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Post by amamill on May 10, 2022 13:18:47 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. That was a whole lot of words to say…very little. You want to “categorically deny many of the allegations” but focus on one, relatively small, part of the story. Like many others have said, the allegations surrounding nutrition are far from the worst. While your working relationship with Aird gave no indication of abuse, six SAs (and many others whose stories are not in this article) came forward with their experiences. To dismiss their experiences entirely (which you do, while only providing evidence to refute the stories about nutrition), just makes you look self-righteous. |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 13:52:26 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by gibbyb1 on May 10, 2022 13:52:26 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. That was a whole lot of words to say…very little. You want to “categorically deny many of the allegations” but focus on one, relatively small, part of the story. Like many others have said, the allegations surrounding nutrition are far from the worst. While your working relationship with Aird gave no indication of abuse, six SAs (and many others whose stories are not in this article) came forward with their experiences. To dismiss their experiences entirely (which you do, while only providing evidence to refute the stories about nutrition), just makes you look self-righteous. Well she can only comment or clarify things she was aware of. She isn’t defending anything else Aird did or didn’t do, just what she was aware of. |
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Post by mervinswerved on May 10, 2022 13:57:30 GMT -5
I'm going to wager we don't hear from our "dietician" friend again.
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Post by vbstan123 on May 10, 2022 13:59:37 GMT -5
Yes you can. You want them to eat lettuce? Unique perspective here, i majored in nutrition during undergrad when i played. Kids need to just eat what they can and when they can. It was the same problem when i graduated in 2011 as it is now…stop viewing things as healthy and unhealthy Yeah, I’m going to totally disagree. Diet in the terms of what you’re eating has an enormous impact on performance. It’s not binary you can manage diet in a safe and healthy way. Every major program in the country is focused on “proper” nutrition, eating what they can when they can isn’t supported by any credible nutritionist. This. Nutrition obviously plays a major role for any athlete, and does not mean athletes are simply just eating lettuce. |
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Post by c4ndlelight on May 10, 2022 14:01:43 GMT -5
Also, let's be clear with sweet potato gate - is the dietitian denying that 1) sweet potato fries were criticized or 2) that sweet potato fries were not served?
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Post by justahick on May 10, 2022 14:02:44 GMT -5
Yes you can. You want them to eat lettuce? Unique perspective here, i majored in nutrition during undergrad when i played. Kids need to just eat what they can and when they can. It was the same problem when i graduated in 2011 as it is now…stop viewing things as healthy and unhealthy That's a take. I don't agree with it, but I would love for you to be able to change my mind so that it's ok for my players to have milkshakes and cheese fries before a match. Pre-exercise recommendations as per the International Society of Sports Nutrition 30-50g carbohydrates and 5-10g of protein about 30-60 minutes prior to exercise. Milkshakes meet both those requirements and are Low GI and cheese fries meet the protein requirement but fall short on the carbs. Reasons to avoid would be: difficultly in digestion leading to an upset stomach (this is very individualized - many people have no problem) low GI foods may provide more of a sustained source of fuel when carbs cannot be consumed during the event (cheese fries are high GI, but there are sports drinks and other carb sources readily available at volleyball matches) |
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Post by bbg95 on May 10, 2022 14:03:28 GMT -5
Also, let's be clear with sweet potato gate - is the dietitian denying that 1) sweet potato fries were criticized or 2) that sweet potato fries were not served? The dietician didn't address the sweet potato issue at all. They talked about their general practices as a dietician while at Indiana. |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 14:16:02 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by amamill on May 10, 2022 14:16:02 GMT -5
That was a whole lot of words to say…very little. You want to “categorically deny many of the allegations” but focus on one, relatively small, part of the story. Like many others have said, the allegations surrounding nutrition are far from the worst. While your working relationship with Aird gave no indication of abuse, six SAs (and many others whose stories are not in this article) came forward with their experiences. To dismiss their experiences entirely (which you do, while only providing evidence to refute the stories about nutrition), just makes you look self-righteous. Well she can only comment or clarify things she was aware of. She isn’t defending anything else Aird did or didn’t do, just what she was aware of. Right, but part of my point is that she starts with this grand statement of saying that she can deny “many” of the allegations. When, in reality, those statements about food and weight are just a small part of the story. |
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Post by c4ndlelight on May 10, 2022 14:20:42 GMT -5
Also, let's be clear with sweet potato gate - is the dietitian denying that 1) sweet potato fries were criticized or 2) that sweet potato fries were not served? The dietician didn't address the sweet potato issue at all. They talked about their general practices as a dietician while at Indiana. So what parts of the allegations are she claiming untrue? |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 14:23:14 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by gibbyb1 on May 10, 2022 14:23:14 GMT -5
Well she can only comment or clarify things she was aware of. She isn’t defending anything else Aird did or didn’t do, just what she was aware of. Right, but part of my point is that she starts with this grand statement of saying that she can deny “many” of the allegations. When, in reality, those statements about food and weight are just a small part of the story. And she is weighing in on the only parts of the story she can. I would find this remarkable if she was addressing other parts of the story that are outside of her responsibilities or what she would have even witnessed |
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Post by karellen on May 10, 2022 14:25:16 GMT -5
Someone mentioned the dietician's last year was 2018. If that is true, that coincides with Aird's first year. A lot could have happened from the time the dietician left and now....
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Post by mikegarrison on May 10, 2022 14:35:09 GMT -5
Someone mentioned the dietician's last year was 2018. @big10vo speculated that. Put it in the form of a question. I'm not sure what to make of that. Seemed to be an implied "I know who you are", but I might have been reading too much into it. |
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Post by hangonsloopy on May 10, 2022 15:33:58 GMT -5
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Post by d1athlete on May 10, 2022 16:12:21 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. You can speak to your responsibility as an IU Dietician, but you cannot speak to the private conversations had with Aird and players when you aren't around. I don't know why you felt personally attacked by this. You were obviously not present when these remarks were made by Steve to the players so how are you denying "many" of these allegations. What allegation are you even denying? Why would someone get yelled at for eating sweet potato fries because "they are not nutritional for practices/matches" for then sweet potato fries to be served for pre-game meal... |
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Post by d1athlete on May 10, 2022 16:13:43 GMT -5
I'm going to wager we don't hear from our "dietician" friend again. I laughed at this. They are no where to be seen now. |
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