For 721 long, frustrating, painful and tiresome days, Chock and Bates, the reigning World ice dancing champions, faced questions about perhaps the biggest doping scandal in Winter Olympic history, a controversy that seemed to drag on with no end in sight.

And for 721 days, Chock and Bates, like so many others in their sport, in the Olympic movement, had no answers only more questions.

Just hours after Kamila Valieva, Russia’s then 15-year-old superstar, had led a Russian squad to the gold medal in the Beijing Olympic Games team skating competition, it was revealed that she had tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug in December 2021. Valieva’s positive test should have disqualified her and stripped Russia of the team gold medal, according to World Anti-Doping rules, making Chock and Bates and their U.S. teammates the Olympic champions.

Instead, in a controversy in which neither the International Olympic Committee, the International Skating Union, the sport’s global governing body, nor the World Anti-Doping Agency distinguished themselves, Chock, Bates and Team USA will now have gold medals around their necks instead of burdens on their shoulders.

“There was a small underlying feeling of sadness and disappointment that we didn’t get that Olympic moment (in Beijing),” Chock, a Redondo Beach native, said Tuesday. “And I didn’t realize that had been weighing on us this whole time until we got the resolution yesterday.”

The Court of Arbitration for Sport, the ultimate judicial body in international sports, banned Valieva for four years for the doping violation on Monday and ordered her to forfeit “any titles, awards, medals, profits, prizes and appearance money” after December 25, 2021, when her positive urine sample was collected.

Team USA was then elevated to gold medal status after the ISU adjusted the team competition results with Japan being awarded the silver medal.

“For clean athletes, for the legacy of clean sport, for the integrity of the Olympic movement, I think this is a landmark case, a monumental thing,” Bates said. “This is an unprecedented event where 20-something athletes left the Olympic Games without a medal that they won cleanly and … the finding by CAS brought some justice to the clean sport movement and I think clean athletes and the world will find some joy and solace in knowing that clean sport matters and the fight against doping is ongoing.”

Skating Canada officials said in a statement Tuesday that they would “consider all options to appeal this decision.” Russian skating officials have already said they have begun preparing an appeal of the relocation of the Beijing team medals.

Such appeals, some international sports figures said, could further delay the actual awarding of medals.

Not all parties impacted by Valieva’s doping violation, a drawn-out controversy and a widely criticized ISU ruling felt joy in the wake of the CAS decision. The ISU further muddied the situation by adjusting only the final team point totals but failing to reallocate the 2022 medals.

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland, who has been in regular contact with the IOC, said she saw no direction for a delay in handing out the medals.

The next question of Chock, Bates and the U.S. teammates is where?

Chock, when learning of the CAS decision Monday, thought of a ceremony at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

“A true Olympic medal ceremony,” she said. “Stand atop the podium at an Olympic event … surrounded by the Olympic spirit would be our dream, our dream scenario.”

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Moments earlier on the night of August 26, 1960, Larson, the El Monte High School and USC standout, overtook in the closing meters and then out-touched Australia’s John Devitt to win the 100-meter freestyle final. Devitt congratulated Larson on his victory. Photographers crowded around his lane snapping photos of the new gold medalist.

Larson even took a victory lap around the Olimpico del Nuoto pool deck.

“And then we started hearing whispers,” Larson would later recall.

Larson lost his gold medal in what more than 60 years later remains the most controversial swimming race in Olympic history when Devitt was single-handedly awarded the Olympic title by a judge who had exceeded his authority in a decision that prompted changes in how swimming results are determined and led to more than six decades of criticism of the International Olympic Committee not only for not interceding in Rome but failing to undo the injustice by not awarding Larson a gold medal in the ensuing years.

“It was a bad deal,” Larson later said.

Larson, who went on to be a longtime dentist in Orange, died on January 19. He was 83.

A celebration of life will be held March 1 at 11 a.m. at the Garden Grove Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Garden Grove. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Larson may be made to the Trojan Victory Fund supporting the USC men’s and women’s swimming and diving program. Larson’s four sons, Lance Jr., Greg, Gary and Randy also swam for USC. Greg Larson was a Trojan team captain in 1991 and 1992.

Larson won a gold medal with Team USA’s 4×100 medley relay later in the Rome Olympics, swimming the butterfly leg. But his place in the sport’s history will be forever linked to the controversy surrounding the Olympic title so many believe was stolen from him.

Blonde, tan and tall (6-feet-1, 174 pounds), Larson looked like he had dove into the waters of Olimpico del Nuoto straight off the silver screen of one of the beach films that were gaining popularity at the time, the ultimate Southern California golden boy.

At El Monte High School he was the first prep swimmer to break the 50-second barrier in the 100-yard freestyle and the first man in the world to break the one-minute barrier in the 100-meter butterfly. In 1959 Larson was the first man to dip under 2 minutes, 25 seconds in the 200 meter individual medley.

In Rome, Australia’s Jon Henricks, the defending Olympic champion, was eliminated in the semifinals leaving the focus in the 100 freestyle final on Devitt, the current world record-holder at 54.6 seconds, and Larson, then 20.

The pool’s lights were dimmed for the final for dramatic effect, a decision that observers said led to the post race confusion.

Brazil’s Manuel Dos Santos led early but was passed by Larson and Devitt with 25 meters to go. Larson touched the final wall underwater, Devitt reaching the finish with a touch out of the water. Peter Daland, USC’s Hall of Fame head coach, later said Larson won the race by half a foot.

“Everybody down there told me I had won,” Larson told reporters after the race.

Indeed the three timers timing Larson had him finishing in 55.0, 55.1 and 55.1. The timers timing Devitt all clocked him in 55.2. But the results at the time were determined not by time but by finishing judges. The three first place judges voted Devitt the winner by a 2-1 vote. But the three second place judges also determined that Devitt was the runner-up by 2-1 vote. A newly developed automatic electronic timing system recorded Larson in 55.10 and Devitt in 55.16. But the system at the time was not used for official purposes.

Despite Larson’s edge in both the manual and electronic timing, the swimming competition’s chief judge, Hans Runstromer of West Germany, who had no authority over the matter, took it upon himself to declare Devitt the Olympic champion and ordered Larson’s time changed to 55.2, the same as Devitt’s, a new Olympic record. Canada’s Dick Pound, the future IOC vice president and president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, finished sixth in the race.

Runstromer insisted he had been at the finishing line at the end of the race. But photographs and video clearly showed him five meters down the side of the dimly lit pool as far away as 25 meters from where Larson and Devitt finished.

U.S. officials appealed Runstromer’s ruling to no avail.

”One man got the time and the other got the gold medal,” Larson later said.

R. Max Ritter, one of the founding members of swimming’s international governing body, FINA, now World Aquatics, fought unsuccessfully for decades to have the Rome results corrected.

But the IOC has refused to overturn that untruth, a point that was highlighted in 2002 when the IOC awarded Canada figure skating pairs Jamie Sale and David Pelletier gold medals during the Salt Lake City judging scandal.

Devitt died last August after a long illness. He was 86.

“I think,” Larson once told the New York Times, “John has had to live with the feeling for many years that he probably didn’t really win that gold medal.”

Gawlik has prioritized supporting and protecting Gonzalez, a former U.S. national team coach, who she hired prior to the 2022 season, over the mental health and safety of members of the team, according to players, parents, and alumni in a series of interviews and emails.

Idaho’s decision to not place Gonzalez on leave during an investigation into allegations against him is further evidence, players and parents allege, of what they describe as Gawlik and the university’s misplaced priorities.

“Terry is a big proponent of Title IX and she’s on all these (NCAA) committees but you need to be fired,” Dave Green, the father of former Vandals libero Emmy Green and the cousin of university president C. Scott Green, said of Gawlik. “You said you were going to protect these women. She didn’t do (expletive). That pisses me off. That pisses me off. I really thought Terry was going to do the right thing and she didn’t. Vandals are loyal and to (us) Terry is (expletive). Terry needs to be gone.”

Former Vandals outside hitter Marissa Drange echoed a number of current and former Idaho players.

“I absolutely think she should be fired,” Drange, who transferred after the 2022 season and helped Trinity reach the NCAA Division 3 Final Four last fall, said in an email to the Southern California News Group. “She ignored the concerns that have been brought to her over the past two seasons and continues to show little regard for the welfare of the athletes she is supposed to protect.”  “She ignored the concerns that have been brought to her over the past two seasons and continues to show little regard for the welfare of the athletes she is supposed to protect.”

The University of Idaho’s official student body government also released a statement on Friday in support of the women’s volleyball players.

“The Associated Students of the University of Idaho stands firmly with our fellow students on the UIdaho volleyball team’s right to a respectful and healthy college experience,” the ASUI said in the statement. “The reports outlined in the Orange County Register in no way reflect what the student experience should be for anyone attending the University of Idaho. They are of great concern and deserve immediate attention,

“…The women of the UIdaho volleyball have demonstrated strength and courage in standing up for themselves as we all should against all forms of harassment and bullying.”

Seven members of the Green family have earned degrees from Idaho including Leon Green, an uncle of Dave Green, who was an All-American football player for the Vandals in the 1930s and later returned to the university to serve as a professor, department head, athletic director and lead the drive to build the Kibbie Dome, the school’s indoor football stadium.

“Vandals take care of Vandals,” Dave Green said. “Vandals are loyal and when I say loyal I mean loyal. We’re not (a big school) like Alabama but we’re very loyal. We’re proud of who we are. We hold our chins up high. We expect loyalty. We expect support.”

“The vibe” with Idaho boosters, Green continued, “is this woman needs to go.”

Gawlik, by failing to take effective action, if any action at all, on a series of detailed complaints against Gonzalez by players and parents both in writing and in person between October and December 2022,  allegedly enabled Gonzalez to continue to physically, verbally, and emotionally abuse, body shame, pressure players to play or practice injured or improperly touch players for another year, 13 current and former players, nine parents and three university employees allege in interviews and emails to university officials.

“A lot of people knew what was going on in 2022. That’s the story,” Dave Green said. “Why was (Gonzalez) allowed to continue coaching?

“Why was nothing done in 2022?”

“It would have been great,” said Hans Doorn, the father of former Vandals standout Kate Doorn. “Then another group of (players) would have not had to go through the same things Kate did.”

Dave Green and Idaho players, parents, alumni and university employees question why Gawlik allegedly ignored what they describe as “clear and obvious red flags” during and immediately after the 2022 season.

Three Big Sky Conference Players of the Week during the 2022 season, Doorn, a setter, Madison Wilson, a middle hitter, and Travel Morris, a middle blocker,  transferred out of the program after Gonzalez’s first season in Moscow.

Gonzalez’s first recruiting class in 2022 included 12 freshmen. Only four remain on the team. Nearly two thirds (63.6 percent) of the players who have been on Idaho rosters since Gonzalez was hired have left the program before completing their eligibility.

“When all those girls are leaving, good players, All-Big Sky players of the week, leaving and the AD didn’t ask why?” Dave Green said.

Between October 2022 and January 11, 2024, Gawlik and other university officials, including C. Scott Green, have received at least 18 emails, letters, memos or formal complaints from Idaho players, their parents or women who have played for Gonzalez at other schools detailing that Gonzalez had physically, emotionally, and verbally abused players, denied them food, routinely body shamed them, engaged in inappropriate touching and comments, disregarded the school’s sports medicine staff instructions that athletes not play or practice because of injuries and made racially insensitive remarks to a Black player, according to documents obtained by the Southern California News Group and more than three dozen interviews.

Players and parents were alarmed by Gonzalez’s treatment of Idaho players even before the 2022 season started.

Gonzalez, frustrated and then enraged with how a drill was proceeding in a practice in the spring of 2022, only weeks after Gawlik hired him, shoved a player over, knocking her to the ground, according to five people.

Just weeks into the 2022 season Idaho parents began meeting after matches to discuss their concerns and potential ways to address them with the university. The parents eventually sent Gawlik a detailed list of allegations of abusive behavior by Gonzalez in the fall of 2022.

“Terry just kept turning a blind eye to everything,” said Drange. “She just doesn’t want to admit she made a bad hire.”

Dave Green said he did not press the issue with his cousin, the university president, because of the murder of four Idaho students on November 12, 2022.

“It would be hard to call Scott up and say help us out when he’s on TV crying because four kids just got murdered on his campus.”

But other parents and players said they continued to raise concerns and file complaints with Gawlik in the ensuing months.

Drange and Emmy Green were among eight players, including five starters, who signed a “grievance list” against Gonzalez after the 2022 season that they sent to Gawlik. The document detailed allegations of “nutrition issues,” “disregard for (player) safety,” “mental abuse,” and that Gonzalez relied on “fear & intimidation” to coach the team.

“She didn’t hear us,” Drange said.

Doorn, in a December 5, 2022 letter to Gawlik, detailed what he described as “textbook bullying behavior” by Gonzalez, outlining examples of alleged bullying, verbal abuse, “severe diet and meal issues while traveling,” and “zero attempts to create a culture or team identity, zero attempts at forming relationships with the athletes.”

“Chris Gonzalez has demonstrated abusive verbal behavior and created an extremely negative culture and hostile environment,” Doorn wrote in the letter to Gawlik in which C. Scott Green, Matt Brewer, associate AD for compliance and Brian Wolf, the school’s faculty athletic representative, were also copied. “I am concerned about my daughter Kate’s mental health, and that of the entire women’s volleyball team. I am directing this note to Ms. Gawlik not only as the Athletic Director who oversees the athletic program, but as the Senior Women Administrator. These young female athletes need an advocate to help, provide advice, mentor, and to listen to their story of this volleyball season.”

Doorn said he received a “generic response” from the university. Kate Doorn transferred to Sacramento State after the 2022 season and played a leading role in the team capturing the Big Sky regular season title.

Ed Barbeau, Kate Doorn’s grandfather, also raised concerns with Gawlik in 2022.

“I warned you last December about Coach Gonzalez that there would be several players leaving your program because of his treatment,” Barbeau wrote in an email to Gawlik this week.

Kate Doorn, Barbeau continued in the email to Gawlik, “left after talking to YOU, walked away feeling you could care less. Left Idaho and her scholarship for ANYWHERE ELSE. Luckily she landed at Sac State, played for them and led their offense to the Big Sky Championship. Rewarded with a scholarship by Coach Volta. Played every game. She proved Kalisha wrong. She proved Gonzalez wrong.

“So, Stand by and do nothing. The women of Idaho already know YOU don’t have their back!”

Former Idaho assistant coach Kalisha Goree said Kate Doorn didn’t have “the fire.”

Gawlik has also been the focus of widespread criticism for her response in the wake of a 9,000-word, SCNG report on December 30 in which current and former players alleged the coach routinely bullied and abused players during his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school. Idaho held its first volleyball practice on Thursday since the initial SCNG report was published.

“It feels like she’s scrambling,” a current Idaho player said.

Gawlik did not respond to a request for comment.

Idaho has hired Thompson & Horton, a Texas law firm, to conduct an investigation into the culture of the volleyball program under Gonzalez.

C. Scott Green held a book signings this week for his recently released “University President’s Crisis Handbook” in the Moscow.

“By popular demand, our president is sharing his perspective on management through periods of intense turmoil and difficulty,” according to a press release on the university’s website. “..it is a handbook that educates leaders (and not just presidents) and provides various tactics and explanations that help you maneuver a crisis successfully.”

University officials did not respond to a SCNG request for comment on Gawlik’s performance or status, or a request to interview C. Scott Green.

Instead a university spokesperson wrote in an email “We have made many resources available to our student-athletes to ensure they can make decisions that are best for them while we await the results of a thorough investigation. Student-athletes choosing to not participate in practice will maintain their scholarships. Investigators have reached out to dozens of people to request interviews and they are working expeditiously.”

While Gawlik has repeatedly said she and the university have made player safety and mental health a priority, players allege an incident during the 2023 season undercut her statements. Instead, the players allege the incident demonstrates not only her unwavering support for Gonzalez, but why they don’t feel safe confiding in Gawlik or confident she has their best interests at heart.

Returning from the Spokane International Airport last fall to the University of Idaho campus 87 miles to the south, Idaho volleyball players became alarmed by the way Vandals assistant coach Maria Logan was driving the car they were riding in, according to five players.

At one point the players said they noticed Logan driving nearly 100 miles per hour. The players reported the incident to university officials including athletic director Terry Gawlik.

A few days later Gonzalez addressed the matter during a team meeting after a September 23 loss at Northern Arizona.

“Either somebody in this room or somebody back home said something about Maria driving a hundred miles per hour on a road trip and of course everything gets back to me. So I hear everything,” Gonzalez, a former U.S. national team coach, is heard saying during a recording of the meeting obtained by the Southern California News Group.

Gonzalez then laughed before continuing.

“She’s the slowest driver I know. And she drives that way because she feels responsible for your health and welfare. It gets back, everything that gets said. And when my boss says, ‘Why is she driving like that?’ I have to tell her whoever gave you that information is wrong.”

In fact, the incident was verified by five players, two of whom provided SCNG with a video of the speedometer exceeding 95 mph. Five players and two parents have also alleged that Logan was stopped for speeding while driving players earlier in the season and was able to talk her way out of being issued a ticket. SCNG has obtained a photograph taken by a player during the stop.

Logan has referred requests for comment to the school.

Gonzalez’s comments after the Northern Arizona match, Idaho players and their parents allege, are not only an example of his alleged repeated attempts to bully and gaslight them, but also demonstrate Gawlik has prioritized supporting Gonzalez over the mental health and safety of Vandals players.

“Our primary goal remains to uphold our values and the principles of an inclusive, supportive, and nurturing learning environment,” Gawlik wrote in a January 11 email to players. “We are committed to a timely, but fair and thorough investigation, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through the investigative process.”

“We all care about each and every one of you as students and student athletes,” Gawlik told Idaho players Tuesday, according to a recording of the meeting.Idaho players and parents allege that her words ring hollow.

“Terry keeps talking about ‘we want you to feel safe,’” said the parent of a current player. “After the coach speeding and how the school and Chris handled it, would you feel safe going to Terry about anything?”

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During the hour-long practice, Gonzalez did not address the investigation by a Texas law firm hired by the university or the 9,000-word December 30 Southern California News Group report that prompted an expansion of the investigation, according to players.

Only eight of the team’s 12 current members attended the practice Thursday. Three players chose not to attend after the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigation granted players the option of not attending practices where Gonzalez is present. Another player was unable to practice after recently undergoing surgery.

To date, 12 current or former Idaho players, six parents and three university employees maintain that Gonzalez has bullied and physically, verbally and emotionally abused Vandals players, pressured them to play or practice while injured and denied athletes food throughout his two seasons at Idaho. Gonzalez also allegedly pushed or shoved two players to the ground during practices in 2022 and improperly touched athletes, according to player interviews and university documents

The practice was also attended by Beth Ropski, the case manager assigned by the dean of students to the volleyball case, and Jackie Gharapour Wernz, the OCRI’s interim director. Ropski told players in an email on Tuesday that they plans “to attend all practices where your coach/assistant coaches will be present.”

Wernz is also a partner at Thompson & Horton, the law firm conducting the investigation of Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was “smiling, upbeat,” said Vandals player Emma Patterson. “He introduced himself to Beth and Jackie, joked with them.”

“It was weird, uncomfortable, I guess,” Patterson said.

The team resumes practice Friday morning.

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The OCRI decision comes a day after four Idaho players asked to be excused from practices attended by Gonzales, citing mental health and personal safety concerns. The ruling comes a week after 10 Idaho players asked university president C. Scott Green and athletic director Terry Gawlik to place Gonzalez on leave until an investigation by Thompson & Horton, a Texas-based law firm is completed.

SCNG, in a 9,000-word report published on Dec. 30, detailed dozens of allegations by current and former Idaho players that Gonzalez, a Southern California native and former U.S. national team coach, has routinely bullied and abused players during his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school.

To date, 12 current or former Idaho players, six parents and three university employees maintain that Gonzalez has bullied and physically, verbally and emotionally abused Vandals players, pressured them to play or practice while injured and denied athletes food throughout his two seasons at Idaho. Gonzalez also allegedly pushed or shoved two players to the ground during practices in 2022 and improperly touched athletes, according to player interviews and university documents

Idaho is scheduled to resume practice on Thursday. Beth Ropski, the case manager assigned by the dean of students to the volleyball case, and Jackie Gharapour Wernz, the OCRI’s interim director, will attend Thursday’s practice, according to multiple emails and a recording of a Tuesday meeting between Gawlik, Ropski and Blaine Eckles, the university’s dean of students, and Vandals players. Ropski later Tuesday told players in an email that she plans “to attend all practices where your coach/assistant coaches will be present.”

“I write to confirm that you and other players on the team may opt out of practice while the investigation is completed,” Wernz, a partner at Thompson & Horton, wrote in an email to the four players on Wednesday night. “This interim support related to the investigation is based on your request on behalf of yourselves and your teammates. This option is available to each individual player on a practice-by-practice basis. There is no requirement to decide now whether to attend any practice or practices moving forward; the option is available if needed.

“Regarding process, if a player knows that she will not attend a practice for a reason related to this interim measure, she should contact Beth, me, the Athletic Director, or one of the assistant coaches by email to let them know. If a player decides at the last minute that she cannot attend for a reason related to this supportive measure, she can just miss practice and send a message as soon as possible letting one of those individuals know that missing practice was intentional. We ask that you communicate regularly with at least one of us regarding your attendance so that we know you are ok and do not need assistance.

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Four Idaho players asked Jackie Wernz, interim director of the university’s OCRI Tuesday night to issue a no contact order that would allow the athletes to opt out of any practice or team function in which Gonzalez would be present without penalty, according to player interviews and emails.

UPDATE: Idaho players can opt out of practice, school says

Players also plan to ask Blaine Eckles, the university’s dean of students, Wednesday morning what the repercussions would be if they did not attend practice or team functions until Gonzalez is placed on leave or a Texas-based law firm hired by the university completes its investigation of the culture within the Vandals volleyball program under Gonzalez, according to an Idaho starter.

“The school has said it doesn’t want anything affecting our school work,” said the starter. “Well this is. We can’t sit down and focus on school for more than five minutes. We’re going to be very direct with (Eckles): we do not feel safe. We cannot go to practice. And they’re going to have to deal with that.”

Wernz told the players Tuesday night that because of the focus and parameters of the investigation the OCRI could not place Gonzalez on leave, but stopped short of saying the university or the athletic department was prohibited from putting Gonzalez on leave. Wernz is a partner at Thompson & Horton, the Texas law firm hired by Idaho to conduct the investigation of Gonzalez.

University officials have been under fire from alumni and prominent financial donors since the Southern California News Group published a 9,000 word report December 30 in which current and former players and university employees detailed an alleged culture of abuse and bullying under Gonzalez.

To date 12 current or former Idaho players, six parents and three university employees maintain that Gonzalez has bullied and physically, verbally and emotionally abused Vandals players, pressured them to play or practice while injured and denied athletes food throughout his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school. Gonzalez also allegedly pushed or shoved two players to the ground during practices in 2022 and improperly touched athletes, according to player interviews and university documents.

The decision by the Idaho players was made shortly after a Tuesday afternoon meeting with Eckles and Terry Gawlik, the school’s athletic director, in which the players said the administrators failed to outline any steps that would make players feel safe from having any form of personal contact with Gonzalez, according to a Vandals starter.

Eckles and Gawlik, Idaho players said, continued to fail to take their concerns and dozens of abuse allegations against Gonzalez seriously during the meeting.

“It was really disappointing,” middle blocker Emma Patterson said.

“All of us left the meeting very, very aggravated,” the starter said.

Idaho players said they have not received a response from Idaho president C. Scott Green or Gawlik to a formal request 10 players made on January 11 that Gonzalez be placed on leave.

Players in particular were critical of Gawlik’s approach and manner during the Tuesday meeting.

“We are disappointed to learn that some of the players feel they are not heard,” the university said in an email to SCNG Tuesday night. “They have indeed been heard and that is why there is an investigation. The goal of meeting with the team is to provide resources both inside and outside the investigation to support them and help them best communicate their concerns. The investigators are working diligently and have reached out to dozens of people to request interviews. Mitigation efforts have been put in place to allow for practices to commence with supervision from outside Athletics, while the investigation is completed. We encourage all the players to engage in the process of the investigation and with others providing support. We care about them and want to provide them with a thorough investigation and clear action upon its completion.”

Gawlik, who was criticized for attending the NCAA Convention in Phoenix in the midst of the crisis, began Tuesday’s meeting by asking players if any of their residences had been flooded as a result of the recent harsh weather in the Palouse region. Eckles then passed out to players three hand-outs outlining on campus counseling and other resources for the players. Most of the information, if not all, had already been detailed in emails Gawlik and Eckles sent out last week.

While Idaho players have alleged that Gonzalez has repeatedly threatened throughout his two seasons at Idaho take away the scholarships from players he is displeased with, Eckles said such a practice would be unacceptable when an Idaho player raised such a concern during the meeting. Gawlik agreed with Eckles, according to a player attending the meeting.

Idaho players received an email from Beth Ropski, the case manager assigned by the dean of students to the volleyball case, in which Ropski said “I plan to attend all practices where your coach/assistant coaches will be present” starting with Thursday’s practice.

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Hans Doorn, father of Idaho setter Kate Doorn, said he received only a “generic” response from Gawlik to the letter in which university president C. Scott Green was also copied on and Gonzalez continued to bully and physically, verbally and emotionally abuse Vandals players through the 2023 season, according to 12 current or former Idaho players, five parents and two university employees. Gonzalez also allegedly pushed or shoved two players to the ground during practices in 2022 and improperly touched athletes, according to player interviews and university documents.

While Gonzalez continued an alleged pattern of abusive behavior that also included body shaming, depriving players of food and pressuring players to play or practice while hurt during the 2023 season, the Dorn letter shows that Gawlik and Green and other Idaho officials had notice of detailed examples of Gonzalez’s alleged abusive behavior.

“Chris Gonzalez has demonstrated abusive verbal behavior and created an extremely negative culture and hostile environment,” Doorn wrote in the Dec. 5, 2022 letter to Gawlik in which Matt Brewer, associate AD for compliance and Brian Wolf, the school’s faculty athletic representative, were also copied. “I am concerned about my daughter Kate’s mental health, and that of the entire women’s volleyball team. I am directing this note to Ms. Gawlik not only as the Athletic Director who oversees the athletic program, but as the Senior Women Administrator. These young female athletes need an advocate to help, provide advice, mentor, and to listen to their story of this volleyball season.”

But Gawlik and university officials have not listened according to Doorn, former and current Idaho players, other parents and university employees.

“We were very frustrated,” Doorn said in an interview Friday.

The revealing of the Doorn letter comes less than 24 hours after 10 current Idaho team members formally asked Green and Gawlik to place Gonzalez and the coaching staff on leave until a school investigation into abuse allegations against Gonzalez is completed.

Players and their parents have also alleged that Gawlik and other university officials have repeatedly ignored or dismissed their complaints or concerns over the past 17 months.

University officials, and Gawlik in particular, have been sharply criticized by players, alumni, boosters and some members of the Idaho media for not placing Gonzalez on leave while an investigation by the school’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigations and another probe by Texas law firm hired by the university proceed. Players and critics have also questioned Gawlik’s decision to attend the NCAA Convention this week in Phoenix in the midst of what even some of her supporters have described as the biggest crisis of her 4 1/2 year tenure as the Vandals AD.

Gonzalez, a Southern California native and former U.S. national team coach, is 5-51 in two seasons at Idaho.

“If he was coaching any other sport for his record alone he would already be let go,” Doorn said.

Gawlik and a university spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

Gawlik is scheduled to meet with Idaho players on Tuesday. It will be the first time Gawlick has met with Idaho players since an SCNG report on December 30 revealed player allegations that Gonzalez has routinely physically, verbally and emotionally abused players during his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school

Gonzalez is scheduled to hold his first practice with players on January 18.

Idaho players have repeatedly expressed concerns about their safety if they are required to practice with Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said in an email to SCNG Friday that, “yes, we have strategies in place” to deal with player safety concerns. “I am awaiting a response from our administration on which type of information I will be able to provide as the investigation is still ongoing.”

Dean of Students Blaine Eckles will also attend the meeting, Gawlik said.

A case manager from the Office of the Dean of Students “will attend and monitor all team practices, meetings, and activities where the coaches are present, or when requested by any of you,” Gawlik wrote in the email to the players.

A psychologist from the Counseling & Mental Health Center has also been assigned to the team.

“Additional concerns may be brought to the assigned case manager and additional support measures can be implemented, including individualized referrals to the appropriate services necessary to care for your welfare,” Gawlik also wrote.

But Doorn, Idaho players past and present, parents, alumni and financial donors question why Gawlik, Green and other university officials didn’t take similar action more than a year ago?

“It would have been great,” Doorn said Friday. “Then another group of (players) would have not had to go through the same things Kate did.”

In describing “textbook bullying behavior” by Gonzalez in his Dec. 5, 2022 letter to Gawlik, Doorn detailed examples of bullying, verbal abuse, “severe diet and meal issues while traveling,” and “zero attempts to create a culture or team identity, zero attempts at forming relationships with the athletes.”

Doorn also refers in the letter to meetings in which Idaho players presented examples of Gonzalez’s alleged abuse to Gawlik and information from women who played for Gonzalez at American University and Iowa that detailed the coach’s alleged abusive behavior.

“By now you have had a meeting with certain members of the current women’s volleyball team, including Kate, and therefore you are aware of this situation and the issues being raised,” Doorn wrote. “I implore you to look into each of these issues, examples, the breadth of how many people are involved, and the pattern of this behavior. The list of people that are involved includes current athletes, prior athletes that have already left the program, athletes from last spring, members of the support staff such as Trainers, Nutritionist, Strength Coach, and Biomechanist, and other members of the volleyball community. You have been presented with information from players that goes back more than 15 years and 4 years ago that outline this exact same pattern of abusive behavior by Chris Gonzalez. Please interview all these people, ask questions, and come to your own conclusions.

“There have been multiple examples of abusive verbal and other behaviors from Chris Gonzalez that I believe you are already aware of as indicated by you and members of the Athletic department attending multiple practices earlier in the season.

“There was no coaching taking place nor follow-up on what she could do to improve. Calling out an individual team member in front of everyone else is demoralizing, embarrassing, unproductive, and simply disrespectful. I am very concerned about how this may affect an athlete’s mental health. In addition, this creates an extremely negative culture and hostile environment. The entire season the players were so scared to make the littlest mistake and then to receive his abusive rhetoric. This is just one example, and there are many many more. The girls that met with Ms. Gawlik today (December 5th) have documentation on examples throughout the season, last spring, and from other athletes and coaches. There are several athletes that included their names as part of the letter. Several other athletes are reluctant to be named because they are afraid of the repercussions from Chris Gonzalez and are terrified of him not only because of his treatment this season but also because of his position of power that he wields over them in terms of their futures and scholarships. “

Doorn wrote what he described as a follow up email to Green and Gawlik on Friday.

“My intent for this email is to once again implore you to be an advocate for these athletes and support them,” Doorn said. “The current athletes should not have to face the person that they accuse of abuse by seeing him in practice and on campus. Show these brave young people the respect that they deserve and place Chris Gonzalez on leave until the investigation into him has concluded.

“The University of Idaho is better than this. Do the right thing and support your students. “

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The requests to Idaho president C. Scott Green and athletics director Terry Gawlik come as the U.S. Center for SafeSport is reviewing an abuse complaint against Gonzalez, according to a confidential SafeSport document obtained by SCNG.

“The school has not taken any steps to ensure our safety,” Emma Patterson, an Idaho middle blocker said Thursday.

The request also comes against the backdrop of Gawlick informing Idaho players that she plans to meet with them on Tuesday, according to an email obtained by SCNG. It will be the first time Gawlick has met with Idaho players since an SCNG report on December 30 revealed player allegations that Gonzalez has routinely physically, verbally and emotionally abused players during his two seasons at the Big Sky Conference school.

To date 11 current and former Idaho players, three parents and two university employees have alleged to SCNG that Gonzalez, a Southern California native and former U.S. national team coach, has regularly bullied players, pushed players so hard in practices that they have fallen over, that he pressured athletes to play and/or train against the instructions of the school’s sports medicine staff, body shamed players, made racially insensitive and inappropriate remarks to players, and touched players in ways that made them uncomfortable.

The players and their parents have also alleged that Gawlik and other university officials have repeatedly ignored or dismissed their complaints or concerns over the past 17 months.

Gonzalez is scheduled to hold his first practice with players on January 18.

“It’s deeply concerning to me that my care and my teammates care is being placed back into his hands,” Patterson said referring to Gonzalez.

Gonzalez and university spokesperson Jodi Walker did not respond to requests for comment.

Gonzalez is currently being investigated by the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigations and Thompson & Horton, a Texas-based law firm hired by the school to investigate volleyball’s “climate and culture” under Gonazlaez.

A Notice of Alleged Violation & Investigation sent by the OCRI to players on November 30 stated that athletes may opt out of non-physical volleyball team activities, including team or individual player meetings and social activities, by communicating their decision to opt out to Gonzalez via email before the “relevant activity.”

At least four players informed both Gonzalez and the OCRI on Thursday “that for all subsequent meetings following the one taking place on January 16th, unless and until we tell you otherwise, we are opting out of all other non-physical volleyball team activities this semester,” according to an email provided SCNG.In their letter to Green and Gawlik, players went even further. At an unofficial team dinner Wednesday night, 10 of the 12 players attended and all approved the letter.

“We are writing to follow up on the detailed information we have given you about the harm and mistreatment the women’s volleyball team has been subjected to by Head Coach Chris Gonzales and his assistant coaches,” the players wrote. “As you know and the press reported on December 30, 2023, we and our teammates have given you extensive information – through meetings, interviews, and 15 single-spaced pages of details – documenting that, throughout the past two years, our coaches have physically and psychologically abused us and our teammates, endangered our safety, and subjected us to sex discrimination and harassment.

“As the press also reported, in response to our formal request on October 16, 2023, the school told us on October 30 that it was going to initiate a Title IX investigation, but agreed to delay doing so until after November 15, when the volleyball season ended, because we feared the coach and his assistants would treat us even worse if they knew about the investigation. The school initiated the investigation after that and, according to more press reports, just expanded it to include the team’s ‘climate and culture,’ which should include all aspects of the head coach’s and assistant coaches’ conduct. The school has not, however, placed the head coach or the assistant coaches on administrative leave while the investigation is being conducted. This has placed us in a position of danger.

“We had not received any communications from the head coach or the assistant coaches since the December 30 press report was issued, but we were just notified by one assistant coach that the team will be meeting next Tuesday and that practice will start next Thursday. We continue to fear retaliation by the head coach and the assistant coaches – and would not feel safe returning to practice or competition with them.

“So, we are formally requesting that the coach and the assistant coaches be placed on administrative leave – and/or precluded from coaching us – at least until the Title IX investigation and the upcoming spring season are completed. We have already identified one individual working in the University’s Athletics Department we believe would be qualified to coach us, we would feel safe with as our coach, and who has said she would be willing to coach us on an interim basis through the spring season – and we believe there may be others, too. We ask that this person or someone qualified who we would feel safe with be assigned to coach us this spring. We have already informed the necessary parties that we are choosing to opt out of all non-physical volleyball activities, per the supportive measures granted to us by the OCRI. But we should not have to avoid volleyball activities just to be safe from our coaches.

“We hope you agree. We have been in communication with council that has advised us to formally request this, and to express our concerns about the retention of staff during an open investigation, and will continue to take further steps until our safety for this spring season is assured. “

University officials, Gawlik in particular, have been sharply criticized by players, alumni, boosters and some members of the Idaho media for not placing Gonzalez on leave while an investigation by the school’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigations and another probe by Texas law firm hired by the university proceed. Players and critics have also questioned Gawlik’s decision to attend the NCAA Convention this week in Phoenix in the midst of what even some of her supporters have described as the biggest crisis of her 4 1/2 year tenure as the Vandals AD.

Multiple Idaho players said they have not heard from university officials since the initial SCNG report was published nearly three weeks ago. Gonzalez has been spotted on campus this week.

“We definitely have some concerns,” Patterson said of the scheduled meeting with Gawlik. “At this point, she’s not on our side. We’re mostly confused (about the meeting) because A) why now is she trying to saying something? We’re concerned about her motivation behind this.”

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USA Badminton CEO Linda French was suspended for five years after what the U.S. Center for SafeSport described as a “thorough investigation” found “by a preponderance of the evidence” that she committed five violations of the SafeSport code including two counts of failing to report child abuse and/or sexual abuse as required by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, discouraging Alistair Casey, the national governing body’s SafeSport officer and chief of staff, from reporting that abuse and then firing Casey when he did, according to confidential SafeSport documents provided to the Southern California News Group.

USA Badminton’s board chairman Ken Wong received a two-year suspension for retaliating against Casey, according to confidential SafeSport documents.

French is believed to be the first national governing body CEO to be suspended by SafeSport since 2018.

The documents detail how French, a two-time Olympian and now a Florida-based immigration attorney, discouraged Casey from reporting allegations that two young athletes had been abused by two different coaches. The SafeSport documents also found that French allowed Jon Little, the federation’s general counsel, to make claimants’ names public in October 2021.

The report also said that Casey was fired at USA Badminton “due in part” to his reporting the abuse allegations to SafeSport.

French acknowledged that she spoke to Casey shortly before leaving for the Tokyo for the Olympic Games in July 2021 and admitted asking him “”if he wanted to wait 30 days until after the Olympics” to file a complaint with SafeSport about the sexual abuse allegations against a coach because she might run into the coach and his grandchildren at the Games, according to SafeSport documents.

She said she never encouraged Casey not to report the allegations but did admit to saying reporting “would stir up trouble,” according to the report.

The SafeSport rulings were made this week.

French and Wong did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Casey declined to comment.

Casey proceeded to report the allegations to SafeSport and the case and Little’s role attracted Congressional attention and criticism. Casey later alleged he was fired as retaliation for reporting the allegations. USA Badminton secretly paid Casey $1 million in a settlement.

Little, who recently represented former Cal swim coach Teri McKeever in her case with the U.S. Center for SafeSport, filed a defamation case against Casey in U.S. District Court in Indiana in September. Little did not represent French or Wong in their SafeSport cases.

“The bottom line is that Alistair Casey is being untruthful and it’s sad to see the way he is selfishly destroying lives and careers,” Little said in a phone interview Friday. “And the bottom line is that the only person who knew about these allegations was Alistair Casey and I look forward to adjudicating all this in a real court.”

Little said that the allegations were reported to law enforcement and that SafeSport closed the cases three weeks after Casey reported them.

“They never even bothered to look at the allegations,” Little said. “I’ve seen SafeSport screw up three criminal cases.”

Little said he and French revealed claimant names after receiving a Congressional subpoena.

SafeSport does not comment on specific cases.

“Accountability is core to culture change, and that’s what we are working toward every day at the U.S. Center for SafeSport. From grassroots to elite sport, we take all allegations of misconduct seriously and conduct thorough and fair investigations to hold those who violate the SafeSport Code accountable,” Ju’Riese Colon, SafeSport CEO said in a statement to SCNG.

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The move follows the December 30 publication of a Southern California News Group report in which six Idaho players on the 2023 roster, three former players, and a university employee, alleged Gonzalez physically abused and bullied players, pressured injured players to play and train against the orders of the school’s sports medicine staff, regularly deprived players of food on road trips, body shamed players, made racially insensitive and inappropriate comments to players, and pressured sports medicine staff to share confidential information about players’ weight.

“The University of Idaho is deeply concerned about the allegations brought by some members of the women’s volleyball team against their coach, Chris Gonzalez,” the university said in a statement to SCNG Monday night. “As a result, an investigation started in November around legal issues and has been expanded to include climate and culture concerns. The start of the investigation was delayed at the request of those who filed the complaints, in order to finish the season.

“An outside investigative team is doing the investigation, in which Coach Gonzalez is fully cooperating. While they have been asked to expedite the investigation, we also do not want to forego quality for speed.

“Our goal is to ensure we understand the concerns, act on any findings and work to rebuild an effective and supportive volleyball culture.”

In interviews, letters, emails, formal complaints, confidential university documents and voice recordings of Gonzalez, athletic director Terry Gawlik, and other athletic department and university administration officials, the players allege that Gonzalez, a longtime fixture on the Southern California volleyball scene and once considered one of the college game’s rising coaching stars, has created an environment where he targets specific players for almost daily bullying and even physical abuse, where players suffered dozens of avoidable injuries from overtraining or because he ignored the instructions of doctors, trainers and a sports biomechanics expert, withheld food from the team to the point where all nine current and former players said they were constantly hungry and routinely played and practiced while feeling light-headed or dizzy, suffered tunnel vision, and often felt that they were on the verge of passing out or blacking out.

“Through many abusive behaviors, Coach Gonzalez and his staff perpetuate a culture of harassment, bullying, and belittling,” a current Idaho starter wrote on behalf of her teammates in a formal complaint to the university obtained by SCNG.

Interviews, emails, letters, confidential university documents and recordings also show that players, their parents, and at least three university employees have repeatedly complained or raised concerns about Gonzalez’s coaching methods and alleged abusive behavior to Gawlik, university administration officials and the school’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigations. At least 13 players have complained to Gawlik or other university officials, according to player interviews, formal complaints and confidential university documents.

SCNG provided Gonzalez a detailed list of the allegations raised in this report and gave him the opportunity to respond to each allegation prior to the publication of the December 30 report.

Instead, Gonzalez emailed SCNG a brief statement.

“These allegations are unfounded, displaced, and dishonest,” he said.

Gonzalez is 5-51 in two seasons at Idaho.

Player complaints have routinely been ignored and dismissed by Gawlik and other university officials, all nine players allege.

Players “don’t feel safe playing for (Gonzalez) anymore” a starter told Gawlik, Chris Walsh, the senior associate athletic director for internal administration and wellness, and Blaine Eckles, the university’s dean of students, during an October meeting, according to a recording of the meeting.

During the 2023 season this past fall, a group of Idaho players submitted an eight-page complaint to university officials detailing more than 80 examples of “verbal/emotional abuse, physical abuse, intimidation and harassment.”

Gawlik, Walsh and Eckles, the university’s dean of students, met with three players on October 30. Gawlik agreed to meet the players, according to an email she wrote to the athletes after she “was contacted by campus OCRI today and they mentioned some Volleyball Athletes spoke with them on some concerns,” although the players had asked to meet with her days earlier.

The players outlined their allegations, how Gonzalez had been dismissive during a recent meeting with team captains about their concerns, and how it was “terrifying” to talk to Gonzalez, according to a recording of the Oct. 30 meeting.

“I know what’s going on,” Walsh told the players during the Oct 30 meeting. “We’re aware of some of the rough waters you guys have been in.”

But Eckles also told the players, “we’re not looking to get into the details of the whole allegations” citing a desire to keep any potential investigation “pristine.”

Eckles sent the players an email after the meeting later that day.

“As a follow-up to our visit, I wanted to communicate a few take-aways from our visit,” Eckles wrote. “1. Your concerns are important and are heard. I want to assure you that they are and will be looked into for appropriate follow-up. 2. If you would like, I am happy to visit with the entire team (if you think that would be helpful) to reassure that retaliation is not appropriate.”

A case manager met with Idaho players on November 8, telling them they would follow up in the coming weeks but then did not contact the athletes again.

“(They) failed to get back to us,” a starter said. “It was a dead end. (They) talked to us and then we never heard from anybody.”

The players also said neither Eckles, Gawlick nor Walsh followed up with them after the meeting. Walsh did travel with the team on a late season road trip that Gonzalez missed because of a medical issue.

“Nobody got back to us,” a player said.

An Idaho player also reached out on behalf of the team to the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Investigation. On October 24, Trent Taylor, an investigator for the office, confirmed in an email that the office had received the complaint and offered the athlete the opportunity to meet. A week later, on Oct. 31, Taylor emailed the player that an outside law firm, Thompson & Horton, LLP, would be investigating the allegations raised in the players’ complaint.

Yet an attorney for the firm didn’t meet with players until December 13, nearly two months after Taylor first contacted the player. The attorney told the players during the meeting that the firm’s investigation would take at least 60 to 90 days to complete.

Although Eckles in the Oct. 30 meeting referred to “knowing that your season having just ended,” the Vandals still had five matches remaining.

Between October 24 when Taylor first contacted the player and the end of the season on November 17, Gonzalez’ bullying “only got worse,” said a starter, a statement that five other players concurred with.

“This is a pattern that isn’t something new,” said Marissa Drange, an outside hitter on the 2022 Idaho team.

It is a pattern that players coached by Gonzalez at other universities allege in interviews with SCNG and letters to Idaho officials, that extends back more than 20 years covering the majority if not the entirety of his college coaching career, and that Idaho players allege continued within weeks of his hiring at the Big Sky Conference school in February 2022.

Gonzalez pushed over Hailey Pelton, a veteran setter and four-time Big Sky Conference All-Academic team selection, during a spring practice in 2022 according to five people. One of the people confirming the incident is Bryan Bastuba, who at the time was an assistant coach.

Pelton declined to comment.

Gonzalez continued his alleged pattern of physical and emotional abuse, bullying and body shaming during the regular season, according to six Idaho players, a person familiar with the situation, as well as reports, complaints, and emails sent to Gawlick and other Idaho officials.

That autumn Gonzalez pushed Anna Pelleur, a freshman, so hard during a practice that he also knocked her off her feet, seven players allege in interviews and according to a complaint filed with Gawlik.

Pelluer, the daughter of former University of Washington and NFL quarterback Steve Pelluer, was a regular target of Gonzalez’s alleged bullying, seven players said.

“He was very hard on Anna,” Drange said. “I remember him jumping in the drill and setting and running up and saying Anna was in his way and instead of stopping the drill he pushed her and yelled, ‘Anna, get out of the way!’

“It was weird. He was always doing weird things.”

Said an Idaho starter who also witnessed the alleged incident, “He would get so into it, that he would push her hard enough to knock her to the ground. You could have just politely asked her to get off the court or been like, ‘Guys hold on, I’m going to take over the drill real quick’ instead of putting violence on the table.“It was absolutely unnecessary.

“He was angry at her that she couldn’t complete the drill the way he wanted her to so he felt he needed to step in and do it correctly so he just pushed her off the court.”

The incident again left players stunned.

“I remember all of us looking at each other ‘Did he seriously just push her?’” Drange said.

Bastuba denied that Gonzalez targeted Pelluer for bullying.

“I know there were a couple of times he did get on her,” Bastuba said referring to Gonzalez and Pelluer. “I know a couple of times he thought she wasn’t paying attention or asking the wrong question and the wrong time.”

Pelluer transferred to Seattle Pacific after the 2022 season. She did not respond to requests for comment.

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