Episode 191 – This episode is tough. It uncovers the pain of teenage girls and their experience with their basketball coach reaching back to the 1990s. We read through the March 2024 Texas Monthly article “A Coach Pleaded Guilty to Charges Related to Sexually Harassing Athletes—Yet He’s Still Working With Young Girls” by Alexandra Samuels and Dan Solomon.
My friends are some of the victims. It hurts to know what they went through and the pain they’ve held onto into adulthood. The families of the victims in this article have gotten together to help talk about action they can take going forward. More girls have come forward. To me, that means there’s more out there who this coach, and unfortunately others, have hurt.
The thought that this person can plead guilty then still be seen on the sidelines coaching girls is unbelievable. Our system is failing our kids.
We can all help do better for youth athletes. Accountability, research, sharing these stories – it can all help make for more positive experiences for the generation of athletes coming up behind us.
RESOURCES:
Texas Monthly article: https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/high-school-basketball-coach-accused-sexual-harassment/
SafeSport: https://uscenterforsafesport.org
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) – https://www.rainn.org/resources
1 Comment
Kelly Henkener · June 30, 2024 at 6:27 pm
Thank you for sharing this. It’s so important.