Lakehead's former running coach the latest facing maltreatment claims by athletes at Thunder Bay university

Lakehead University (LU) is once again facing pressure from former student athletes, this time centred on allegations that a former running coach maltreated them at the Thunder Bay, Ont., school.

Former cross country and track and field athletes have come forward to talk about Kip Sigsworth, who left the university's athletic department in 2020 after 16 years as a head coach.

According to 11 of them who spoke to CBC News, Sigsworth regularly singled out and belittled athletes, and created a culture where athletes were pushed to the point of competing with injuries because they were afraid to voice their concerns.

"Almost from Day 1, I noticed that [Sigsworth's] treatment of people and the way he spoke to them was very condescending … belittling of runners at practice was commonplace, people were treated poorly, particularly people who weren't as fast," said Dr. Connor McGuire, who joined the running programming after starting at LU a decade ago, and is now a physician and plastic surgery resident in Eastern Canada.

The latest allegations come months after the departure of longtime women's basketball coach Jon Kreiner, who said he "parted ways" with the university last fall, and was facing allegations he maltreated and stole money from his players. Lakehead has never publicly acknowledged the investigation or its status.

Over several months, CBC News has also been investigating the university's athletics department. We spoke to 30 former student athletes who largely described a culture where complaints were not taken seriously by the athletic department and they feared speaking out in case of retribution.

Now, some Canadian safe sport researchers that CBC News reached out to are critical of steps taken by LU, including what appear to be new policies about safe sport and conflict resolution, saying they are a "Band-Aid" solution and asking why the athletic department should be trusted now after so many years of inaction.

Their comments come as there's growing national attention on the issue.During a recent House of Commons committee hearing, former elite athletes called for a public inquiry into abuse at all levels of sport.

CBC News requested an interview multiple times via email and phone last week with Sigsworth and several university officials, but did not receive a response.

Former athletes give their take on coach

McGuire had 'high hopes" when he first came to Thunder Bay in 2013 to complete graduate studies.

He was already an accomplished varsity athlete. Earlier that year, Athletics PEI named him senior male athlete of the year after winning the Atlantic University Sport cross-country title, plus two conference titles, among other awards.

McGuire told CBC News his experience at Lakehead was very different.

Sigsworth was already a decorated coach at Lakehead at the time, hired by the university in 2005. He was named the 2012 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) men's cross-country coach of the year, among other recognitions. Sigsworth resigned as head coach in December 2020.

"With Kip [Sigsworth], it was an incredibly unsupportive environment. I really did feel that negatively impacted my mental health and I've actively discouraged people from the East Coast from going to Lakehead," McGuire said about his time running for Lakehead in the mid-2010s.

Over the course of the investigation, CBC News heard from 16 former athletes who competed under Sigsworth. Most of them spoke on the condition of confidentiality because they are still involved in the running community as coaches or athletes and fear retribution, such as losing their jobs or opportunities to compete.

Not all runners said they experienced maltreatment by Sigsworth. Some said they had positive experiences and became better athletes under his coaching. But the 11 people who spoke to CBC described a culture where the maltreatment included making demeaning comments about athletes, and they felt they could not speak out or were not heard.

The Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) defines maltreatment broadly as an act or lack of action "that results in harm or has the potential for physical or psychological harm."

Nine former athletes shared experiences of how they were singled out in front of their teammates and belittled, their intelligence often insulted.

One person said Sigsworth called them a "cancer" on the team and they were once shamed to the point of tears in front of teammates for being a few minutes late.

For some of us, this is our first real sports team … the way we're being treated is wrong, but you've seen it so often for so many years that it just becomes normal.- Former running athlete, speaking about onetime coach Kip Sigsworth

Another former athlete studying in a health care-related field said they made a wrong turn during a practice time trial, and Sigsworth insulted their intelligence and said he'd leave the hospital rather than be treated by them.

Four former athletes said Sigsworth would make body-shaming comments — one of them claiming the coach told them they "looked thick" at the start of a new season. 

Another said Sigsworth wouldn't call them by name during their entire first season, saying they had to "earn the right" to be called by name. When the coach did start using a name, it was a nickname that referred to their body size.

"We're 18 years old. We're trying to figure this thing out ourselves, and for some of us, this is our first real sports team … the way we're being treated is wrong, but you've seen it so often for so many years that it just becomes normal," the athlete told CBC News.

In one instance, after an athlete performed poorly at a race, Sigsworth accused the person of not trying hard enough. The athlete said they later found out they were running through an injury.

McGuire said it was common for athletes under Sigsworth to be struggling through injuries like stress fractures and Achilles tendinitis — both of which can result from overuse. Eight athletes told CBC News they suffered from overuse-related injuries.

"There were constantly people in and out of injuries … Kip was a high-mileage guy, which can be good and can be bad," McGuire said. "He's incredibly resistant to change, and someone like myself coming in who knew my body, knew what worked, I had absolutely zero say in what I was doing."

While Sigsworth did make time for one-on-one meetings with athletes to discuss training schedules, nine said they did not feel like they were heard or they didn't want to speak out for fear of retribution. 

Eight said they felt their choices were either to follow Sigsworth's strict training regimen — even if they thought it was causing injury — or they would be off the team, ending their ability to run competitively and, in some cases, ending a stream of scholarship money to pay for school.

CBC News reached out to Sigsworth multiple times over the last week — leaving voicemails and text messages, sending emails and registered mail to two properties listed under his name in the city — but he did not respond to our requests for an interview to respond to the allegations.

Runners bring complaints to athletic director

In spring of 2015, a group of at least six athletes arranged an in-person meeting with athletic director Tom Warden to file a complaint about Sigsworth's conduct toward players.

McGuire was among them.

"A number of athletes were very fed up with dealing with Kip and his antics, the way he treats people … and we brought all these concerns to Tom," McGuire said. "Nothing happened that I could tell afterwards, nothing at all."

In a matter of days, Sigsworth held a team meeting, according to two sources who were there. Sigsworth said Warden told him about the group complaint. Sigsworth told the athletes he knew exactly who was part of the complaint and that anyone who disagreed with his coaching style should quit, the two sources said.

For it to blow up in our faces the way it did … we voiced out concern and it felt like we were being punished.- Former Lakehead University running athlete

CBC News sent multiple emails to Warden over the last week to request an interview, but he did not respond.

"[Sigsworth] just kind of unloaded on us, talking about everything that's wrong with us, everything that we had brought up was our problem," said one athlete who was at that meeting.

"As a group of people going to the athletics department, it felt more legitimate because we were all experiencing the same problem. And then for it to blow up in our faces the way it did … we voiced our concern and it felt like we were being punished."

Just five years later, another group complaint about Sigsworth's conduct was in the making. 

Two athletes shared statements with CBC News they wrote at the time about their experiences running for Sigsworth, but he resigned in December 2020 before a written complaint could be submitted to Warden.

A news release issued by Lakehead upon Sigsworth's resignation did not make any mention of these complaints, pointing only to his accomplishments and thanking him for "his years of service."

In total, 10 former running athletes said they didn't trust Warden or the athletic department to handle any complaints — an issue shared by athletes across multiple sports at et=sports at LU shared.

Past concerns with administration's handling of complaints

In the case of Kreiner, CBC News published its story in January on an investigation into the allegations against the former women's basketball coach.

It's alleged that as far back as 2012, the athletic department was aware of the theft allegations against Kreiner. However, spokespeople for Lakehead still have not answered questions about the allegations and how the athletic department responded in 2012 when they allegedly learned about the theft.

Kreiner has previously told CBC News, "I am not able to provide any other details in response to these allegations. I remain confident in my record, my commitment to the teams and organization, and professional conduct."

Despite leaving the team, Kreiner was on Ontario's 2022 Sunshine List naming those making over $100,000 in a year. It marked his first time in 18 seasons as a Lakehead coach that he had reached that total salary level.

Since the first CBC investigation, another former basketball player shared with CBC News a formal complaint that she wrote to Warden in the mid-2010s, with concerns about Kreiner's conduct as coach and asking the department to complete a formal review of Kreiner. The athlete spoke to CBC News on the condition of confidentiality because she's still involved in the local sports scene.

She said nothing ever came out of the complaint.

In 2015, regional newspaper The Chronicle Journal published a letter to the editor from a retired LU professor with claims that former men's basketball coach Manny Furtado was too tough on his players.

"There are many fans who are unhappy with Mr. Furtado's courtside manner during the games, especially his habit of publicly berating his players," the letter said.

That same year, Furtado was signed to a two-year extension as head coach.

Furtado did not respond to an interview request from CBC News. Lakehead's media relations office also did not respond to multiple requests for an interview about these allegations. 

Lakehead publishes varsity hub for athletes

For months, CBC News has been asking for interviews with officials at LU about the support offered to athletes.

They refused multiple requests in December and January. Instead, in mid-February, media relations officer Brandon Walker forwarded a copy of a "bulletin," including a wide range of support services, that was emailed and offered to all students.

It included a link to the "varsity hub," an online portal "initiated in spring 2022 to centralize resources already available to varsity athletes and staff," Walker said in an email.

The online portal includes links to resources, varsity team schedules, athlete feedback forms, as well as two undated policies — on safe sport and complaints resolution. 

Walker did not respond to questions about when the policies were created, but the complaints resolution policy posted online still had the words "draft" on it as of April 26. When CBC News originally reviewed the website in February, the policy was posted as a Google document showing the file was created on Jan. 9, 2023, just four days after the first CBC investigation was published into allegations of maltreatment against Kreiner.

Athletes, researcher concerned about complaints policy

As of April 26, there was no visible pathway to the varsity hub portal on the university's athletic website and the link to the student-athlete handbook was still broken.

"Ultimately, it just appears to me that they've attempted to provide a reactive response that looks like a Band-Aid solution," said Whitney Bragagnolo, a sport integrity and governance consultant.

Bragagnolo is completing a PhD in sport governance, integrity and anti-corruption out of Charles University in Prague. She completed her undergraduate degree at LU, and recently reviewed all of the university's publicly available documents related to athletics.

"They [the LU athletics department] have not demonstrated in 20 years that they are able, or interested or willing to address these problems in a way that is trauma informed, in a way that is fair and going to really listen and take athletes' concerns seriously," Bragagnolo told CBC News.

"So why now? Why are they capable now? They have to earn that trust."

Bragagnolo pointed to problems with LU's draft copy of the complaint resolution policy, which lays out options to informally direct concerns to:

• Coaches, teammates or team captains.
• Others in the athletic department, including Warden.
• Other resources at LU, including the ombudsperson, health and wellness staff, or the office of human rights and equity.

The formal complaint structure requires athletes to document their issues in writing and send it to the assistant director of athletics, who "may conduct [an] initial review of [the] complaint to determine validity and required next steps," according to the policy.

McGuire, along with 24 other former athletes who spoke to CBC News during this months-long investigation, said they do not trust the athletic department to oversee complaints.

"It has to be someone fully third party. It can't be anyone whose boss is Tom Warden. That makes absolutely zero sense. They have every incentive to push it under the rug or not report it," McGuire said.

Independent complaints process needed at all levels: researcher

Peter Donnelly agrees. The retired University of Toronto professor, who studied high-performance athletic systems for decades, founded its Centre for Sport Policy Studies in 1999.

"Whenever the complaint process is kept in house, there's no independent voice, there's no independent arbitrator for this, and the sport organization or athletics department is full of conflicts of interest … people protecting their jobs, protecting their reputations, frequently at the expense of the student athlete."

Sports organizations at amateur and professional levels across Canada are reckoning with how to deal with toxic cultures, Donnelly said, because governments have largely left these organizations to manage their own affairs without interference or oversight.

In recent meetings, provincial and territorial sport ministers have committed to joining the federal system or creating their own independent offices of sport integrity by the end of 2023, and it remains to be seen whether university sports will join in that, Donnelly said.

Recently, the board for the provincial governing body Ontario University Athletics (OUA) approved a plan and proposal to implement a strategy for athletes to file complaints to an independent, third-party manager, said chief executive officer Gord Grace.

The organization is now working to communicate and implement the proposal, and will adjust its policies as needed when the Ontario government develops any regulations or legislation around safe sport, Grace added.

As for LU, Donnelly recommended the university take immediate steps to clearly adopt the nationally recognized 19-page UCCMS — which he says requires much more than the university's one-page safe sport policy currently mandates.

In a January interview following the publication of CBC's first investigation into the athletics department, incoming LU president Gillian Siddall said the allegations were "an issue of great concern" and she would do a broad review of Lakehead's programming, including the athletics department, once she starts.

Siddall's term begins July 1.