KEWASKUM, Wis. — Parents and student athletes from the Kewaskum High School volleyball team spoke out against their head coach at an intense school board meeting, saying they experienced verbal abuse and a toxic environment.
Kewaskum High School senior Camilla Kreif spoke out against the girls head volleyball coach for behavior she says caused harm to her mental health.
"The Kewaskum volleyball staff has done irreparable damage to myself and my teammates," Kreif said. "They have dulled my light, stolen my spark, taken the life from within me and killed it—buying it six feet below the surface."
Kreif, four of her teammates and their parents said the athletes have been dealing with a toxic environment for multiple years underneath the current head coach.
"I think it's important to reiterate that respect is a two way street," Kreif said. "Right now, that is not happening within the administration here."
Kreif and four other volleyball seniors quit mid-season after they say the coach called them evil in early October.
"Telling us that we have evil inside of us, that our parents should be ashamed of us and things that shouldn't come out of a coaches mouth—much less anyone's mouth," Kreif said. "Right? So, that was really the final straw."
Parent Lisa Cannestra's daughter was one of the seniors who quit. She said the administration needs to make a change.
"We followed the process," she said. "We raised safety concerns, asked for help and the response we experienced was not the support we had requested."
Cannestra believes the seniors were punished for pushing back against the coach's treatment. She and the students said they were put into an in-school-suspension for one day and questioned inappropriately by staff after sharing a recording of the coach with them from their phones.
"We need to demonstrate that speaking up is not something our children should regret, or something any student, employee, parent or community member should be afraid to do," Cannestra said. "We need our district's actions to support the positive cultural we advertise."
Kreif hopes bringing public attention to the issue makes a difference for future student athletes.
"If this sort of thing is just swept under the rug, it would continue to happen," she said. "And that's not something I want for this community."
The head of the school board and superintendent declined to speak on camera. TMJ4 News reached out to the athletic director and head coach with questions via email, but have not heard back yet.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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