Boston University Women's Soccer Team Faces Fresh Harassment Allegations Following Cooper's Revelations

Cooper revealed: "She turned something that I loved so much into something extremely painful."

Boston University's women's soccer program is embroiled in new allegations of sexual harassment involving both current and former coaches, as reported by the New York Post. On September 14, student-athlete Shayla Brown contacted the university's confidential ethics hotline about her assistant coach. The following day, she was joined by 17 other women's soccer players as they brought their claims to the university's Equal Opportunity Office.

Four days later, Brown discussed her concerns with the team's sports psychologist. "This was not a case of a coach coddling a prized player. Her teammate was being groomed," she said. "The coach was acting inappropriately toward one of BU's key players, focusing excessively on her and trying to manipulate her in ways that were distressing to the player and her teammates," said the sports psychologist, according to the Boston Globe.

These allegations were directed at Casey Brown, who had succeeded Nancy Feldman as head coach in 2022 and was previously her assistant coach. She is now facing similar accusations made by Shayla Brown. In December, Casey Brown stepped down from her head coaching position after Boston University initiated an investigation into complaints from students on the team.

The students also noted that one of their teammates, who requested anonymity, shared her experience with school officials after claiming she had been targeted. "She recalled navigating a stream of awkward texts, unsettling invitations, and unwanted attention," reported the Boston Globe, concerning the allegations against Feldman.

These developments come just two weeks after Alex Cooper, host of the podcast Call Her Daddy, alleged in her Hulu docuseries Call Her Alex that she endured three years of escalating sexual harassment at the hands of her former head coach, Nancy Feldman. Cooper claimed that Feldman began to fixate on her during her sophomore season, making inappropriate comments about her sex life and body, attempting to secure alone time with her, and engaging in unwanted touching.

Alex Cooper played as a midfielder for Boston University from 2013 to 2015 and was a member of the Boston University Terriers women's soccer program during that time. "I felt a lot of anger—anger at my coach, anger at my school, and anger at the system that allowed this to happen," Cooper said in the documentary. "She turned something that I loved so much into something extremely painful," she reflected.

Amid these allegations, a group of former Boston University women's soccer players have reportedly spoken out in defense of Nancy Feldman. Feldman coached the university's women's soccer team for 22 years before retiring in 2022. The support from former players underscores the complexity of the situation, as the program grapples with the serious accusations against its longtime coach.

Boston University's women's soccer team thus faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment involving both Feldman and her successor, Casey Brown. The university is conducting investigations into these claims, though it has not publicly commented on the specifics. The situation has prompted discussions about the culture within collegiate athletics and the mechanisms in place to protect student-athletes.

Her resignation in December followed the collective action by Shayla Brown and her teammates. The allegations against her mirror those made against Feldman, suggesting a potential pattern of behavior within the coaching staff.

The New York Post reported that the students' initiative to come forward was partly influenced by Cooper's public revelations. The proximity of these allegations highlights a particularly tumultuous period for the women's soccer program at Boston University.