Trophy Club Nelson mom taking complaints against volleyball coach to school board
A parent has accused the volleyball coach at Trophy Club Nelson High School of verbally abusing and “fat-shaming” players.
Erin Myers filed a grievance against coach Brianne Barker-Groth, alleging that she belittled players on and off the court.
Myers wrote in a Facebook post that: “It’s time to make a leadership change for the Byron Nelson Volleyball program. This abuse cannot continue year after year. I hope Byron and NISD leadership see the damage it’s causing and make the decision to protect our girls.”
Myers said in an interview that she filed her grievance against the girls volleyball coach in October after her 15-year-old daughter was benched, stating that Groth retaliated against her daughter.
Myers said she spoke up to defend the junior varsity volleyball coach, who was mistreated by the varsity coaches. That resulted in retaliation against her daughter, she said.
Anthony Tosie, a spokesman for the Northwest school district, declined to comment on the grievance but said Myers appealed to the school board for a hearing on her complaints. No date has been set for the hearing.
Tiger Hanner, an Austin attorney representing Barker-Groth, said the coach is out on maternity leave, likely until April.
Hanner said the allegations against Barker-Groth are false, and that the coach has high expectations of her players.
He said Myers solicited statements from around 30 parents to include in the grievance, and none of the girls were varsity players.
But Myers disputed Hanner’s claim. She said some who wrote letters of support were varsity players and college athletes.
Myers’ daughter was on the freshman and junior varsity teams and is still in the volleyball program, Hanner said.
He said the grievance accused Barker-Groth of bullying, but the district found no evidence in its investigation.
“The school district takes allegations of bullying very seriously,” Hanner said. “They conducted a thorough investigation but didn’t find anything. Ms. Myers doesn’t like the answer that she got.”
Another complaint was that Barker-Groth had a “no play” list, which also is not true, he said. The grievance stated that the coach had a “depth chart” and she used that to belittle the girls.
“Every coach in America has a depth chart. Ms. Myers feels that’s demeaning to children,” he said.
The grievance also stated that girls who were not on the varsity team didn’t get invited to participate in the homecoming parade or in pep rallies. Players on the varsity level have more privileges because of their hard work, Hanner said.
Barker-Groth began coaching at Nelson in 2018, and she led the team to the 2019 Class 6A state championship.
“As a coach, is Groth demanding of her players? Absolutely. Hard work is what it takes to be successful,” he said.
Hanner said he is seeing situations in which parents think their children should be on varsity because they played club sports.
“It doesn’t always work that way,” he said, but that doesn’t stop parents from filing complaints, he said.
Hanner said he sees “lawn mower parents” who are on top of their children all of the time.
“Every time their child doesn’t get what they want, they file a complaint against the teacher or the coach. That’s why we’re seeing so many leave education,” he said.
This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 3:23 PM.