To prepare for practice, Marta Galic spent long minutes in the bathroom — splashing cold water on her face, striking a Superman pose in the mirror, emptying her bladder. Practices, she said, “felt like entering a war zone.” Her bathroom ritual began after a freshman-year drill at the University of San Francisco, when she repeatedly asked coach Molly Goodenbour to step off the court to use the restroom and was told to finish the drill. Marta lost control of her bladder; when she asked again to clean up, she says the coach refused. Goodenbour later said she wasn’t aware of the incident and has maintained that players may leave the court to use the restroom.
Marta and her twin sister Marija came from Zagreb, Croatia, where both had played on the U20 national team. They were recruited together by Goodenbour, who visited Croatia multiple times and promised full five‑year scholarships. The twins believed they were choosing the right program and counted on each other for support.
But once they arrived at USF, they say Goodenbour’s demeanor changed. They expected strict coaching, but recounted a different pattern: frequent verbal attacks, name‑calling and public shaming. Marta later testified that Goodenbour called her “lazy,” “worthless,” and a “piece of shit.” A former teammate, Leilah Herrera, said insults were routine at practice and also alleged racially insensitive comments from an associate coach.
Goodenbour has declined interview requests and, in filings and testimony, framed her remarks as performance‑related, saying she criticized players for quitting on drills but denied name‑calling. She expressed regret about Marta’s restroom incident.
At the end of their freshman season, both twins secretly recorded performance reviews with Goodenbour and associate coach Janell Jones. In Marta’s recording, Goodenbour threatens to take away her scholarship if she quit again — a punitive measure the NCAA forbids. In Marija’s recording, Goodenbour questions how Marija can deal with teammates who “don’t want me on their team,” pressuring her about social standing in drills.
The twins sued Goodenbour and USF in 2021, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. Marija reported panic attacks, violent nightmares, depression and two mental health crises during her time at USF; Marta developed what a psychiatrist called physiological and psychological responses to trauma, including frequent bathroom trips. The psychiatrist testified that the twins’ psychiatric illnesses were caused by Goodenbour’s treatment.
Student‑athletes seeking redress for emotional abuse face a fragmented system. The NCAA has no formal emotional‑abuse policy for its roughly 550,000 athletes, saying schools bear primary responsibility for student‑athlete safety. SafeSport, created after high‑profile sexual‑abuse scandals, generally does not investigate emotional misconduct and instead routes such complaints to national governing bodies that may lack resources or expertise. Athletes can report to campus offices — coaches, trainers, athletic department leadership, Title IX, university administration — but these internal processes can create conflicts of interest.
The twins and their father reported concerns to USF staff, including an assistant coach, athletic trainers, a campus psychologist and athletic leadership. USF’s internal investigation into Marija’s bullying claim was led by Diane Nelson, then assistant vice president of human resources, who interviewed only Marija, Goodenbour and Jones and closed the probe in December 2019, finding no policy violations. USF later disputed the twins’ allegations while saying it prioritized student‑athlete well‑being.
Sports attorney Martin Greenberg, who has represented many student‑athletes, advised that the best practice is to hire an external, independent investigator, noting an inherent conflict when universities investigate their own employees. The current patchwork means accountability can be elusive, and coaches pushed out of one program sometimes move to another.
Goodenbour had previous accusations at other programs. At UC Irvine she received a 2012 suspension referenced in an athletic‑department email about a pattern of “insensitive and abusive remarks.” A 2006 Chico State story reported former players accused her of degrading behavior; that university concluded no wrongdoing. USF’s hiring committee did not ask about abusive‑conduct allegations when it hired Goodenbour in 2016, and members said they did not contact all previous employers.
The twins’ lawyer argued that a coach’s power over student‑athletes creates a different standard: remarks from a stranger would not carry the same impact as similar conduct from a coach who controls scholarships, playing time and team standing. In a 10‑day trial in July 2023 the jury found Goodenbour acted with intent or reckless disregard in the twins’ treatment. But it found only Marija suffered severe emotional distress. Jurors awarded Marija $250,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages; judges later rescinded the punitive award, an appellate panel restored it, and the panel also granted a retrial in Marta’s case over excluded evidence about Goodenbour’s past conduct. Marta subsequently settled.
USF renewed Goodenbour’s contract through 2028; she and associate head coach Jones remain on staff. USF has said it stands by the women’s basketball coaches and staff.
The twins’ paths diverged. Marija stopped attending the team after repeated counseling visits, graduated in 2022 with an architecture degree and later earned an MFA in interior design in New York City; she said she can’t bring herself to play basketball anymore. Marta graduated summa cum laude in three years, transferred her eligibility to Tulane, and played under longtime coach Lisa Stockton while earning her MBA. Under Stockton, Marta rediscovered joy in the game, became a team captain and led Tulane in three‑pointers, calling the change “night and day.”
Coaches and administrators acknowledge complexity in college sports: pushing athletes to excel differs from mistreatment. Stockton, who coached at Tulane for decades, said the job is harder now given changing power dynamics — name, image and likeness deals, social media followings and the ease of transferring — all of which affect team culture and coaching.
The twins sought accountability not just for themselves but to tell other athletes they are not alone and that it’s possible to fight abusive treatment. Their case highlights gaps in policy and oversight for emotional abuse in college athletics, the difficulty of investigating alleged misconduct internally, and the long aftershocks survivors can face.
This story was reported with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and the Mental Health Parity Collaborative. If you have a story to share about emotional abuse in a college athletic program, reporters Julia Haney and Elizabeth Santos can be reached at [email protected].