Former UIS golfer confirms story from anonymous report, claims coach dismissed mental health concerns

A former member of the University of Illinois Springfield women’s golf team confirmed one of the anonymous allegations published this month against coach Michael Leotta and believes the only solution is to dismiss him.

Lily Stanton competed last fall as a freshman for the Prairie Stars but said she left the team before the spring season due to Leotta’s conduct. The allegations were published by website 2aDays on July 9 .

She described the coach’s behavior as overwhelming and traumatic in a recent phone interview with The State Journal-Register.

Stanton corroborated a story in the 2aDays article, in which Leotta was accused of failing to provide water to two athletes during the final day of a tournament despite hot conditions.

UIS GOLF ALLEGATIONS: Athletes share anonymous allegations against UIS golf coach | Report

Stanton said she brought up the situation with Leotta during a meal at a public restaurant. Stanton said Leotta responded angrily and resorted to swearing, throwing napkins and slamming fists on the table with other patrons nearby.

Stanton said the whole team was in tears.

“He didn’t talk to us for the rest of the trip,” Stanton said. “It was probably five or six hours left, so we were all in the van together. In the bathroom before we got in the van (at the restaurant), I was crying and we were all upset and I said I would get in touch with my mom.

“My mom had gone to the tournament and she was driving back about the same time as us. When I told her that I didn’t feel safe, she said, ‘OK, well, I’ll follow you back,’ and she followed us back to UIS.”

Abrasive behavior

Stanton — who won a pair of team high school state championships in Oklahoma and was a Lincoln Merit Scholarship awardee to attend UIS — also claimed that Leotta downplayed her mental health.

When her anxiety became especially acute over winter break, Stanton said Leotta only made the rehabilitative process worse, while she met with health professionals.

“Whenever I told him about what I was trying to do and the things my parents and I had decided after talking with counselors and things like that, he flat out told me over text, ‘The things you’re doing aren’t good enough. You need to either get checked into a mental institution or a hospital to make sure you’re OK,’” Stanton said.

“That just felt like a slap to the face because I was trying to be honest with him. It was just really awful.”

Stanton said she realized after that incident she was never going to feel safe, nor comfortable playing golf, under Leotta.

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“I felt so extremely unsafe at one point that I refused to have any meetings with him,” Stanton said. “I told my dad that, and my dad talked to Leotta about that (afterward) and said, ‘Listen, my daughter’s not doing well and she’s not going to have any meetings with you.’ And (Leotta) said, ‘It’s a violation of our contract,’ and later on, he called me out in front of the whole team and said, ‘People won’t have meetings with me because they’re so stressed.’ I refused to meet with him because of how unsafe I felt around him and I didn’t want to be alone with him.”

Stanton also said team travel became less comfortable over the fall season.

Anonymous athletes alleged to 2aDays that Leotta watched Netflix with headphones in his ears while driving the team.

Stanton said she didn’t see him watch Netflix, but did confirm he would get on his phone “quite a bit” while driving. She added that the team also became increasingly afraid to ask Leotta if they could stop for food or a restroom break, “because he would snap at us,” she said.

“We couldn’t even be a team because of him,” Stanton said. “We didn’t feel comfortable as a team and it was mostly his doing. He’d get mad at us if we laughed in the van and say we didn’t take golf seriously. When you’re in a car for six to eight hours, if you want to talk for five minutes (with the team), I think that should be allowed.”

Moving forward

Stanton said reports were lodged against Leotta internally at UIS, but nothing seemed to come out of them.

The university sent out a response in early July after the original story was published and, on Friday, referred again to that statement. Leotta did not respond to an email request for comment for this story.

Jamarco Clark, the vice chancellor for student affairs, took over as the interim AD following Laura Liesman’s resignation in November. Mike Hermann began as the new AD in June.

“As an institution, we take comments regarding student-athlete welfare seriously and have several mechanisms in place to get feedback directly from student-athletes,” UIS said in its emailed statement following the 2aDays report.

“Ensuring the well-being and safety of our student-athletes has been and will continue to be our utmost priority. As concerns are brought forth, we have processes in place to investigate and address them. While we cannot comment specifically on personnel issues, we want to make it clear that we are dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all members of our community.”

Leotta took over the UIS men’s and women’s golf teams in 2021 after previously serving as an assistant from 2013-16. He coached one season as an assistant at Fresno State and two seasons as head coach at Wittenberg University in Ohio before returning to Springfield.

At Wittenberg, the men’s program twice finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Division III national tournament. The UIS women won the 2023 Great Lakes Valley Conference title, its first in program history.

“I don’t think he should be influencing young adult lives, especially in the field of golf,” Stanton said of Leotta. “I don’t think he should be a coach anywhere.”

Stanton said she feels “a lot of relief” since leaving UIS and plans to continue to play collegiate golf elsewhere.  She said her mental health is improving, but her experience with the UIS golf team still affects her.

“I was very, very worried after I left UIS and I was scared I wouldn’t ever enjoy or want to play golf again because it was such a traumatic experience for me,” Stanton said. “It’s been a big weight off my shoulders.

“I would say things are getting much better since I left UIS. It definitely wasn’t all aspects of it (the university), but definitely the golf program was a big, big issue.”

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Former UIS golfer confirms story from anonymous report, claims coach dismissed mental health concerns