Tony Amato was fired by the University of Florida after one season during which players left the program amid complained about the way the coach treated them.
Caitlin Schmidt When Hallie Pearson learned that her former soccer coach at the University of Arizona, Tony Amato, was taking a job at the University of Florida, her first thought was that she had to warn his soon-to-be players.
"It really scared them," she said of the response from Florida players with whom she spoke."A couple of them transferred immediately and others took those words to heart and they ended up leaving by the end of the semester or just quit soccer in general because of him." Two of the six former Wildcats reported their concerns to the UA. The others said they were afraid to lose their scholarships or believed their concerns would be ignored because they were on the practice squad.
"As a public educational institution, FERPA and other privacy considerations impact our ability to share the eventual administrative actions taken and to review those outcomes with students, as well as our ability to speak directly to these allegations," UA spokesperson Pam Scott said in an email."The University encourages all students to bring forward their educational experiences and concerns without fear of retaliation.
"Coaching transitions can be challenging with new playing styles, changes in philosophy and different training. While I recognize that change is hard, I was committed to working through these growing pains," Amato said in the tweet."I need to make clear that in no point in my career have I ever or would I ever put the health or well-being of my student-athletes at risk.
"He would never do anything other than tear people down. He ridiculed the out of me," Pearson said."I never spoke up; I just kind of took it. If I was in this situation now, I would do something about it, but I didn't know the situation was wrong. I just knew I was unhappy." "That experience, although very short, had lasting effects," she told the Star."Whatever I do, I'm afraid someone's going to say it's not good enough."
In the spring of 2020, the woman — who is still playing college soccer and asked to remain anonymous — sent an email to UA athletic director Dave Heeke during her final UA semester before transferring. The athlete told the Star she received a generic response from the UA thanking her for sharing her concerns. Nothing else happened for a few months, she said, until an associate athletic director emailed her.
The woman recounted comments Amato made about the food they ate, correlating unhealthy foods with laziness or poor performance on the field. She said she would leave meals hungry because she was afraid to eat too much and be berated, or would order food she didn't want because it was on Amato's approved list.
"I felt so undervalued. I told him I felt undervalued ... he basically said I should be grateful I was given the opportunity to practice," she said."It was this whole cycle of fear. So many girls were afraid to say anything. Our only thing was escape and hope that it's better." Mahoney saw some playing time her first season and scored a goal in a game against UCLA. She contracted pneumonia in May of her freshman year, but reported for preseason training in July.By late August, she was cleared to practice with the team. She performed well, outrunning many of her teammates, and had no breathing issues.
She wrote in the personal statement that Amato told her he overheard three baseball players who were talking about a photo they'd seen of Mahoney in which they said she looked sexy and like a tease,"talking about me in a very degrading way." "In my opinion/perception, my coach had said he was not going to play me based on the perceptions he had of my life off the soccer field, and including his perceptions he had of my sex life," she wrote in the statement.
Mahoney's mother came to Tucson, and the two met with Amato and a pair of assistant coaches. Mahoney said Amato apologized for her misunderstanding of his words, but due to the upheaval she'd caused on the team, there was no longer a place for her. The Star requested any records of disciplinary action taken against Amato, but nothing was made available by publication.
Mahoney played soccer for a semester at UNC-Wilmington, then underwent sinus surgery due to complications from her pneumonia. She transferred back to the UA after getting accepted into Eller, and now works in sales for the Los Angeles Rams. Zoe Barrie, a senior during Pearson's sophomore year at the UA, corroborated Pearson's claims about Amato's behavior.
Barrie struggled to understand why she wasn't playing much at first. But a few months into her freshman year, she told her parents she needed help. Barrie said she knows not every player had a bad experience under Amato, but that it doesn't invalidate her claims.'I gave up on things that are hard'Another player, who was just 17 years old when she arrived at the UA, said she felt like Amato fell short of his duty to coach.
"It took about 45 seconds. As someone who spent 20 years of my life working toward a goal, for it to end like that was tough," she said."But I didn't have a lot to lose. My parents could put me through school. I had a choice, unlike some of my friends." "My parents dropped me off at school and I came back a different person, both good and bad," she said."It was hard and really unfortunate and sad."
'Power differentials is a key variable'One expert said the culture of sports enables these types of situations, which are happening around the world. There are also international efforts underway to improve the climate for athletes, Simpson said, pointing to the International Olympic Committee, which has created language and definitions to identify abuse. The IOC also has a toolkit and its consensus statement on harassment and abuse is a report that Simpson said sports organizations and groups should be familiar with.
Simpson said that she doesn't believe coaches are inherently bad. They're likely just competitive people who are driven, care deeply about their team and love to see results.
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