Mental and emotional abuse in the sports world isn't discussed often enough. As an athlete, we are expected to be tough physically and mentally. But, when a coach takes this concept a little too far, we're often told we're being “soft” or “to get over it” because they're the coach.

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Today we talked to Michelle Cuervo, an indoor volleyball player at Saint Leo University. She discusses her experience at her first school, Quinnipiac University, and the hostile environment she uncovered, experienced, and fortunately escaped.

She explains how the first red flag was that she was often singled out by the coaches and her teammates; she felt alone in her situation. After this, there were multiple times Michelle felt uncomfortable, such as the time she was called into her coach's office. What she thought was a midseason chat turned out to be her coaches locking her in the room and essentially telling her how worthless she was as an athlete. 

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After too many negative experiences, Michelle eventually gained the confidence so few were able to, and decided to quit. At first, she was ridiculed for this, but later found out she had started a trend. Multiple of her ex-teammates had quit or transferred for the same reasons, and a year later, the coaches were fired. 

After this traumatic experience, Michelle had no intention of playing college volleyball ever again. Until one day, when an old friend had heard about what happened, gave her a call, and invited her to visit the Saint Leo campus. And, the rest is history. Michelle is happier than ever with her new school and has since regained her love for volleyball. 

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Some advice she would give to others getting recruited is to ask the right questions that correlate with your values:

“Always ask ‘what is your coach like on a bad day?' It's really good… if you can confide in the girls… Establish trust early on in the visit.”

This will help you narrow down your list of schools to ones that you will actually enjoy for all four years. And most importantly, she reminds us to always put our mental health first. Take the time to understand yourself so you can always make the right decisions for your mental health. 

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* Originally published on February 7, 2022, by Anna Garrett