TC parents allege abusive language by coach

The Tri-County volleyball team gathers for a group cheer before a game in September. Many team members have complained about alleged verbal abuse by their coach in her first season with the high school. File Photo

At the Tri-County School Board meeting on Nov. 11, parents and one student spoke to the school board complaining of verbal abuse and obscene insults directed at the girls on the high school volleyball team. The coach was not named during the meeting.

School board members listened to each of the complaints.

Three parents read impact statements written by team members regarding the coach, Taylor McKinney, and one student who read her own statement. They all talked about alleged verbal abuse and how it affected the girls on the team. It was also mentioned there have been previous complaints made to the school’s administrators with no action taken.

First to speak was Erin Grimes. She said, “We, the parents of the Tri-County volleyball team are here tonight because our students need teachers and coaches who lift them up not tear them down. Unfortunately, we have an individual in both roles, whose behavior has consistently crossed the line from discipline into mental and emotional abuse.”

She said their daughters had “repeatedly been subjected to degrading inappropriate language, words and comments that no adult should ever direct towards students.”

She said the coach has used profanity, personal insults and sexual remarks towards the players, which created an atmosphere of fear, shame and anxiety.

“These actions and comments were drilled at these girls for months,” she continued. The comments were made every day, Grimes told the board, and at every game. The team endured her “vulgar, belittling, disrespectful and reckless behavior on a regular basis.”

She said the girls told themselves that change brings pain, and that they would adjust. “They tried. They kept in the bad stuff and they internalized. They tried to be tough for one another.”

She said this toxic way of coaching is not what leaders should be teaching their children, “It is not what we stand for and not what we want them to hear,” she said.

She said the coach belittled them and humiliated them publicly in front of other coaches and teams. The parents had brought their concerns to the administration “as far back as July and throughout the season. Yet these concerns were never taken seriously,” she stated.

Tara Dahlenburg and Morgan Gretencord each read statements written by volleyball players. One player wrote their new coach was “absolute horrible” to all of the players on the team and that they were scared of going to practice because they were made to run “unnecessary motivators” or of being yelled at by McKinney. The motivator, she explained, is a double suicide done in under 48 seconds. They had to run 15 in a single practice without knowing why they were running. The statement said they would get on the line and the timer would be set at 48 seconds, and was sometimes cut down to less time depending on the coach’s mood.

Another student wrote there was a practice where the coach yelled at the team for over an hour and eventually told them that if they didn’t want to be there, they should “get the f out of her gym.”

The girls mentioned there were times when McKinney would be late for practice and the girls would be locked out of the gym.

Another player wrote the experience had taken a “heavy toll” and she had began to doubt herself and her abilities. “I’m still struggling with fear, anxiety and self doubt. Something that used to bring me joy became a source of stress and pain.”

Dahlenburg reading a statement from one of the players, read, “For most of my life, sports were my safe place. Places where I knew I could leave all my worries and stress behind and just be myself around my teammates and coach. But in one short volleyball season, everything changed. My coach was supposed to be one of my biggest supporters who I’m supposed to lookup to became the source of stress, and I couldn’t escape from.”

The student said she is now struggling with her mental health, something she has never done before. She is a senior and expected this season to be the best and most memorable, but it has ended up being the worst for her.

She said she remembers thinking to herself, “How am I supposed to play this whole year if I don’t even want to get out of bed for a two-hour open gym. Little did I know that this would escalate during the season.”

She wrote the girls were called b——— at every practice and much more. She said she didn’t even want to play in the sectionals as she had no confidence in herself after all the comments her coach had made to her. “I would drive home every night from practice just crying in my car and thinking, what is wrong with me?”

After a while, she said she finally opened up to her parents about the issues, and she felt lighter for having their support and love.

Volleyball player Ella Anderson read her own impact statement to the school board. She said the season had a negative impact on her mental and physical health. She said after awhile, her legs would give out at every practice or even at the thought of playing in the gym.

She said once the season was over, “I was suddenly happy again and the only thing I changed was getting out of the training environment.”

She said she still has to face the physical impacts from the volleyball season, and her legs still give out when she thinks about it.

The board gave the women the option to stay for the rest of the meeting or to leave once their statements were concluded. They then left the meeting. The board does not comment on public statements, however, one board member asked for copies of the statements that were read.

Tri-County Superintendent Patrick Culp later responded to the newspaper, “Tri-County School Corporation is committed to providing every student with a high-quality, well-rounded educational experience both in the classroom and on the playing field or court. We understand parents have brought complaints about a staff member, which the Board of Trustees and administration take seriously. To that end, Tri-County School Corporation acts swiftly upon complaint to investigate and take any necessary action needed based on the results of investigations. We thank those involved in the process for assisting with our process.”