Jane Adams* is an exceptional athlete and teammate. Jane has overcome many obstacles, but how she dealt with the adversary of abusive coaching most definitely takes the cake. 

Jane's college coach, Coach Taylor*, would regularly manipulate her athletes by gaining their trust and then ripping the rug out from under them. Jane recalls multiple times when she confided in Coach Taylor, only to have it backfire. She instilled constant fear in her athletes, and pinned teammates against each other by threatening to gain information she wanted. If you didn't rat out your teammates, she questioned your commitment to the team. She destroyed many relationships within the team to the point where it was nearly impossible to successfully compete with one another.

Related: A College Athlete's Struggle with Mental Abuse

Prior to Coach Taylor taking over the program, the team was an extremely close knit group. The rare bond between the players made them an outstanding team. Coach Taylor destroyed that. Many players on the team, including Jane, experienced a very toxic dependency relationship with the coach. Jane stated “I still struggle mentally from that to this day. It was trauma bonding. I hated the mental abuse and mind games, but a part of me had this constant need to please her and win her approval. I knew it was wrong, but if I didn't play along I would never see the field. I knew something had to be done, for myself, for my teammates, and for future program players.”

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In 2020, Jane and a group of her teammates composed a 47-page document stating the mental abuse the athletes had endured since Coach Taylor had taken over the program. The document included dated evidence of every single occurrence that took place. The women submitted this document to the university, but it took weeks for the situation to be addressed by the athletic department. 

Finally, the athletic director set up a Zoom meeting with herself, the team, and the coaching staff. Jane said “Finally, something was going to be done. We have been unable to stand up for ourselves for years, we have played in fear for years, and finally something was going to be done”. Unfortunately, that was not the case. To summarize the meeting, the athletic director chalked it up to a “misunderstanding” and that the team owed the coach a second chance. 

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That day, Jane and 2 other seniors quit the team. Jane recalls sobbing on the Zoom call when she addressed Coach Taylor for the final time. Jane was interrupted by the athletic director multiple times and was told to “stop talking.” “It was absolutely prosperous” she said, “The athletic director was taking evidence of mental abuse and sweeping it under the rug. I felt so hopeless, I couldn't take it any longer. Literally nobody would help us.” Coach Taylor took the seniors' season away from them. Jane made it her mission to right the wrong herself. 

Jane reached out to alumni and asked if they had any stories or experiences with Coach Taylor. Before she knew it, she had gathered 6 alumni to share their stories. These athletes wrote extensive emails and documents backing the abuse that the team had come forward with. Parents started reaching out, and it started going so much further than the athletic department. Jane contacted the president of the University, and met with her multiple times. She had the support of faculty members who have observed the abuse from a classroom standpoint. Finally, the pieces started to fall into place. After all of her effort, an investigation was conducted and Coach Taylor was fired the summer of 2021. 

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It is really unfortunate how prevalent mental abuse is in sports. There needs to be more awareness brought to the situation because Jane and her teammates should not have had to go through what they did. Jane set a precedent that student athletes will not be silenced, and her story should light a fire to continue protecting athletes' rights and exposing abusive coaches.

*Names of people and places have been changed for privacy purposes.

Image source: Saturday Blitz

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* Originally published on March 29, 2022, by Madison Machado