Meg Decker Reviews

our recruiting experience was great. she connected with us and my daughter. we felt it was a good match. last year was the first year for xavier to have lacrosse. it was exciting as everything was new. the coaches/staff as a whole were fantastic. fast forward to fall of 2023. the assistant coach, who was amazing, left. two grad assistants hired. one quit in december. the other has no guidance or idea how to coach. it's not totally her fault. there is nobody to mentor her. decker's domestic partner was hired to replace the assistant who left. he has never played lacrosse and has no coaching experience. meg decker is a completely different person from who we originally met. she plays head games with the players. the coaching staff is passive aggressive. they choose to tear players down rather than build them up. she plays favorites and pitted the incoming freshman class against the previous class who started the program. the communication has been awful. there are so many examples i could give as to why i am giving a poor recommendation, but it would take too long. the bottom line is this woman is not a good role model, coach, or person for your daughters to play for. i hope this review helps others to go down a different path.

She is pretty much as manipulative as a coach gets. If you bring an issue up to her, instead of helping she will cry and make it about her and how you did wrong. She plays head games with the team and really messes with the girl's confidence. I only played with her for a year a Hartford but I watched her tear apart some of the best people I ever met. She focuses on all of the wrong things and is always changing her mind on what's important, but tells you that you are the one with the changing mind, not her. She will tell you to get ready to go in just to humiliate you as you stand in the sub box and she never subs you in. She will play you as a freshman, then slowly learn to hate you, and once she has an opinion of you it never changes. I remember running a run test every Monday until the whole team passed her set time. One girl simply couldn't pass after weeks of running it and Decker made her feel so bad about it and pushed her to quit the team so the team could move on from the run test and Decker wouldn't have to backtrack from her "Everyone has to pass to stop running it" rule. She's a terrible coach and person. I am not surprised by any of the horror stories on this page and they all sound exactly like her. I don't think I personally know any people who played for her that still like her. Take what she says with a grain of salt

I played for Decker and am so glad I managed to escape her. Most of the positive reviews on this page are written by her (Cruel) husband as they panicked seeing many of their players use this avenue to keep other potential players from meeting the same depressing and demoralizing fate of playing for her. She manipulates and gaslights you to bring you down so she can control you, she kills your self-worth and tells you this is "normal" and what all teams are like, and that hers is better than the rest. I thought that might be true until I watched my friends leave and I finally did as well, and life is so much better without her and I've realized how much more terrible she was than I ever knew. I'm finally happy to go to practice and play lacrosse now that I'm away from her artistic and twisted insults and culture. She pins players against each other. She doesn't know much about the sport, and many college coaches I talk to said they see players who come from her as "tainted" due to the lack of correct teachings and the emotional baggage they hold from her. She speaks pretty ideas to get in the kindest and biggest-hearted people but is not truthful and she tears you apart as soon as you fail to do everything exactly as she says or bring any negative feedback or opposing opinions. I like to say she could talk her way out of murder because she is so good at talking but never lives up to those words. She is blind to everything around her and has no true regard for anyone else but her family. She makes you distrust yourself and question what is real and fake. I was one of her favorites for a long time and she called me "family" to many. Yet, when I brought up concerns from my teammates about how poorly things were going in the fall (2 coaches quitting because of the toxic environment, running tests that led to hospitalizations, conflicting messages, and practice plans and so much more) she cut me from the team for my "negative attitude". I (with the help and input of others) submitted an anonymous concern report to the admin about how I was worried about my teammate's mental health after getting messages from 30/36 of my teammates about issues they were worried about or having with the team. When she found out who it was, she \]said I was taking my feelings and generalizing them for everyone, then she found a way to get rid of me. I had told many this would happen because I knew how poorly she tends to react to negative feedback and lack of control of the information circulating about her team so I moved my classes to graduate early so she couldn't hurt me. Typically, I would be terrified to admit this here for fear of how she may hurt me or use it against me since she will know who this is. This is how most of her players feel about her and no I'm not just generalizing because I'm on a new team and I still get texts and phone calls every day from the players there freaking out about the new terrible thing she is doing to them each day as they ask for advice and help. Playing for her means every day is a new battle and you can never breathe, her craziness is suffocating. She has cut 4 people in a year and 9 total have left and there will be many more leaving after this year from what I have heard. She used to tell me I wasn't good enough for D1 meanwhile I got awards in the Big East for how I performed (I also got called a bad teammate for asking for my trophy when my teammates were given theirs but I was not). She is the definition of someone who believes in cruel and unusual punishment. She honestly shouldn't be allowed to coach in the NCAA or be near kids she is terrible to do any form of business with and I could write pages about why you are better off playing elsewhere. I didn't fully see the full picture of how bad she was for a long time and I'm glad I finally did and got out of there, If you value your mental health and love for the game please find another coach, she is an example of what is ruining the game of lacrosse.

We have started our Spring season and we already have girls talking about transferring or quitting altogether. ROTC practices on top of 20 hour weeks and why? We have a run test but the results don't matter. Same run test as last semester that sent one girl to the hospital who still hasn't been cleared to play. The team culture is brutal and I am one of the liked players. It isn't the way things are supposed to be. Now her baby daddy, who she told everyone was her husband but I guess, he isn't, has been hired to help on the field even though he has no lacrosse experience. He's mean. She's mean. Another assistant coach quit at the beginning of this semester. She was just hired last fall. That means the entire staff is unproven and inexperienced. I'm not sure where we go from here. Too much negativity. I hope we can pull this season off but there are a lot of obstacle. It's depressing.

I know that there are a lot of drastically different reviews about Meg. My suggestion to any players who might be considering playing for her is that you do your research. Find out why so many of her players at Hartford strongly dislike her and why the program at Xavier has been a disaster. Talk to players who have played for her longer than a year. It is easy to fall in love with her as a coach and person at the beginning, but I promise eventually you will see her for who she really is. Don’t just listen to the players who played for her during one camp or were recently recruited. Talk to players who have stood by her for years and she has still treated like crap. Talk to her old assistant coaches. Talk to players who left her programs and ask them the hard questions. Because trust me you don’t want to give your life to a woman who will manipulate you and lie to your face. Please just don’t be naive and do your research. Don’t be fooled.

Have you seen the movie ‘Horrible Bosses’ and are you familiar with Jennifer Aniston’s character? That is Coach Decker. Puts on a great front. Absolutely evil when you get to know her.

Meg Decker is amazing. I wouldn’t want anyone else coaching my daughter. She wants to develop her players to be the best they can be on and off the field. Love her.

There are many stories I have of Decker from when she coached me at Hartford, the one I think about most often is the time a teammate brought weed paraphernalia to an away game, and was using her dab pen on the team bus in front of all of us. When this issue was brought up to Coach Decker, instead of listening to the teams concerns about this player, having drugs on the bus, she got upset with the players who brought it to her attention. Instead of searching the players room and bags, she simply asked the player if she brought anything to which the player lied, and said she didn’t bring anything, after the trip Decker then made one of the players who saw the player using the dab pen on the bus apologize to said player for reporting her and the player who was caught using the dab pen, became very hostile towards this other player, putting her in an uncomfortable situation. It was known to the team that this player often partook in this reckless behavior, and had been in trouble with campus police previously for using marijuana. Many of us were personally afraid to take this to another level as a fear of being kicked off the team for standing up.

This site acts like a puppet show to an egotistical coach like Decker. Someone talks about planted reviews and they run to get one past athlete who was on the team for a year to post. Then someone says something about likes and they start a campaign to get likes on their posts. They went from 5 to 69 likes in a day on one of them. That’s an amazing waste of time. That’s a club team there. Decker is a disorganized and a sad excuse for a coach. She is not D1 quality and will never have a successful D1 team. She has no friends but a lot of people who are buffaloed by her. Her presentation has been pretty good. The front is falling off quickly and her desperation shows on this site.

Erratic leadership, shaming of players, unchecked ego, putting recruiting classes against one another, lack of accountability from the athletic department, if a player speaks up to Meg she is told she is the problem… when she turns to someone else for support this coach gets emotional that she’s being betrayed. Absolutely insane & dysfunctional coaching approach but so insidious it takes a long time to be seen clearly. If anyone else does a good job supporting the players, they won’t be allowed to stay long because they expose her lack of authentic care.

Meg is not an X&O coach. Players do what ever they wanton the field and off the field . Decker doesn’t think she should be involved with players lives.

Coach Decker speaks at you, not to you or with you. She doesn’t hear you. She always acts like she is teaching you something in her condescending way as if she is so old and wise. She uses the same methods to tell you that you are incompetent. She Just shakes her head and says you know you won’t play for me again. She puts you in tears and then puts you in to play when it suits her. Real head games. She pulls you into doing a ton of extra work for leadership and individuals and then lies and says that you didn’t do any of it and ignores your work and abilities. It’s really just constant head games. She does the same to her current and former staff members. It’s so unhealthy. She has the lacrosse community buffaloed. Don’t let that be you.

Fact is that the Louisville coach was fired in 2017 for abusing her team. Fact is that same coach was coach Deckers sisters coach at JMU. That coach required two teammates to sign a contract that prohibited both from communicating with each other. Coach decker didn’t do that. She just cut two players after they became close. She told one of them that she would end the friendship if it got to be too much, whatever that is, and she cut one last spring and then the other this fall. Decker likes to tell players they aren’t committed and not D1 quality after players receive D1 accolades, just like the Louisville coach. Decker has 1/2 a team looking at transferring and she is more worried about planting good reviews here than fixing the problems on the team. She has been presented with three pages of problems that the entire team submitted and It’s all about her image, not about the well being of the team or Xavier. Look at the likes on the posts. Those are important. She has scared most of the kids into silence. It’s time to talk.

I have the privilege of playing for one of the best coaches I have ever met. Her ability to command to instill confidence and unity towards a common goal is truly remarkable. She was consistently upbeat and optimistic, and her positive attitude was overwhelming. Roster of 35-40 young women and ONLY 3-5 of them spew negativity.....by my math she must be doing something right.

Here's the deal, if you are in favor with Coach Decker, you'll have fun...like everyone else who has ever been in her short-lived favor! It won't last! She will use you as best as she can for her own benefit and make you feel like you are the beneficiary! Beware! If you don't conform to what she wants and the people she choses for you to associate with, you will be out of favor...immediately and forever. She does not communicate the truth well and she loves to create drama. She talks a big game and promises the world but delivers below average coaching and team culture. She has a team that goes to admin often to find relief and retaliates for that. That's not good. Her practices are often good when she has them organized, which isn't often...but when she gets to the game, her coaching fails. She forgets to sub or my favorite...the team is ahead by four and she changes what is going on on the field and they don't score again. Watch her films. It's really a sad thing to see since I think it's within her to do better but for some reason, she just can't. There are a few who have been there a year and had a great experience. More power to those girls and their relationships with her. Good luck! I've known her for 6 years and would never do it again! She presented herself as a different person every year and I'm exhausted trying to figure her out! I was a team mom and had a closer relationship with her than most. That was my downfall. She went from hot to cold in a day! My daughter was cut after winning a Big East award because she fell out of favor for associating with a team mate that the coach didn't like...after following the coach for her entire college life (included 2 schools) . We even had to beg to receive her award after the yearly banquet. It was insane. I'm excited for my daughter now because she now has the opportunity to play for a team where she can be appreciated without the stress of who her coach would be today. I haven't seen my daughter this confident and well in years and I'm mad at myself for not seeing the affects earlier. You do what you want as far as committing to Coach Deckers team

While decker is very knowledgeable and nobody can deny that fact. I would have to say her ability to provide and execute is more than lacking. I was enticed to come and play for her, and never transferred. Time and time again i was belittled and told I wasn’t good enough to be on the team. Which to be clear… if that was the case I don’t understand how I was still on the team. However, I stuck through and made sure to put forth my best effort. I also had some struggles with fin aid at one point, and she told me “I hope you figure it out, i don’t want you to end up living in the basement of your moms house” .. On top of that when a teammate had a crisis moment and i called public safety, i was reprimanded and told that it wasn’t the right time and i was being dramatic.. after being told “Call the police first and me second” which she also did not answer. I could continue to go on and on but the bottom line is that she could be really great, she’s just selfish, and if she doesn’t like you? good luck.

I completed my career with Decker, making me a former player. I somehow, some way became the first and only person to escape "unscathed". In fact, she greatly inspired my career choice.......wait for it......within lacrosse!

Coach Decker is undoubtedly the best coach my daughter has ever had. She possesses an incredible ability to impart her lacrosse wisdom to her athletes while also creating a supportive environment that nurtures their mental and emotional well-being. Furthermore, Coach Decker encourages creativity and solicits feedback, which allows her athletes to grow into well-rounded individuals. Despite her overwhelmingly positive and supportive attitude, Coach Decker's biggest weakness is her willingness to forgive and forget. However, her commitment to improving herself and those around her is unwavering, and she consistently demonstrates an unparalleled level of dedication to her athletes. Couldn't imagine a better mentor for my daughter.

Coach Decker is an exemplar of leadership, mentorship, and integrity to every athlete under her tutelage at Xavier. Throughout my tenure on her team, I have witnessed firsthand her unwavering commitment to fostering personal and athletic growth in her players. Playing under her guidance has been an unparalleled experience in my life, and I wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone seeking to attain excellence on and off the field. Coach Decker's coaching philosophy is exceptional, and she invests herself fully in the development of her players. She is an incredible coach who not only imparts her lacrosse wisdom but also provides a supportive environment that nurtures her athletes' mental and emotional well-being. Her training regimens are innovative, and tailored to meet the unique needs of her athletes and optimize their performance. In addition, Coach Decker encourages creativity and solicits feedback, which enables her players to grow into well-rounded individuals.

Throughout my time on her team, Coach Decker has been a role model and mentor to every player on her roster. If you want to be the best person and player you can be, you should definitely play for Decker. She is an incredible coach who has grown and evolved over the years. Decker helps you on and off the field in all ways possible. She creates leaders and helps people achieve their goals in all aspects of life. She is like a friend who is honest and still pushes you to be your best. Coach Decker asks for the best version of you every day. She develops practice plans that cater to taking care of her athletes in ways that haven't been done before. I could go on all day about how much she goes out of her way to take care of the people around her.

Meg Decker is about one thing. And that is Meg Decker. She uses made up stats to trick everyone into thinking she knows what she’s doing and distract them from seeing what is really going on. Her teams are never prepared for games, they do not get better as individuals and they will continue to lose games at an alarming rate because of her incompetence as a “leader.” More than that, because college lacrosse is not just about winning and losing, Meg Decker is terrible and should not be in charge of college student-athletes. She lies and then lies more because she cannot keep track of her lies. She uses team funds for her own travel, unrelated to lacrosse but under the guise she is “recruiting” or “running a clinic.” Gaslighting is such an overused term these days but that is EXACTLY what she does. She thrives on drama, disorganization and disfunction. That is NO environment for a student-athlete. She undermines her staff and players and causes friction amongst the group. The environment she has created is one of mistrust and fear, yet she preaches the opposite. Actions speak louder than words. Don’t fall for her long winded speeches or social media posts. The fact that she still has a job coaching college lacrosse is a JOKE.

Coach Decker thinks the game is about her. It's her hair, her strut and her mental health that counts over the mental health of her team. She gives a good speech to get you to join her lair and once you are on her field, she will chip away at your confidence as passive aggressively as possible. She is disorganized, condescending, self important and incompetent. I'm pretty sure her husband is the person giving her ratings of 5 on this site because no one who has ever played for her walks away unscathed. I'm just trying to alert you and save you from complete lacrosse devastation. Xavier is a great school but wait for her to go. Go somewhere where you can get your best D1 lacrosse experience.

Decker is an exceptional coach who exudes care and coolness towards her players. She leaves no stone unturned in providing assistance and support to her players. She always goes the extra mile and welcomes feedback from her players. Decker is not just focused on the physical aspect of the game, but also on the mental health and well-being of her players, which sets her apart from most coaches. Her innovative ideas and creative approach inspire her players to think outside the box. She also emphasizes leadership qualities and helps her players to succeed not only in lacrosse but also in life. I had a wonderful experience playing under her guidance and would wholeheartedly do it again. Decker is truly one of a kind.

Killed my love for the sport, manipulated me, never wanted to listen to concerns, had a dictator mentality, prided herself in leading with fear, gaslight me, turned away my feelings, accused me of horrible fake scenarios, judged me on a made-up perception of me in her head, egotistical, narcissistic. Worst years of my college experience.

The epitome of a role model and mentor to each and every player on her roster.