In the wake of the Northwestern University football bullying scandal, a striking but different allegation nearly got lost in the chaos.
A Northwestern volleyball player claims her head coach punished her by challenging her for hard drills in front of the team and coaches.
The exercises in question are common. But in both cases, the player was the only one forced to take part as an alleged punishment while the rest of the team and the coach looked on. The allegations raise the question of when hard or harsh exercise routines cross the line into harmful or abusive behavior.
A prominent retired coach, former US women’s Olympic coach Terry Liskevych, said it’s hard to assess the situation without knowing all the facts. But such drills are commonplace, he said, and typically “they are not punishment.”
While the practices are common, the circumstances are not. The lawsuit, which had not yet been filed in court as of Friday, follows lawsuits from soccer players who allege they had been subjected to sexualised harassment in the locker room for years. Football coach Pat Fizgerald and baseball coach Jim Foster, who have been accused of bullying, have been relieved of their duties.
In the volleyball case, the player, anonymously identified in the suit as Jane Doe 1, was told in February 2021 to do a “Coach on One,” in which coach Shane Davis repeatedly “threw” balls at her, which they returned had to .
Over the next month, as a punishment determined by the team captains, the player had to perform “suicides,” which are grueling sprints back and forth across the field while bouncing on the ground at each line.
Some researchers who study abusive behavior say that culling a player for harsh and dangerous treatment is a key element in drills deviating from the norm.
The “suicides” are “punishment,” the player said, for contracting COVID-19 and forcing the team to pause the program, although she said she was following pandemic protocols. The running drills are intended to be used against players for minor rule violations.
In this case, the player said she injured herself while jumping on the ground and needed medical treatment. She reported the incident to the school, which temporarily suspended the coach pending the investigation.
The lawsuit also alleged that the coach threatened to withdraw the player’s sports scholarship if she didn’t improve, forced her to write a letter of apology to the coaches and stopped allowing the player to play with the team to travel.
In December 2022, the player was “retired for medical reasons”. School officials have concluded the incidents were harassment, the player said, but apart from a team briefing to discuss team culture in 2022, she has no knowledge of anything being done about it.
Northwestern confirmed that in March 2021, a student claimed to have bullied the volleyball team. The school suspended the coaching staff amid an investigation which found harassment had taken place. “Appropriate disciplinary action has been taken,” wrote Head Boy Jon Yates. “Among other things, the university canceled two games and introduced mandatory anti-hazing training.”
Athletic director Derrick Gragg met with the student last year at her request, and the school plans to evaluate its accountability mechanism and identify threats to the athletes’ well-being. Officials also announced plans to examine Northwest athletics culture and its relationship to the academic mission.
Davis, a former Loyola University men’s team coach, received a contract extension. He did not respond to requests for comment.
Former collegiate and Olympic coach Liskevych is no longer a coach but is the founder and CEO of The Art of Coaching, which offers exercise clinics nationwide. He said he knew Davis and described him as “a good guy.”
The exercises described in the lawsuit have been common practice for years, he said. The Coach on One exercise is an effective way to get players to extend their reach when hitting balls, while running and jumping on the ground are ways to improve conditioning and learn how to hit the ground like hitting in a game.
Normally all team members take part in the exercises. A player shouldn’t be repeatedly singled out or made a scapegoat, but sometimes a player does the drills to work on specific skills or occasionally as discipline, he said.
“This question is always asked in our clinics,” he said. “Where do you draw the line?”
“I’ve said many times, this is nothing personal, I love you, but I will hold you accountable,” he said. “Obviously, when it comes to physical abuse or insulting a player as a person, that’s inappropriate.”
“My biggest concern is, am I treating you with dignity and respect?” Liskevich said. “It can’t be a team culture of abusive behavior where people look the other way because my team is good.”
Bullying is typically defined as a group tradition designed to maintain a power structure, such as when soccer players or sorority members force freshmen to engage in embarrassing or harmful rituals.
But the allegations that volleyball is about a coach-player power imbalance seem more like bullying or harassment, said Susan Lipkins, cq, a psychologist and researcher studying these issues.cq
A bully usually wants something from the victim, often by exercising power over the person.
“Assuming the claim is true, why was (the team) watching? Because it’s humiliating,” Lipkins said. “You pick the same person and make them feel powerless and embarrassed.”
To avoid this, drills shouldn’t be designed to single out players — everyone should participate equally, Lipkins said. And they should not be used as punishment, but to improve skills and morale.
But when the victim reported the behavior and the school didn’t respond adequately, it only strengthened a coach’s power to abuse players, she said.
“Unfortunately, many coaches have tremendous power and no one is watching,” she said. “Who looks after the coach?”
The US Center for SafeSport, which oversees the country’s Olympic program, has created a list of recommendations to recognize and avoid such scenarios.
Emotional misconduct includes excessive verbal attacks without a valid reason, such as verbally abusing or taunting someone; Being repeatedly or severely physically aggressive, such as throwing or hitting objects; and ignore or isolate someone.
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Studies show that children who play sports have many physical, social and emotional benefits. But many children also suffer psychological harm or neglect, and some are physically harmed.
To prevent abuse, the Center for SafeSport recommends helping children with respect, support, and positive motivation, rather than fear or shame.
Some coaches and students say they need to be tougher on newcomers to unite and discipline the group. Studies show that participants are willing to make sacrifices to be part of a group, but don’t want to be humiliated to do so.
An alternative, Lipkins said, is to do confidence-building exercises together, such as confidence falls, high ropes courses, or other activities that involve group members working together.
Still, abusive behavior won’t stop until everyone from administrator to trainer to participant realizes how harmful it is.
Elizabeth Allan, a University of Maine professor and leader of the National Hazing Prevention Consortium, urged finding ways to maintain discipline that are educational and don’t involve shame, saying, “It’s harmful and not effective.”
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