Firstly, I would like to apologize
to anyone that suffered because of my actions. I make no excuses for my mistakes
and will accept any consequences for them.
I would also like to provide some
context for the allegations leveled against me. I was holding off on composing a
response to wait for the report from SafeSport to be released, which should be
soon, but I felt it was time to say something. My expectation is not to change
anyone’s mind, but just to give my perspective.
The allegations brought by Christine
Chen were brought by her to SafeSport I believe in January of this year, and we
at BBC were informed of that by her at the time. This is the first time
anything like this had been brought to my or the club’s attention. According to
the information provided to me by Geoff Stensland (owner of BBC), SafeSport
immediately requested an investigation by detectives with the Bellevue Police as is their standard operating procedure. They
conducted an investigation, and cleared it later that month, with the recommendation
to not have an adult alone with a student at any time. That policy and other safety
policies for athletes and coaches were brought to all of the coaches by Geoff in
a meeting almost immediately. Subsequently, SafeSport began their own investigation
into the allegations. They spoke to me many months later as their last
interview, going point by point over them. The investigator seemed satisfied
with what she had gathered, and I inquired as to what more we could or should
be doing as a club and as coaches. We were informed that we were doing
everything correctly and that a decision would be rendered within 60 days. That
was at least 3 months ago, and we have requested that they provide a report as
soon as possible.
As to the content of the allegations,
I would like to provide some context. I don’t intend this to be a point by point
response, but to give a sense of what has transpired.
My actions were undoubtably unprofessional.
I did not grasp the impact of what I said and did could and would have on my
students. I was both stubborn and lacked self-esteem and awareness.
When I first moved to Bellevue to be
a coach, colleagues gave me advice to not try to be friends with the students.
I thought I didn’t have to listen, and that I was different. I was coming in following
an extremely popular coach in Raju Rai, and I wanted to be loved just as much
as him. When I was a young athlete, the political landscape of the sport stripped
all my training mates from me (whom I considered to be family) overnight. They weren’t
allowed to speak to me or my family, and most wouldn’t even look at me. I swore
that I would never put a single athlete through that pain, and that everyone
that I coached would be like family. I had groups of kids over to play board games
and video games at my apartment. It was always an open invitation. In the case
of the allegation surrounding me asking a student to come over because my girlfriend
wasn’t there, there were multiple students invited and the comment about my
girlfriend meant that we all had the run of the place. When we went to
tournaments, I would hang out with the kids, wanting to be one of the group and
trying to counsel them through how to handle tournament situations like I would
with my former teammates. I worked with many students that were self-harming,
and more than one that were suicidal, invariably young girls. I had no training
and little idea how to handle these situations.
In my first year or two of coaching,
I talked to the kids as though they were my friends and didn’t make much of an
attempt to weigh the impact of my words as I didn’t hold my role as coach in
that high of esteem. I was playful and teasing with them; I didn’t put it
together that my words would be discomforting or demeaning to a student. If I
could go back with what I know now and redo how I spoke I would.
I would also like to address the
allegations surrounding massaging students. Again, there is a significant amount
of truth to the facts presented, but I would like to present context. Every
athlete in our team program knows that if you have an injury the other coaches
will refer you to Nick. I’m definitely not a doctor, but I have significant
experience dealing with injuries, both my own and those of others. I will do everything
in my power to help get you healthy and back on court as quickly as is safe for
you. I will research the injury, draw on all resources I have available
including physical therapists and trainers, and recommend you see the
professionals in those fields as strongly as I can. Many students don’t want to
tell their parents that they are injured, or their parents are unwilling to
spend the money to seek qualified help. I empathize with this, as I only
started doing real physical therapy and receiving manipulation treatment for my
injuries after my injury-riddled career was finished. My coaches tried to help
me in much the same way I’ve tried to pay it forward. Since then I have worked with
many physical and massage therapists and trainers for myself and the kids. In
these cases, I have responded by offering to help these students for free whilst
making sure they know that I am not certified and can only do for them what I have
learned through my own experience.
If a student requested this from me
and would not see a trainer or therapist on their own (or we were at a
tournament and they asked for immediate attention), I would to the extent I
knew how provide active release therapy, myofascial release, or would apply Kinesio
Tape or mild muscle relaxant as necessary. Many athletes of both genders requested this, and I would
always attempt to make them as comfortable as possible. I without exception
requested they inform me if any part of what was happening was making them in
any way uncomfortable and would not continue if informed of that. Sometimes
this required access to their back or upper leg. I was once informed, and immediately stopped. I was aware of the risk this
afforded me, as that is unprofessional behavior for a coach unlicensed in
manipulation therapy. My intentions were to relieve the student of whatever
pain they were in, and hopefully improve their physical performance in the upcoming
training or tournament. I was arrogant in thinking that what I was doing was a
positive thing, and I was unaware until these allegations were brought forward that
any athlete suffered because of it.
Just to be completely clear, I don’t
mean this statement to any way be a diminishing of the validity of any suffering
I directly or indirectly caused. I am devastated that the results of my actions
here do not align with my purpose in life and wish to atone for this in any way
possible.
I tried to be a coach, a friend, a
counselor, a physical therapist, a physical trainer, and massage therapist for
the kids. I was stubborn and arrogant in thinking that it was my place to play
any of those roles beyond being a coach. I truly regret any suffering I caused
by trying to be more than what I was qualified for. If there is anything I can
do to help anyone who has made an allegation heal or more forward, please let
me know and I will do everything in my power to do it. I have nothing but love
for all my students and former students with no exceptions. I hope the BBC and general
badminton community can move forward and continue to be vibrant and strong for
years to come, with or without me.
I would also like to apologize to
Christine Chen and her family, for the way I handled your leaving our program 7
years ago. I was young, inexperienced, and hot headed; I did not know how to
solve that situation in a way that could work out to be the best for everyone,
and I regret that things happened the way they did. I wish I could have been
humble enough to make amends before, and I'm aware this is likely too little too late.
Thank you for your time.
-Nick Jinadasa
