ST. CLOUD - The coach credited with leading the College of St. Benedict women's hockey team to its most successful season in program history will return next year despite complaints from several players about reported offensive and demeaning comments toward athletes.
Lindsay Macy, a Minnesota native who played hockey at Owatonna High School, came to St. Ben's last year after two seasons as the head coach at Finlandia University in Michigan, where she was named coach of the year by the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association.
Despite St. Ben's recent success, some student-athletes are not returning next year because of their concerns about the coach, according to a story published this month in the Record, the student newspaper at College of St. Benedict/St. John's University.
According to the story, multiple students approached the school's faculty athletics representative with concerns about Macy's behavior, which included talking to athletes about a "fat camp" in reference to some players letting the team down by being slow. The story also said Macy used a "profanity and offensive epithet about people with disabilities to describe how they were playing."
The college's human resources department conducted an investigation related to the complaints and has since stated Macy will continue as the women's hockey coach.
Macy did not respond to a request for comment.
Kelly Anderson Diercks, the athletic director at St. Ben's, said she is disappointed some of the women's hockey players have not had a positive experience on the team.
"We want all our student athletes to feel supported and energized by their athletic participation," Anderson Diercks said in an email statement to the Star Tribune. "After following our process and conducting a thorough investigation, we have decided that Lindsay Macy will remain our women's hockey coach.
"Coach Macy cares about and is dedicated to her athletes. She received feedback from the investigation and is taking action accordingly," Anderson Diercks continued. "We are working with her and will continue to review our women's hockey program to ensure that all our student athletes have a positive experience on this team."
CSB/SJU spokesperson Michael Hemmesch said Tuesday he cannot provide any more information about the investigation or share the specific feedback given to Macy due to employee privacy rights.
Macy, 38, played collegiate hockey at the University of Wisconsin and Minnesota State Mankato, later coaching in Owatonna and at Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy in Idaho. She is also the owner of Relentless Hockey, an organization that runs summer hockey camps in Idaho.
