Eastern Michigan University
ACHA W2 • NULL
Date: May 5, 2024
Would Recommend
Tags
When you first meet Derek he seems like the kindest, most genuine coach there is. On my recruiting trip he showed great communication through his athletes and treated them with respect. This and the team environment is why I chose to swim here (along with many things promised to me, like an Olympic sized pool, athletes to train with, and other nice training equipment). The whole recruiting trip was a complete lie. When I arrived on campus, he was not interested in welcoming anyone. He neglected to tell me that the pool he showed me on my recruiting trip had been broken for at least 2 years. We were left to swim in a 6 lanes pool with some of the worst air quality I have experienced. Lastly, all of the training equipment I was shown on my visit was actually for the all of the other teams except for the swim team. The disappointment did not stop there. The entire time I was there I felt like I was hated by the entire team. I was constantly questioned on my work ethic (which I never in my life have been questioned on). As well as my intentions with swimming, and whether or not I was telling the truth about my torn ligaments to which I had medical proof for. Though he was only my coach for 1 year I learned quite enough about him. He is the most immature person I have ever met. Constantly storming his way out of practice, telling us we are average and never going to succeed. There is a complete lack of communication between the team, the team captains, and him. Beware of what comes out of your mouth around the team captains because whatever you say or even allude to will go back to Derek and he will rip you apart. I remember vividly being call 5 times at 7pm to go down to his office because he needed to talk to me. Throughout those calls he hung up on me mid sentence. Finally when I got there he had himself and the team captains waiting for me to tell me that I was a liar and wasn’t working hard enough despite working out 20 hours a week with a torn labrum. He attempted to slam and door on me and straight after ask my fellow teammates why they would ever be friends with a person like me. During this year my mental state was at a rock bottom. You are told to leave everything that makes you human at the door. Do not have a bad day. Do not feel unwell. God forbid something on your body hurts because everyone will hate you. The team mentality is to act like everyone is faking something to get out of practice. Derek is the least understanding person ever. I had a family emergency which took at lot of courage for me to tell him about in great detail. He responded with I need to call your mom to make sure you are telling the truth. He preaches school work but when it comes down to it he throws a fit if you aren’t at practice. While I was apart of this team I noticed he only gave attention to people that were actively succeeding. I know this because I was a person who was succeeding at the beginning of the season. As my injury got worse he slowly began ignoring me and treating me like a liar. When my results for my MRI came in and screamed at me on the pool deck and told me to leave and did not say a word to me for 2 weeks. If you are not the best one on the team he will treat you like a pawn in his game of chess to help someone else get better. I understand everyone has their own experiences and he can be nice if you are one of his few favorites. This man does not care about you or your livelihood. The only thing he cares about is winning, which he will never succeed at through his coaching style.