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Post by mervinswerved on May 10, 2022 10:18:59 GMT -5
And is it verified that Gwitt has known Aird his entire adult life? They both went to the same college but there were no overlaps when they were in school at the same time. Yes. |
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Post by volleytalk222 on May 10, 2022 10:22:58 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program, I want to categorically deny many of the allegations in this story. I worked in very close coordination with Coach Aird and his staff and can personally verify many of these claims are unsubstantiated.
As part of our nutrition education, I would meet with the team every few weeks to provide guidelines and education on proper nutrition for their body. Prior to meals, I would receive direction from staff on where the team would be eating (if catered or individually ordering meals) and I would either 1) provide specific choices for the team to eat or 2) let the girls order whatever they liked and, before the order was placed, work with the girls and staff to make healthier choices within their selections.
Additionally, player weights are something we took very seriously during our time at IU. We use this statistic to help us determine how much water weight a player would lose during practice and whether they were properly hydrated. The coaching staff did not have access to this information and it was only shared between myself, our athletic trainer, and our strength coach. To this end, it would be improper for me to discuss individual cases of players being told they were "too skinny" or "too fat," but I can assure you these conversations with student-athletes were handled by our ATC, strength coach, and myself and not the coaching staff. Unfortunately, we had players fall out of healthy weight ranges and, if allowed to play or train, would be severely detrimental to their health.
Similarly, our performance team (the athletic trainer, strength coach, mental health professional, and myself) would regularly meet with the staff to discuss individual SAs and their ability to perform on a given day. We relayed general information to the coaching staff (without violating HIPAA protections) to help them make their practice plans and lineup decisions. Many of Coach Aird's decisions were influenced by this and it is untrue he acted unilaterally.
Lastly, I would like to make something abundantly clear: collegiate athletes should not be eating fast food in the hours before a match or drinking alcohol shortly after they workout when they are supposed to be recovering. This is harmful to their health and does not allow them to operate at peak levels. I often saw, or heard, about these behaviors and appreciated the staff doing their best to ensure the team was following a healthy lifestyle.
The reason you will not find many of the staff speaking out is because it puts all of us in a no-win situation. If we comment, we automatically become vilified and associated as supporters of these allegations which many in the community have determined are true regardless of substantiated evidence. I can assure you the university did a thorough investigation into the program and found no evidence of abuse. As a risk averse institution, the university would not put itself in a situation to ignore any harmful behaviors and the idea it would is flat out wrong. The school similarly did not find many of the student-athletes who came forward as credible as multiple of them had previously been suspended by Aird for various reasons and thus, in part, viewed these actions as retaliatory. This does not mean the administration rejected their allegations outright, it is only to say that as a result of a thorough investigation they came to this conclusion.
My hope is that you all can understand there are two sides to every story and approach this with a more critical eye than you have. Steve has three kids, and it is unfortunate that allegations alone can destroy his career in the volleyball world and possibly damper any future job prospects he may have.
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Post by mervinswerved on May 10, 2022 10:33:02 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program, I want to categorically deny many of the allegations in this story. I worked in very close coordination with Coach Aird and his staff and can personally verify many of these claims are unsubstantiated. As part of our nutrition education, I would meet with the team every few weeks to provide guidelines and education on proper nutrition for their body. Prior to meals, I would receive direction from staff on where the team would be eating (if catered or individually ordering meals) and I would either 1) provide specific choices for the team to eat or 2) let the girls order whatever they liked and, before the order was placed, work with the girls and staff to make healthier choices within their selections. Additionally, player weights are something we took very seriously during our time at IU. We use this statistic to help us determine how much water weight a player would lose during practice and whether they were properly hydrated. The coaching staff did not have access to this information and it was only shared between myself, our athletic trainer, and our strength coach. To this end, it would be improper for me to discuss individual cases of players being told they were "too skinny" or "too fat," but I can assure you these conversations with student-athletes were handled by our ATC, strength coach, and myself and not the coaching staff. Unfortunately, we had players fall out of healthy weight ranges and, if allowed to play or train, would be severely detrimental to their health. Similarly, our performance team (the athletic trainer, strength coach, mental health professional, and myself) would regularly meet with the staff to discuss individual SAs and their ability to perform on a given day. We relayed general information to the coaching staff (without violating HIPAA protections) to help them make their practice plans and lineup decisions. Many of Coach Aird's decisions were influenced by this and it is untrue he acted unilaterally. Lastly, I would like to make something abundantly clear: collegiate athletes should not be eating fast food in the hours before a match or drinking alcohol shortly after they workout when they are supposed to be recovering. This is harmful to their health and does not allow them to operate at peak levels. I often saw, or heard, about these behaviors and appreciated the staff doing their best to ensure the team was following a healthy lifestyle. The reason you will not find many of the staff speaking out is because it puts all of us in a no-win situation. If we comment, we automatically become vilified and associated as supporters of these allegations which many in the community have determined are true regardless of substantiated evidence. I can assure you the university did a thorough investigation into the program and found no evidence of abuse. As a risk averse institution, the university would not put itself in a situation to ignore any harmful behaviors and the idea it would is flat out wrong. The school similarly did not find many of the student-athletes who came forward as credible as multiple of them had previously been suspended by Aird for various reasons and thus, in part, viewed these actions as retaliatory. This does not mean the administration rejected their allegations outright, it is only to say that as a result of a thorough investigation they came to this conclusion. My hope is that you all can understand there are two sides to every story and approach this with a more critical eye than you have. Steve has three kids, and it is unfortunate that allegations alone can destroy his career in the volleyball world and possibly damper any future job prospects he may have. Were you on staff when the investigation occurred? Did you speak to the investigators? |
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Post by robtearle on May 10, 2022 10:33:28 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program... When? What years, seasons? |
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Post by ineedajob on May 10, 2022 10:36:32 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program, I want to categorically deny many of the allegations in this story. I worked in very close coordination with Coach Aird and his staff and can personally verify many of these claims are unsubstantiated. We now have a dissenting opinion. Do most university admins and other individuals of the support staff (ADs, strength coach, dietitian, etc.) even know that VolleyTalk exists? |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 10:42:14 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Phaedrus on May 10, 2022 10:42:14 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program, I want to categorically deny many of the allegations in this story. I worked in very close coordination with Coach Aird and his staff and can personally verify many of these claims are unsubstantiated. We now have a dissenting opinion. Do most university admins and other individuals of the support staff even know that VolleyTalk exists? Many do. Mostly trolling, taking the temperature. Not many post. I think an active D1 coach did and he was ruthlessly excoriated. I remember it being Jon Stevenson, but I'm old. |
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Post by robtearle on May 10, 2022 10:42:18 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program, I want to categorically deny many of the allegations in this story. I worked in very close coordination with Coach Aird and his staff and can personally verify many of these claims are unsubstantiated. We now have a dissenting opinion. Do most university admins and other individuals of the support staff even know that VolleyTalk exists? Not IU, but I happened to work at the polls in Wisconsin's April election with a staff member of the UW team, and she was certainly aware of VolleyTalk. She said she very much avoids it (in my mind she's saying "like a plague", but I don't think she actually said that; that was the gist, however.). I didn't ask about VT and any other staff or athletes, etc. |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 10:45:05 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by dodger on May 10, 2022 10:45:05 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program, I want to categorically deny many of the allegations in this story. I worked in very close coordination with Coach Aird and his staff and can personally verify many of these claims are unsubstantiated. We now have a dissenting opinion. Do most university admins and other individuals of the support staff even know that VolleyTalk exists? Yes |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 10:46:02 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by vb on May 10, 2022 10:46:02 GMT -5
Did anyone else find it disturbing that a top-notch university, with top-notch Athletes… would only advise every couple of weeks?
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Post by dodger on May 10, 2022 10:51:28 GMT -5
Did anyone else find it disturbing that a top-notch university, with top-notch Athletes… would only advise every couple of weeks? No |
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Post by Hawk Attack on May 10, 2022 10:55:12 GMT -5
Did anyone else find it disturbing that a top-notch university, with top-notch Athletes… would only advise every couple of weeks? I would find it disturbing if top-notch athletes necessitated being babysat with weekly nutrition talks in order to get the point across to prioritize their own physical well-being. |
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Post by justahick on May 10, 2022 10:55:34 GMT -5
Did anyone else find it disturbing that a top-notch university, with top-notch Athletes… would only advise every couple of weeks? No. These are young adults who can take responsibility for their themselves. As coaches, counselors, trainers, etc. we advise players on how to best conduct themselves, we can't micro-manage every minute of their lives. Besides, nutritional advice, when given properly, is educational and teaches decision making - it isn't planning every aspect of every meal. |
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Post by tomclen on May 10, 2022 11:02:27 GMT -5
Is the "dietician" in this thread someone who attended practices regularly? Traveled with the team? Was in team meetings with the coaches?
Was this "dietician" a full-time employee? If so, was this a full-time position assigned exclusivity to VB or did the position also do work with other teams/sports?
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Post by mgk_vball on May 10, 2022 11:07:24 GMT -5
As the former dietician to the IU volleyball program, I want to categorically deny many of the allegations in this story. I worked in very close coordination with Coach Aird and his staff and can personally verify many of these claims are unsubstantiated. As part of our nutrition education, I would meet with the team every few weeks to provide guidelines and education on proper nutrition for their body. Prior to meals, I would receive direction from staff on where the team would be eating (if catered or individually ordering meals) and I would either 1) provide specific choices for the team to eat or 2) let the girls order whatever they liked and, before the order was placed, work with the girls and staff to make healthier choices within their selections. Additionally, player weights are something we took very seriously during our time at IU. We use this statistic to help us determine how much water weight a player would lose during practice and whether they were properly hydrated. The coaching staff did not have access to this information and it was only shared between myself, our athletic trainer, and our strength coach. To this end, it would be improper for me to discuss individual cases of players being told they were "too skinny" or "too fat," but I can assure you these conversations with student-athletes were handled by our ATC, strength coach, and myself and not the coaching staff. Unfortunately, we had players fall out of healthy weight ranges and, if allowed to play or train, would be severely detrimental to their health. Similarly, our performance team (the athletic trainer, strength coach, mental health professional, and myself) would regularly meet with the staff to discuss individual SAs and their ability to perform on a given day. We relayed general information to the coaching staff (without violating HIPAA protections) to help them make their practice plans and lineup decisions. Many of Coach Aird's decisions were influenced by this and it is untrue he acted unilaterally. Lastly, I would like to make something abundantly clear: collegiate athletes should not be eating fast food in the hours before a match or drinking alcohol shortly after they workout when they are supposed to be recovering. This is harmful to their health and does not allow them to operate at peak levels. I often saw, or heard, about these behaviors and appreciated the staff doing their best to ensure the team was following a healthy lifestyle. The reason you will not find many of the staff speaking out is because it puts all of us in a no-win situation. If we comment, we automatically become vilified and associated as supporters of these allegations which many in the community have determined are true regardless of substantiated evidence. I can assure you the university did a thorough investigation into the program and found no evidence of abuse. As a risk averse institution, the university would not put itself in a situation to ignore any harmful behaviors and the idea it would is flat out wrong. The school similarly did not find many of the student-athletes who came forward as credible as multiple of them had previously been suspended by Aird for various reasons and thus, in part, viewed these actions as retaliatory. This does not mean the administration rejected their allegations outright, it is only to say that as a result of a thorough investigation they came to this conclusion. My hope is that you all can understand there are two sides to every story and approach this with a more critical eye than you have. Steve has three kids, and it is unfortunate that allegations alone can destroy his career in the volleyball world and possibly damper any future job prospects he may have. stop. Thx. |
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Post by justahick on May 10, 2022 11:16:07 GMT -5
Is the "dietician" in this thread someone who attended practices regularly? Traveled with the team? Was in team meetings with the coaches? Was this "dietician" a full-time employee? If so, was this a full-time position assigned exclusivity to VB or did the position also do work with other teams/sports? Not relevant, they are speaking to what they were responsible for - and, as they said, their actions were standard and well justified. Like I said before, the quotes around weigh ins and meal restrictions are a distration from the real issues in the program. Every time anyone mixes standard, approapriate behavior (eg preseason weigh ins, meal spending limits) with the abusive behaviors (eg demeaning treatment by the coach). The accusations of abusive behavior are dilluted. |
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