In a Boston Globe report, Harvard women’s hockey coach Katey Stone is being accused of racist behavior and abusive behavior towards members of the Crimson team.
One incident in the report is how Stone allegedly berated two former players who are North Americans of Indigenous descent.
“I had learned to navigate a lot of her toxic environment,” defenseman Maryna Macdonald said in the report. “But now she was disrespecting me and my family and my heritage in front of everybody.”
According to the Globe report, Stone, now in her 27th season with Harvard, accused the players of showing her too little respect and turning into a collection of skaters “with too many chiefs and not enough Indians.”
Macdonald subsequently left the team and Sydney Daniels, an assistant coach who had captained the 2016-17 Harvard team, also left before suing Harvard for alleged racial and other forms of discrimination related to Stone and the athletic department. Harvard has until Feb. 8 to respond to the complaint.
The Globe report further states that Stone’s tirade led to a review by the university, which decided to retain her as head coach, and “triggered a backlash that continues to reverberate among former players who say Stone has emotionally damaged them, all while she has established herself as one of the most renowned coaches in the history of women’s ice hockey.”
Stone declined to comment to the Globe, as did Harvard athletic director Erin McDermott and the university.
Sixteen of Stone’s former players told the Globe they fault Harvard for keeping her on the job despite numerous complaints about her alleged abusive coaching practices, according to the Globe, while Macdonald and 2022 Ivy League rookie of the year Taze Thompson are among 14 recruited players who have left Stone’s program since 2016, including three this season.
Stone, in a letter emailed to her current team after being contacted by the Globe about this story, wrote, “This year, I have made it a priority to acknowledge and respond to direct feedback from the women in my program about my coaching style, and make a concerted effort to better support my players’ experiences.”
McDermott then forwarded Stone’s letter to hundreds of former Harvard women’s hockey players, about 45 of whom then sent the Globe a letter supporting her.
