Documents shed more light on Iowa field hockey program
Details revealed in documents obtained by the Register under Iowa's open-records law and others released by former faculty athletic representative Betsy Altmaier show:
CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT: One of Iowa's confidential settlements was made in September 2012 with a former field hockey player injured as a result of the sport. The settlement cost the university $37,889, which included reimbursement for a year of tuition, room and board and attorney fees. The settlement also mandated that the student be allowed access to the university's Sports Medicine Clinic. The agreement forbade the student from discussing the settlement, a clause the Iowa attorney general's office says is unenforceable.
ATHLETE SUPPORT: On April 23, 2012, field hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum advocated in an email to associate athletic director Fred Mims that an athlete who "quit a team with no prior conversations with coaches" should be denied access to sports psychology services and sent to another entity on campus. She said the sports staff time "should be used on student-athletes that are committed, mature, and thriving in our program." The Register confirmed the student Griesbaum referred to is the same one who received the settlement agreement.
MORE TO THE STORY: Gary Barta, UI's athletic director, defended his decision to fire Griesbaum in several emails, indicating there was more to his decision than unsubstantiated athlete complaints. (Barta has declined to provide specifics, and Griesbaum says the university has not shared reasons with her.) "I can't tell you everything that went into the decision … but I am willing to share with you it was an accumulation of things … not just one or two complaints," Barta wrote in an Aug. 4 email to former Iowa field hockey player Niki Schultheis.
NEW COACH NEARLY FIRED: In 2011, assistant field hockey coach Lisa Cellucci — who was named head coach just days after Griesbaum was fired — was placed on probation for a year and prohibited from contacting recruits after "willful" NCAA violations on at least three occasions. "In most instances, violations of this nature would result in a request for her resignation," Mims, the associate athletic director, wrote in a July 11, 2011, memo to Griesbaum.
ANOTHER COACH QUESTIONS DECISION: Brian Ferentz, the son of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz and an offensive line coach for Iowa, questioned the decision to fire Griesbaum in an Aug. 6 email to multiple staff members: "Tracey's track record speaks for itself and we all want what is best for the University of Iowa. If that is not what is driving our decision-making process we are making a mistake."
SALLY MASON REFUSES TO MEET: UI President Sally Mason declined to meet with Griesbaum after the coach's dismissal. "The employment of coaches for athletics is the responsibility of the athletic director and he has my support," Mason wrote to Griesbaum on Aug. 5.
COACH, UNIVERSITY PART WAYS: An Aug. 11 email from Tiffini Stevenson Earl to co-investigator Josephine Bathke asked whether she was comfortable accepting a meeting with the recently fired coach: "Also, in not trying to overreact, are you comfortable meeting with her alone (from a safety standpoint)?"