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Post by Phaedrus on May 10, 2022 21:16:30 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. Poster: Volleytalk222 Registered on VT January 31 2022. 1 post. Hmmmm |
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Post by mtihista on May 10, 2022 21:28:42 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 mtihista on May 10, 2022 21:32:22 GMT -5
Volleytalk222 - you are not speaking from first-hand knowledge of the situation. The University did NOT do a thorough investigation of the issues. They did NOT speak to the individuals that left the program or those that had exit interviews. That is not an example of a "thorough investigation". Please speak to your experience as a nutitionist and refrain from making assertions that are not accurate.
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.
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 21:54:38 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by vb on May 10, 2022 21:54:38 GMT -5
Hopefully, he can become a better man – and a better coach when all this is behind him. I for one say give the guy another chance
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 22:28:58 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2022 22:28:58 GMT -5
Volleytalk222 - you are not speaking from first-hand knowledge of the situation. The University did NOT do a thorough investigation of the issues. They did NOT speak to the individuals that left the program or those that had exit interviews. That is not an example of a "thorough investigation". Please speak to your experience as a nutitionist and refrain from making assertions that are not accurate. 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. I don’t have any hand information on this specific situation but I do know universities do a very thorough and unbiased investigation in these type matters. I’ve seen that first hand. And I’ve seen people fired say and do some awful retaliatory things. Especially young people. And parents. |
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Post by mikegarrison on May 10, 2022 23:29:24 GMT -5
I do know universities do a very thorough and unbiased investigation in these type matters That's a crazy-general claim to make. All universities do this? All the time? Color me skeptical about that. I would be willing to accept that some universities make "very thorough and unbiased investigation" all the time, but certainly not all of them. That is counter to my experience of large hierarchical organizations. |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 23:35:52 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Fight On! on May 10, 2022 23:35:52 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. But Steve has kids, so we have to let him get away with it. Lol. |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 23:39:57 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Fight On! on May 10, 2022 23:39:57 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? I appreciate you for staying focused on this. It is very interesting! |
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Steve Aird
May 10, 2022 23:51:43 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Fight On! on May 10, 2022 23:51:43 GMT -5
Hopefully, he can become a better man – and a better coach when all this is behind him. I for one say give the guy another chance You’re sending your child to play for him with your fingers crossed? Katie Myers had to sit out half a season at Minnesota due to the lingering effects of the abuse Steve brought to Maryland that contributed to an eating disorder. He should be in jail. |
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Post by bbg95 on May 10, 2022 23:56:30 GMT -5
I do know universities do a very thorough and unbiased investigation in these type matters That's a crazy-general claim to make. All universities do this? All the time? Color me skeptical about that. I would be willing to accept that some universities make "very thorough and unbiased investigation" all the time, but certainly not all of them. That is counter to my experience of large hierarchical organizations. Yeah, I agree. I think it depends on the university, and it depends on the investigation. |
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Post by bkedane on May 11, 2022 0:54:24 GMT -5
Hopefully, he can become a better man – and a better coach when all this is behind him. I for one say give the guy another chance You’re sending your child to play for him with your fingers crossed? Katie Myers had to sit out half a season at Minnesota due to the lingering effects of the abuse Steve brought to Maryland that contributed to an eating disorder. He should be in jail. Jail? For what crime? |
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Post by Fight On! on May 11, 2022 1:43:19 GMT -5
You’re sending your child to play for him with your fingers crossed? Katie Myers had to sit out half a season at Minnesota due to the lingering effects of the abuse Steve brought to Maryland that contributed to an eating disorder. He should be in jail. Jail? For what crime? Abuse is a crime. |
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Post by tomclen on May 11, 2022 6:35:39 GMT -5
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Post by gibbyb1 on May 11, 2022 7:48:58 GMT -5
What seems necessary now is the university having an outside firm do an investigation of the administrations internal investigation.
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Post by knapplc on May 11, 2022 7:49:54 GMT -5
I see VT Five-0 popped in to the forum to clean up a post. That's... interesting. |
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