The USOPC has been moving away for some time from the title of “Coach” in this position for all Olympic Sports. They are using “Technical Advisor” more and more often and that is what Debbie has stepped down from (also it was from the USEF, not the USET). The USOPC feels that the athletes have gotten as far as they have with their personal coaches and to replace those coaches with a “National Coach” would not be beneficial to the athlete. IMHO, it makes for a more complicated and difficult position as the Technical Advisor cannot always change something that she/he sees a need to change to improve an athlete’s performance. Thus, many “Coaches” in the past were limited if the riders were not their personal students. While Debbie has stepped down as the Technical Advisor, I was very relieved to read that she will continue with her personal students - at least one of whom I am certain will be going down the centerline for us in Paris.
I’m aware of the terminology, but using the words coach and USET makes it more easily understandable to folks who aren’t involved with the whole thing. Let’s face it, the “Advisor” is not helping the entire USEF, she’s helping the Team, and people reaching for it. If she’s willing to help all USEF riders, sign me up!!!
Who do you think would be a good replacement?
Wasn’t that position originally called Chef D’equipe? That is the term many international teams use to describe the team manager/team leader who oversees the team, primarily in the area of logistics/arrangements. IOW, they primarily make sure all paperwork is in order, ensure that riders/horses/grooms, etc., have what they need, makes or verifies arrangements for shipping, ensure that feed/hay/supplements, etc. is arranged for, ensure that stabling is up to par, etc. - and often don’t get heavily involved in trying to instruct riders. I know that the tendency in the U.S. has been for the Chef to also act as team coach - a tradition that developed for the most part because the national federation would only cover travel expenses for the Chef and not all riders could afford to have their own coaches accompany them to international competitions. But that approach resulted at times in some friction and even resentment amongst various riders and coaches. So the term “Technical Advisor” makes sense and it will be interesting to see how the next TA handles the role.
Who?
Christine Traurig
Olympian
Previous USET Chef D’equipe
US Young Horse Coach
Proven International Coach including individuals attending 2015 Pan Am Games & 2012 Olympics
I think someone with a LOT of international competition experience who can advise riders with regard to that aspect of preparing themselves and their horses. Ideally someone who speaks several languages and has European connections can help American riders communicate with others in the international scene. Catherine Haddad? Gunther Seidel? Stephan Peters would be ideal if and when he wishes to move on from competing for a rider slot.
We all knew there had to be more to the story. Dressage-News makes it the headline, while the July 14th COTH piece “Debbie McDonald Discusses Her Decision To Leave As Technical Advisor” buried it in the last sentence of the article.
This is interesting and I still think there is more to the story. She came back in February, so its only been 5 months or so, and whatever the job was then was presumably ok. Did the scope change in that time? Was it not clear to begin with? Did she really have a voice before but only because she was private coach to much of the team? Is something else going on? Who knows…
My thoughts exactly. More to this than meets the eye.
Good point!
I also concur that “something else” is going on. The way she slipped right back into the role and now suddenly walked away sounds like there was either a lot of friction between her and the riders or between her and someone else high enough in the USET’s graces to give her the boot.
I was actually surprised that she came back, esp. after the way USEF treated her. Some felt that USEF jumped the gun in electing to not renew her contract - announcing that decision only six days after a civil suit was filed against her and her husband Bob over alleged sexual misconduct by Bob that had supposedly occurred some 40-odd years earlier. I believe that Debbie and Bob were able to provide proof that he was out of the country at the time of the alleged incident, and neither she nor Bob were ever served in connection with the case and it was subsequently dismissed by the court due to lack of progress by the plaintiff in pursuing the case. SafeSport then closed its case against Bob in early 2022 with no sanctions, with an SS arbitrator stating that there was no credible evidence that said incident occurred.
I am not trying to get into a “blame the victim” tit-for-tat because it is entirely possible that “something” may have occurred - I don’t know that it did, or that it didn’t - but suffice it to say that neither the legal system nor SS (or USEF for that matter) felt there was enough compelling evidence to go forward.
There were quite a few in the dressage community that felt that USEF had gotten too far over its skis in tossing Debbie aside so soon after a civil action against her husband that turned out to be non-credible (some have even described it as a “frivolous” lawsuit). I get it that USEF has been reeling these past several years with more and more revelations of this member or that member having engaged in sexual misconduct with minors, and the organization no doubt feels the need to be super pro-active in taking action - and I applaud those efforts. While it is certainly possible that there may be something in SS code that requires that kind of action of NGO’s (I am far from an expert on SS policies), there are a lot of folks who felt that it was knee-jerk reaction on the part of USEF to act so quickly to severe its relationship with Debbie.
For that reason, I found it remarkable that she decided to return to her old position. At any rate, she has now elected to step back and work only with her chosen students, which will allow her to spend time with her family (and that is perfectly understandable - neither she nor Bob are getting any younger and I think they have grandkids now, too).
SafeSport couldn’t continue their case because one of the alleged victims was unable to provide Arbitrage testimony due to her hospitalization for illness and she passed away from that illness before the case went to Arbitrage, so it was shut down before an Arbitrator could rule. SafeSport later clarified that McDonald’s statements about providing information and being exonerated were false and misleading and that they have every intention to reopen their case against him if further victims come forward.
Thanks for that information, @LexInVA . I hadn’t seen where SS declared the McDonald statements to be false and misleading. Were they referring to Bob’s statements or Debbie’s statements? Or both?
I also had not heard that there were more alleged victims than the one. If that is the case, was that victim not willing or able to push her claims? I would think that if she had, SS would have made a ruling that stuck and not able to be overturned through arbitration.
That whole situation is puzzling.
If you go through the earlier discussions, you can find all sorts of things. SafeSport did not make a public statement until the McDonalds had been repeatedly saying in interviews and social media they were innocent and had been cleared of wrong-doing, which was absolutely NOT the outcome of the SafeSport investigation and case against them.
From what leaked out in the social scene and was reported through social media and the news and this forum, multiple victims had apparently been identified/outed and were to participate in testimony and then refused and the list got reduced to one willing to go forward, who was terminally ill and unfortunately died, shortly before the case could be concluded. SS shut the case down before the arbitration, so that they could reopen it later, if other victims were willing to come forward and provide testimony. That’s why they had a SafeSport official make a statement comment in the media, refuting the claims of the McDonalds.
Another thought crossed my mind: I wonder if she came back into the job however it was defined, in order to help USA get through this year to Aachen. Either had that in her mind or it was agreed to at the beginning. She was in the job thru Tokyo, mid 2021, then let go. Was there anyone else in the job or was no one needed for a while? If so, she was the logical person to bring back even for a short time.
Interesting - I didn’t know that the case was closed by SS before arbitration. And I guess the other alleged victims apparently had their reasons for backing out, but if their allegations were true, it is sad that there were no long-term repercussions for the perpetrator. But at least enough came out publicly to name him.
I can’t say with absolute certainty, but I got the understanding that they were outed and intimidated/threatened, based on what was said. Without knowing more directly, I can’t say for sure, but there is a known individual who is anti-SafeSport and has a well-documented history of engaging others in threatening, anti-social behavior in concert with some other individuals who have the same mindset.
I have no idea what went on behind the scenes but I now wonder if USEF feared a lawsuit if it didn’t restore her to her previous position. And she may have felt that she could best help prepare a team for Paris and was probably assuming Lyle would be a prime candidate for said team, and possibly Graves (assuming the latter had a promising prospect). But with her top two students now starting families, she felt it was time for her to spend more time with her own family.
And I can’t remember if anyone filled that position, but it seems unlikely that USEF would have contracted with anyone and then let that person go so it could bring Debbie back.
The real question now is who is going to fill those shoes. It will be interesting to see who USEF selects.
Robert Dover, or is he still competing?
Not competing. He had the role prior to Debbie and is now in charge of “fundraising for the High Performance competing and training program”. He is said to be very good at this!
