Women's Softball Former SU softball players alleged abuses committed by head coach Shannon Doepking

[SUFan44]

Wasn’t sure where to put this but men’s lax isn’t the only program with some issues:

Seven former and one current softball student-athlete told The Daily Orange that Syracuse HC Doepking "created - and continues to create - a toxic environment that includes verbal abuse, hazing and mistreatment." For her part, Doepking: "I am not a saint by any means. I am a tough coach, and I’m a tough coach because winning is important. I was brought here to do a job." Twelve players have quit or transferred since her arrival in 2018. In 2019, two of the team's four graduating seniors took their concerns to AD Wildhack and Senior Deputy AD Frazier as part of their exit meetings. Doepking confirms that the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services worked with SU Athletics' HR Office on an investigation into the program, but no details are provided. More. (link)

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Newhouser]

Wasn’t sure where to put this but men’s lax isn’t the only program with some issues:

Seven former and one current softball student-athlete told The Daily Orange that Syracuse HC Doepking "created - and continues to create - a toxic environment that includes verbal abuse, hazing and mistreatment." For her part, Doepking: "I am not a saint by any means. I am a tough coach, and I’m a tough coach because winning is important. I was brought here to do a job." Twelve players have quit or transferred since her arrival in 2018. In 2019, two of the team's four graduating seniors took their concerns to AD Wildhack and Senior Deputy AD Frazier as part of their exit meetings. Doepking confirms that the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services worked with SU Athletics' HR Office on an investigation into the program, but no details are provided. More. (link)

Um that doesn't read well but I'm sure everything is fine and that the Department has everything under control.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

sounds like a real peach, too much smoke there from too many players, IMO

 

[Chip]

Pretty soon Jake may need to launch an all-inclusive Syracuse dumpster fire thread.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Pretty soon Jake may need to launch an all-inclusive Syracuse dumpster fire thread.

For sure, tough year up on the hill for a lot of sports and coaches

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Maybe we could get Jockitch's wife back?

 

[Toga]

Doepking or Dopeking?

 

[Ozone!]

John Wildhack sure has loads of work ahead of him! Sounds like the old hard-nosed style of coaching; break down your players and rebuild them in your image.

 

[SUFan44]

Um that doesn't read well but I'm sure everything is fine and that the Department has everything under control.

Yes. I am sure. Just like they are in control of all the other situations.

 

[ivorytower]

Wasn’t sure where to put this but men’s lax isn’t the only program with some issues:

Seven former and one current softball student-athlete told The Daily Orange that Syracuse HC Doepking "created - and continues to create - a toxic environment that includes verbal abuse, hazing and mistreatment." For her part, Doepking: "I am not a saint by any means. I am a tough coach, and I’m a tough coach because winning is important. I was brought here to do a job." Twelve players have quit or transferred since her arrival in 2018. In 2019, two of the team's four graduating seniors took their concerns to AD Wildhack and Senior Deputy AD Frazier as part of their exit meetings. Doepking confirms that the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services worked with SU Athletics' HR Office on an investigation into the program, but no details are provided. More. (link)

WTH Wildhack. Many issues and departures popping in both men and women Syracuse sport programs. MLax may be the least of problems. Sounds like that softball coach should be dismissed .

 

[TexanMark]

John Wildhack sure has loads of work ahead of him! Sounds like the old hard-nosed style of coaching; break down your players and rebuild them in your image.

And some players want that...

I read the article and most of it sounded like whining.

 

[Ozone!]

Yes, some players thrive under that approach and some don’t. My comment was meant to point out the difficulty that Athletic Departments face with the change in the way today’s student athletes respond to coaching. I should have made that clear.

 

[StealthTurkey]

WTH Wildhack. Many issues and departures popping in both men and women Syracuse sport programs. MLax may be the least of problems. Sounds like that softball coach should be dismissed .

I mean, there's tweets from softball players disputing the validity of all the complaints contained in this, and their objection to being left out of the article.

Not saying I would ignore DO, but there are a few people that have been upset by their seemingly one-sided reporting as of late.

 

[721Comstock]

I mean, there's tweets from softball players disputing the validity of all the complaints contained in this, and their objection to being left out of the article.

Not saying I would ignore DO, but there are a few people that have been upset by their seemingly one-sided reporting as of late.

Yeah, it has the look of muckraking, and with little additional research and commentary besides from the subject of the article.

I guess Syracuse is indeed keeping up with modern media trends in news reporting.

 

[dasher]

And some players want that...

I read the article and most of it sounded like whining.

No it didn't. I coached legion baseball and I was tough. And successful. What that sounded like was abuse. It doesn't make you tough to think otherwise. It's tough coaching not to let your team wash their uniforms? It's tough coaching to have your team eat crap like they had to do after a loss? No. One thing is for sure, what she is doing, isn't working. She can hit the road and come back from where she came in my book. One last thing, after reading that, would you be more or less likely to refer someone you know's kid to the woman's softball program?

 

[llandz]

I know many of the parties to this, and was at that Grand Canyon tournament. Anya and her family are from AZ, and she is still an SU student, just dropped the sport all together after her freshman year, which always surprised me. Now I know why. Another really good AZ player that was her HS teammate and on the SU team transferred to San Diego. I also knew the family. Dad was an NFL player for Buffalo. Now I know why she transferred. Being at that tournament, I can see where the parents were anxiously waiting to see if they would be able to see their daughters. I was standing with them. They do not know until they come out. Imagine some of them travelled quite a distance. I would be p d as a parent if I couldn't spend 5 minutes with my child. Some of them really had to stretch themselves financially to travel. I can vouch for Anya. If the airplane story is true then that is a violation of HIPPA and the coach would need to go for that alone.
Now I will take the flip side. I also got to know the coach a bit. She is the one coach who reached out to me before the trip to touch base about us coming to see the game. She made sure we had a meet and greet after one of the games, and they brought a special tshirt gift for one of our very senior alumni (86) who was at the game. The players offered to help her up the stairs or carry her if she could not push the walker up the ramp. So t his speaks volumes also for all of the players and the coach.
The coach invited me to speak to the team as the "pep talk" before one of the games here. That was absolutely the coolest thing I have ever done.
So needless to say I have mixed feelings in so many ways over this. I may reach out to Anya. We have been in contact over the years, but I never asked her why she left the team. She reached out about a summer internship she was doing.
I've also regularly contributed the the softball coaches fund. Now I am not sure what I want to do with that. Money may go someplace else.

 

[llandz]

I did reach out to Anya. She responded that she just wants the other players in the program protected. She loves SU and is graduating next year. What a shame that she felt she had to leave playing a sport that she loved. I also know that paying full tuition could not have been easy for the family. She really appreciated hearing from me in support. I always think it is important to let people know that they are heard.

 

[dasher]

I know many of the parties to this, and was at that Grand Canyon tournament. Anya and her family are from AZ, and she is still an SU student, just dropped the sport all together after her freshman year, which always surprised me. Now I know why. Another really good AZ player that was her HS teammate and on the SU team transferred to San Diego. I also knew the family. Dad was an NFL player for Buffalo. Now I know why she transferred. Being at that tournament, I can see where the parents were anxiously waiting to see if they would be able to see their daughters. I was standing with them. They do not know until they come out. Imagine some of them travelled quite a distance. I would be p d as a parent if I couldn't spend 5 minutes with my child. Some of them really had to stretch themselves financially to travel. I can vouch for Anya. If the airplane story is true then that is a violation of HIPPA and the coach would need to go for that alone.
Now I will take the flip side. I also got to know the coach a bit. She is the one coach who reached out to me before the trip to touch base about us coming to see the game. She made sure we had a meet and greet after one of the games, and they brought a special tshirt gift for one of our very senior alumni (86) who was at the game. The players offered to help her up the stairs or carry her if she could not push the walker up the ramp. So t his speaks volumes also for all of the players and the coach.
The coach invited me to speak to the team as the "pep talk" before one of the games here. That was absolutely the coolest thing I have ever done.
So needless to say I have mixed feelings in so many ways over this. I may reach out to Anya. We have been in contact over the years, but I never asked her why she left the team. She reached out about a summer internship she was doing.
I've also regularly contributed the the softball coaches fund. Now I am not sure what I want to do with that. Money may go someplace else.

Often, the most abusive coaches, do nice things. For the most part, none of us are all good or all bad. But that doesn't mean you get to keep coaching if you are overly abusive. There is certainly a lot of fire here. I will ask again, after reading that story, would you recommend the softball program for a kid that you know?

 

[PhatOrange]

Wasn’t sure where to put this but men’s lax isn’t the only program with some issues:

Seven former and one current softball student-athlete told The Daily Orange that Syracuse HC Doepking "created - and continues to create - a toxic environment that includes verbal abuse, hazing and mistreatment." For her part, Doepking: "I am not a saint by any means. I am a tough coach, and I’m a tough coach because winning is important. I was brought here to do a job." Twelve players have quit or transferred since her arrival in 2018. In 2019, two of the team's four graduating seniors took their concerns to AD Wildhack and Senior Deputy AD Frazier as part of their exit meetings. Doepking confirms that the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services worked with SU Athletics' HR Office on an investigation into the program, but no details are provided. More. (link)

sounds like a few over privileged players had never been yelled at before.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

sounds like a few over privileged players had never been yelled at before.

That's fine...until your players all leave.

 

[PhatOrange]

That's fine...until your players all leave.

Interesting. I count 24 players on the roster, when are they all leaving?

 

[dollarbill44]

It's certainly a bad look for the program. The coach comes off as a person who really is lacking in civility. I know there are always gray areas with these types of stories, but her responses don't sound like a coach who has any concern for her players, but someone who thinks her style just has some rough edges that are justified by her drive to "change the culture".
I think she likely responded well to a coach who used negative reinforcement and she doesn't know any other way to motivate players or just doesn't care. Whatever the case, that's not the kind of coach who I want coaching at my alma mater and if the AD is ok with this (Frazier's comments don't instill confidence, nor the fact an AD person watched over the interview), it gives me pause about Wildhack's leadership at a time when he can't really afford more negative publicity.
At best there appear to be some issues in the athletic department that are more than nuisances that bear watching.

 

[TexanMark]

Personally I find most of it whining...however, there are a few red flags and SU AD needs to investigate to see if any of this truly crossed a line. A key part of the this is SU apparently gives out partial scholarships. If a player was on 75% tuition and wasn't playing well and got cut to 25% tuition that can drive a transfer too. The Genie is out of the Bottle...SUAD needs to investigate and give the coach recommended changes if warranted. If really bad and dasher and a few others are correct...then SU needs to show her the door. BL: SU Softball will never make the school money but they also shouldn't put up with abuse that goes over the line. I'm not sure that has been met here but SU needs to investigate.

 

[llandz]

Personally I find most of it whining...however, there are a few red flags and SU AD needs to investigate to see if any of this truly crossed a line. A key part of the this is SU apparently gives out partial scholarships. If a player was on 75% tuition and wasn't playing well and got cut to 25% tuition that can drive a transfer too. The Genie is out of the Bottle...SUAD needs to investigate and give the coach recommended changes if warranted. If really bad and dasher and a few others are correct...then SU needs to show her the door. BL: SU Softball will never make the school money but they also shouldn't put up with abuse that goes over the line. I'm not sure that has been met here but SU needs to investigate.

Mark, you know me, and I know Anya. I am almost insulted that you are still calling it whining after I have vouched for her, unless you did not read my post. We also lost Alyssa Kaiser who was Anya's best friend growing up and Alyssa was one of our best players. Alyssa didn't need the scholarship as her father is an ex nfl player. I know both families well. The sex ual abuse story is horrible. I spoke to Anya yesterday. She is not looking to do anything other than protect remaining players. She loves SU and stayed there without being on the team. In other words she walked away from playing all together. Walked away from a sport she loved to stay at a school she loved. She paid her full tuition on her own. And yes, not all softball players get scholarships. Many only get partial scholarships. I know that from many of the families I met at tournaments. I was surprised when I first learned that. This was before the current coach. It is just how some Div. 1 sports work.