AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron has fired its women’s soccer head coach following an investigation by its Human Resources department into the mental health and physical safety of players.

Jen Simonetti was placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 14, according to records obtained by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Simonetti, who was hired before the 2022 season, received a termination letter on May 13.

The investigation findings were detailed in an April 1 report that included complaints against Simonetti dating back to 2023. The investigation included interviews with more than two dozen people, including current players, former players, University of Akron athletic department staff members, UA strength and conditioning coaches, Akron Children’s Hospital athletic training staff members, assistant coaches and Simonetti herself.

In its investigatory findings, the university said that while it received multiple anonymous communications regarding the women’s soccer program prior to Feb. 14, 2025, its ability to respond was limited because the concerns were shared anonymously. After the university received concerns from Akron Children’s Hospital staff and multiple reports via a UA hotline, the university began the formal investigation process, according to the report.

Physical safety of players

One instance cited in the report was pushback an Akron Children’s Hospital athletic trainer said they received regarding a student athlete with a suspected concussion who was sent to the emergency department due to unequal pupils. Coach Simonetti reportedly asked the staff member “if that was really necessary,” to which the staff member replied, “do you understand this is my job–my livelihood–I have a license to protect–not releasing if not OK.”

In another instance detailed in the report, an Akron Children’s Hospital athletic trainer said there was an interaction between Simonetti and an athlete during which Simonetti told her she was having shin pain because she was “unfit.” The athlete was later diagnosed with a black line, a dark line seen on an X-ray that suggests a high-risk stress fracture, often associated with delayed healing and potentially requiring more aggressive treatment.

In her response, Simonetti said that the women’s soccer team has had four athletic trainers since she was hired in July of 2022. She also said the current strength and conditioning coach for soccer is “good, but she knows nothing about soccer.” Simonetti also said that she asks athletes for clarity when it comes to injuries because there is “miscommunications,” which can impact rehab and healing.

Anonymous letters and emails included in the report suggest Simonetti puts pressure on student athletes to return to play too early when they are hurt, which results in them getting re-injured. Multiple statements in the letters and emails cited student athletes getting hurt because of overuse and poor treatment of injuries. In one letter, a parent said “the girls practice and play hurt because they fear what Jen will do.”

Degrading/disrespectful language

During the investigation, current and former athletes were asked if they had ever witnessed Simonetti using degrading or disrespectful language with athletes or training staff. Ten of the athletes interviewed said that they had, four athletes said they had not and three athletes said that they hadn’t directly, but they have heard it from other members of the team.

The report includes an interview with a former athlete who said the coach told her certain students were “selfish brats” and that she shouldn’t hang around them. The former athlete explained she felt she needed to record her one-on-one meeting with the coach for her “own safety” due to the coach saying one thing in meetings and another in public.

In her response, Simonetti said she talks about the team in terms of the top 10%, middle 80% and bottom 10%, and she challenges athletes to surround themselves with those who are going to push them to be better players.

Sharing personal information

According to the investigation, 10 of the 16 athletes interviewed said the team culture is “great” among athletes but “lacking” among coaching staff. Several athletes said they don’t feel like what they talk about with Simonetti remains confidential and that she uses what they share against them. When 17 current and former athletes were asked if they were asked to share personal information with Simonetti that they felt was not in line with what a coach would need to know, 10 said yes.

In her response, Simonetti said personal information shared with her was not shared with other teammates. She also said there are times when a player may need more help to meet their goals, so it’s important to understand what is going on with them that could affect their performance.

The investigation concluded that Simonetti:

“Did not abide by the highest standards of personal conduct. While the coach reports that her standards are high and her goal is to grow student athletes in their personal lives and as student athletes, her methods seem contrary to the needs of her current athletes. Her integrity is in question regarding multiple reports of personal information shared by athletes that were then used against them or shared with others without permission. There were a significant number of examples given by student athletes and training professionals indicating that Coach Simonetti frequently criticized student athletes when injured. It would reason that if Coach Simonetti was fair, sympathetic, and protective, student athletes would not report being afraid to talk to coach about their injuries and would feel comfortable stating that they could not play due to pain. It is also reasonable that a coach would ask additional questions to players and medical staff for clarification purposes. However, it does appear that Coach Simonetti has expressed open hostility to the professionals from Akron Children’s Hospital when they don’t answer in the manner she expects.”

Before Akron, Simonetti was the head coach at Case Western Reserve University dating back to 2019. She played as a defender at the University of Dayton and earned NSCAA All-America third team status in 2004 as a senior.

The University of Akron named Maggie Kuhn as head coach. Kuhn had been an assistant women’s soccer coach with the Zips for four years. She was previously the head coach at Lock Haven University, according to her biography on the University of Akron’s website.

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Freddie Crittenden in 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

TYLER, TEXAS – The 2025 NCAA Division II Softball National Champions UT Tyler will arrive back to Tyler at approximately 4:45 p.m. central time on Thursday afternoon.
 
The bus will arrive at the Behavioral Health Center parking lot located across from campus, next to Enoch’s coffee house.
 
Everyone is encouraged to come out and welcome the 2025 NCAA Division II National Champions home.
 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is opening up its high school track-and-field championship to more girls after a transgender athlete drew controversy for qualifying for the meet.

The California Interscholastic Federation says it will allow one extra competitor in three events featuring high school junior AB Hernandez, who is trans. The group announced the temporary rule change Tuesday after President Donald Trump criticized her participation in a social media post, though the group said it decided on the rule change before that.

Here’s what to know:

State law lets trans athletes compete

Former California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2013 allowing students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, including on sports teams, and use bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity.

A Republican-led effort to block that law failed recently in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. Another proposal that also failed would have required the federation to ban students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team.

Bill Essayli, a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor for the Central District of California, announced an investigation Wednesday into the federation and the Jurupa Unified School District, which includes Hernandez’s high school, to determine whether federal sex discrimination law was violated by allowing trans girls to compete in girls’ sports.

Federation announces rule change

The federation said it was launching a “pilot entry process” to allow more girls to participate in the championship track-and-field meet. It only applies to the three events in which Hernandez is competing: triple jump, long jump and high jump.

The group says “biological female student-athletes who would have earned the next qualifying mark” at the recent qualifying event have been invited to participate in the championships. The rule change may be the first attempt nationally by a high school sports governing body to expand competition when trans athletes are participating.

If a transgender athlete medals, their ranking would not displace a “biological female” student from medaling, the federation confirmed. In high jump, triple jump and long jump, a “biological female” who would have earned podium placement will get the medal for that place and will be reflected in the records, the federation said.

The federation did not specify how they define “biological female” or how they would verify whether a competitor meets that definition.

Experts from the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and American Psychological Association say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure consisting of only males and females.

Backlash centers on one student

Hernandez won the long jump and triple jump during qualifying events and is expected to perform well this weekend. She also set a triple jump meet record at the Ontario Relays earlier this year.

Critics have accused her of having an unfair advantage over other athletes.

Hernandez told the publication Capital & Main earlier this month that she couldn’t worry about the critics who have called out her participation and heckled her at postseason meets.

“I’m still a child, you’re an adult, and for you to act like a child shows how you are as a person,” she said.

She noted that she has lost some of her events, saying that disproved arguments that she can’t be beat.

Rule change prompts criticism

The rule change may discriminate against transgender athletes, said Elana Redfield, a policy director at the UCLA School of Law Williams Institute, which researches sexual orientation and gender identity policies.

“The CIF policy creates two sets of rules — one for transgender girls, who must earn a place through traditional measures of competition, and another for ‘biological females,’ some of whom are allowed an extra chance to earn a spot,” Redfield said in an email.

The change seems to “thread a fine needle” by trying to ensure cisgender girls aren’t denied a competition slot while still allowing trans athletes to participate, Redfield said.

Doriane Lambelet Coleman, a professor at Duke Law School, said the change would help ensure that “no female athlete loses a place on a team or in a competition when a trans girl is included.”

“Unlike inclusion policies that ignore sex differences, doing it this way doesn’t gaslight the other girls about their biology,” said Coleman, who has researches subjects including children, sports and law and wrote recently on the evolving definition of sex.

Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, called the rule change “a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness” and said the governor thought it was a thoughtful approach. Newsom angered some liberal allies earlier this year when he questioned the fairness of transgender girls participating in girls’ sports.

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Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed.

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Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X: @sophieadanna