San Francisco (Special to ZennieReport.com) –
Intense criticism of STEPS Lacrosse over a coaching abuse scandal at St. Ignatius College Prep, San Francisco.
Despite repeated warnings of abuse of women’s lacrosse team members, STEPS California Lacrosse and St. Ignatius high school refused to investigate parent and student complaints about STEPS Lacrosse and SI women’s lacrosse coach Erin E. Burns.
STEPS Lacrosse Coach Erin E. Burns Had History Of Abuse
Parents discovered through an online search that Coach Burns had a history of abuse, lost her license to practice psychology, and had two DUIs. Yet, both STEPS and SI hired her knowing she had a history of abuse, drunken driving, lost her license, and a sordid history.
STEPS and SI are under the gun now that the London Daily Mail has exposed the abuse that both STEPS and St. Ignatius chose to ignore. Read the story here.
More than 2,100 parents, students, STEPS and SI alums have signed a change.org petition “Stop Abuse at St. Ignatius College Prep” demanding answers from both organizations.
Parents, students and alums are asking: Why did STEPS and St. Ignatius College Prep put winning before student athlete safety?
The London Daily Mail reported that “under fire and facing legal action, the 41-year-old Coach Burns short-circuited an investigation in Maryland by quitting and surrendering her license to practice psychology. That was in 2017.
“Her case received little media attention and not a single news outlet reported that her father is famed Ed Burns, a former homicide detective who teamed with David Simon to produce HBO‘s The Wire, the acclaimed TV series exploring the war on drugs on the streets of Baltimore.
“Erin Burns quietly packed up and moved to California, where she rebranded herself as a lacrosse coach.
St. Ignatius hired her in 2019, announcing that she’d earned a Ph.D. in psychology, but making no mention of her VA job but stating that she worked as a ‘senior research associate for a company based in Washington, D.C.’
“St. Ignatius– where tuition runs at $31,255 – touted her experience in athletics, sharing that she lettered in lacrosse and soccer before attending James Madison University and began coaching after suffering an injury.
“According to the profile, Burns moved to California in 2011 to complete her postdoc, then became executive director of the San Francisco Lacrosse Club and director of operations for the STEPS – Sportsmanship + Teamwork + Education + Pride = Success – lacrosse program in California.
“But the disgraced psychologist apparently managed to keep her past life a secret, as she led the St. Ignatius Wildcats through two Covid-affected seasons before winning the Central Coast Section championship in 2022.”
Now, STEPS Lacrosse and St. Ignatius parents, students and alums want answers about how these allegedly respected institutions failed to identify her abusive past history.