I wonder what this is about. A three month Safe Sport suspension for “emotional misconduct”?
| SHAFFER, NINA MARIE | POCOPSON, PA | Equestrian | 2/26/2024 | 2/26/2024 | 5/26/2024 | Emotional Misconduct | Suspension | Hunter |
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I also wonder why Richard Fellers is still on the suspension list, but not banned. He is in jail for having an unlawful sexual contact with a minor.
Everything people in this area post on social media about this person seems to rapidly disappear . . .
I’m guessing someone has really good lawyers…
I’m seeing diddly squat on Facebook, including legit news sources covering it, so I had to whack the cross-site algorithm and I’m now only getting a single WP Facebook post about it and a bunch of completely unrelated posts, so any public conversations are either being removed or hidden or obscured by Facebook’s crap algorithm.
It’s really surprising this article hasn’t gotten more attention.
I haven’t seen the WaPo article shared in any of the horse related social media groups for NoVa.
I assume that they have some sort of service (maybe as a result of good legal representation) that is hiding/suppressing any posts or comments related to it. Because it seems really odd that no one is discussing this article… especially in certain Middleburg related groups.
But so far… it’s radio silence.
It was posted on Middleburg Uncensored and apparently quickly removed
Interesting. I’ve been wondering if that might have happened. I think he’s a member of that group.
She is local to me.
I’m curious about what constitutes “emotional misconduct.”
Verbal abuse, physical abuse, isolating or ignoring; withholding coaching, isolation ,withholding opportunities
I understand from local hearsay, so take it w a grain of salt, that she called someone the “N” word.
Oh. If that’s true she deserves the suspension and I hope she learns from it, though anyone who would use that language is probably beyond understanding how incredibly wrong it is. Not to say that’s what she did, since we don’t know for sure and I understand you are making it clear that you don’t know for sure, but if she did that it’s very disturbing.
Im glad USEF takes that seriously if it is indeed the case.
I am glad there is becoming more awareness of emotional abuse. It is very difficult to prove in any sort of legal way but children are susceptible and it is easily hidden.
While I wouldnt go as far as calling it “abuse” I had a coach growing up who would give me the silent treatment if I upset her. Once at a show in front of one of my idol trainers/judges/BNT told me I “ruined that horse” because it stopped with me several times at a small fence. It really to this day has messed with my confidence. She also gave me many many opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford and she made me a strong rider. You were never ever to be “disloyal” to her, which meant trying any other discipline or liking any other coach - and so much much more. It wasn’t until my late 20s that I realized how warped some of that behavior really was and our parents had no idea it was going on, but as juniors we were very susceptible to it like any kid who adores their coach.
I am by no means saying coaches shouldnt be tough on riders - I work with young athletes now and there is a certain degree of mental toughness and discipline needed to excel in any sport, but modeling good mentoring behavior is so very important.
This is a tough and slippery slope issue.
What you describe sounds like a “toxic” coach to me. But… personally… I think it’s the job of parents to deal with this, and not a full blown SafeSport issue. I can certainly understand how in prior times parents may have been clueless about some dynamics within a barn. But… I don’t know. I still put the onus on parents to be more informed and involved and selective when it comes to coaching programs. There are many shades of grey in between tough but still constructive coaching, and outright toxic coaching. And… there are additional shades of grey when it comes to emotional and verbal conduct that can be described as abusive.
Using racial epithets to verbally abuse and demean minors? That does seem like something that probably should fall under SafeSport. I don’t really see grey there. It’s 2024, and if the trainer is a USEF member preparing students for participation in recognized competition? They shouldn’t be using racial epithets.
100% agree with you on all points.
I think awareness for the toxicity in the industry is important, but where will the line be on verbal issues? I don’t have an answer for that - thats hard for many people to define as a lot of instances are not black and white.
How does Safesports define “emotional misconduct?”
here is the safe sport PDF.
I’ve ridden in (either lessoned at, boarded at, showed with, or worked at) show barns my entire life and I haven’t either.
One reason that probably is? When I was a minor, my working mother was with me every single time I went to the barn. My trainers for most of my childhood were gay men (I’m a woman) and my mom was STILL with me.
F. Peter Jordan of Wellington FL (Jumper) suspended by Safe Sport for allegations of misconduct.
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