
Jim Lambert of the Star Ledger has chronicled Morgan's career. I was hoping to watch her this year at the Penn Relays as a college athlete. Now, these girls are
"persona non grata" on campus and aren't even permitted to train properly. They are now denied access to the athlete's weight room. Denied access to the trainers. Denied access to the nutritionists. Denied access to college level coaching. Are they supposed to go out and buy hurdles and set them up themselves? Are they supposed to time themselves? Their times are measured in point zero zero hundredth's of a second! Are the supposed to hold their own blocks? It's unbelievable what she has done to them.
You can't just STOP training at this level of competition and stay competitive for the next year, wherever they may end up going. Anyone who has ever had a high school student search for a school knows how stressful it is. Now they are forced to scramble and find a place that can take them in the Spring. That must overwhelming for them. Any by the way girls.... keep up with your academics, because that's the most important reason you are at college! Oh, but coach Sullivan says they are allowed to finish out the academic year. Their scholarship sill be good for the rest of the year even though they are kicked off the team... BFD!
It doesn't work like that. Beth Sullivan has quite potentially ruined their lives. I hope to God she hasn't. It will take a really strong girl not to crumble under this pressure. Hopefully, they will survive this hurdle in life and go on to to thrive somewhere else. I hope coach Sullivan doesn't get one recruit next year. NOT ONE! Who in their right mind would allow their child to run for UT? Who would allow there kid to sign and play ANY sport for UT knowing their policy? Not me, that's for sure.
I thought we as a society had moved passed the practice of preying upon our young STUDENT athletes like we used to in the football arena. I thought we learned something. I guess not. In Coach Sullivan's world it's still ok. Tennessee should distance itself as fast they can from her and her dirty practices. She has blood on her hands. This is a wake up call America. This is not acceptable. WE need to STOP coaches like Beth Sullivan. WE need to protect our children from coaches like her. We need to say it's NOT ok. She needs to go. End of story.
Kara Givnish ( mother and coach of 4 athlete daughters)