Gina Thomas (Oliver) Reviews

This is a coach who has a very difficult time preparing her team for games and even great difficulty making any kind of adjustments during the game. She is a poor communicator and stubborn to a fault. She demonstrated favoritism and communicated with only a select few members of the team and their families. She makes empty promises and does not hold all players to the same standards. Basically lacks the integrity, intelligence and communication skills to be an effective coach. If you actually break down her coaching record her wins are against teams that have losing records. Regret my decision to play for her, but taught me so much about how I will carry myself as I move into coaching this beautiful sport .

I played 4 years under Gina and wouldn't change my college experience at all. As a division 1 athlete, I expected to be pushed to my highest potential every single day and that's exactly what she did. Gina was always direct and honest when it came to playing time and performance which I appreciated and made me a better player. Yes, we had "punishment workouts" aka EIs but they were to hold us accountable for things we were supposed to do (be on time, wear the correct practice clothes that day, etc.) so when those standards weren't met, we had a consequence just as you would for anything else in life. At the same time, we were also rewarded for things and did A TON of fun activities. Red/Black days where we competed in fun activities as a team, went to Disney World, cool restaurants on the road, etc. Gina is tough and hardcore but by no means a "bully" or inconsiderate to player's feelings or health. I sustained an injury during two seasons and was never expected to play hurt, come back too early or push myself to a point of anther injury. The coaching staff, strength and conditioning staff, and athletic training staff all worked together and were all more than supportive in my recovery and getting me back on the field. I feel as a head coach, Gina's leadership is top notch and she also focused on building us as young women preparing for the real world, not just lacrosse players. As a captain, we focused a lot on leadership techniques which I have very much so taken into the professional world and has helped me greatly in my career. I give a lot of credit to Gina and UC lacrosse when it comes to my success as an adult, being able to manage my time, and navigate the real world. I would 10/10 recommend Gina as a coach and like I said, wouldn’t change my college experience at all. I could go on and on, but I think there are people who expect to have their hand held in college athletics and while Gina won’t do that, she will push you to be the best version of yourself which will get you much further in life than being coddled.

(Just recently heard about this website.) I have known Gina for over 9 years through taking my daughters to camps/clinics/tournaments/games/etc. Loved her intensity and direct honesty with players and with me as a parent. As a member of the Bearcat Family i appreciated the honesty my daughters received from the coaching staff...may not have always been what they wanted to hear. Their experience may not have always been roses but they learned that life away from their parents is a time for them to grow up and be held responsible and accountable from someone else in a Leadership position. Was Gina "hard", "intense", "direct"...100% she was and that is what I expected from a Head Coach for my daughters. I have witnessed my girls mature and become accountable while they were at UC playing lacrosse. Playing time was different for both my girls, but in team sports there is competition and the best play. Understand that everyone's experiences may be different, but bottom line, would I send my daughters to UC again if I could do it all over again...absolutely!

Parents of athletes and athletes do your due diligence on coaches and programs. Having known Gina for over a decade from the recruiting process onwards I genuinely wish I went elsewhere. As a 15-17 year old kid… let me highlight that again a kid… it is very easy to be manipulated into her web. The recruiting process with her is all smiles, flashiness and high praise. Come on campus and it is not that what so ever. Tommy Tuberville (University of Cincinnati Football Coach) only lasted 3 seasons at UC for poor performance and management, but Gina has been with the school for over a decade and little to write home about. Why? This is more about the establishment itself. So here are some of the tales… in my tenure with the team she went through 4 athletic trainers and 3 strength trainers. A lot like the review above with a concussion I got a concussion as well. I was supposed to be resting but she had me out running still fully participating. This lead me to fear telling the staff about anything. Her control of a room was through fear it was obvious. We would have 3 hour pow wows and “heart to hearts” as a team basically having her ask “Jane Doe what has Sally Doe done to you air your issues” and the two players would awkwardly fight in front of the team. She loved pinning players against each other and it is not shocking she is still losing with this mentality. Now let’s move onto picking captains… one season we had another pow wow where we had to write on a small piece of paper who we thought would be captain she said she would not look and it would be anonymous… as we were walking out the room as we handed her the papers she would open our folded papers and read who we put. We lost a tight game in Detroit by a goal and when we got back to the team hotel with dinner next to us we had to sit in the very public lobby and be screamed at for over 1.5 hours with some hotel guests unaffiliated with us as the receptionists to call the cops on Gina for disorderly conduct and disturbance of piece. But some of the parents on the team told those folks to not call the cops it is very normal for her to pull this. From a lacrosse IQ perspective we got out coached every game. She has no originality in her wheel house and her plays and systems are exposed and exploited constantly. We did try to standup to her and protest and not practice but it was mishandled by the AD and UC. We for a week refused to practice and only for a season was she under intense scrutiny. As a young athlete it was tough to play under her, she would tell us “you guys pay my salary” or “I could cut you all and the AD would not be mad”.

In the 2 years I was at UC, 11 players quit or transferred (and several I played with during that time left later). The way she treated players led to significant long-lasting injuries. For instance, she made one player with stress fractures still complete run tests and participate in training. Within a semester, she developed compartment syndrome and needed surgery on both legs, resulting in her being in a wheelchair for weeks and on crutches for weeks after that. She consistently had pain for over a year and was forced to quit. This wasn’t uncommon — when I was injured, she gaslit me, told me that I was just sore and being dramatic, and accused me of faking it. After 6 months of practicing with extreme pain (collapsing during workouts, shooting pain down my legs, constant discomfort even when lying down), she told me not to seek an opinion from another doctor because it would upset the team doc and it wouldn’t be covered by the school’s health insurance (it was). Once I was diagnosed, I was told that it would have only taken a few weeks for me to recover if I had rested when I originally injured it. Instead, I had about 4 more months of no exercise after my diagnosis, then about a year of PT until I fully recovered. It was also common for girls with bronchitis or the stomach flu to still practice and condition. When an AT said a player was too sick to practice, Gina yelled at her and threatened to get her fired. The AT never again suggested a player couldn’t practice . Gina also created an environment based entirely around fear. She gave punishment workouts known as “EIs” for things as trivial as leaving a pencil out in the weight room. She regularly threatened to cut girls or the entire team, which seemed very truthful because something similar happened with M. Soccer and baseball the year before. She said that we couldn’t make any complaints with the athletic department because they liked her and the AD would support her decision to cut us (which apparently is true because nothing happened when players finally did go to the AD). She was also very unprofessional when dealing with internal conflict. For instance, rather than dealing with issues between players in private, we once had a 3 hour team meeting to discuss drama. A lot of these topics were really delicate and they weren’t handled well, resulting in several players crying. They deserved more support.

I was a freshman during Gina's second year at Cincinnati and quit after one year because it was so bad. I was recruited by Lellie and the differences between what I signed up for and what I got were immense. We had insane punishments and the overall mentality of the team was so toxic. The most dangerous thing I think Gina does is gaslight players about their injuries. I got a very serious concussion and Gina did not believe me and almost stopped me from taking the concussion test because she thought I was being dramatic. Many similar stories from teammates about injuries not being taken seriously and girls made to feel like they were being babies or lying about being hurt. Once season came around several players starting having panic attacks over fear of punishments. If we forgot literally anything the whole team would have a punishment workout. One time we played badly and Gina took away all of our issued gear and we had to walk home from the locker room in whatever we had..some girls did not have shoes and it was February. Worst coach ever, do not recommend.

Gina Oliver was one of the best lacrosse players to play the game. Unfortunately her playing ability did not translate well to coaching. She is a poor communicator, pits players against one another and always demonstrated favoritism. Gina consistently violated NCAA guidelines, exceeding the number of practice hours, and practice days allowed. I have no idea how she has gotten away with this and was not called into the compliance office for her violations. Her abuse resulted in a whole recruiting class, leaving and threatening to quit the team due to violations and mistreatment. This abuse led to many injuries from over training . Gina Oliver could not keep a conditioning coach. She treated them with no respect resulting in multiple conditioning coaches leaving in a four year period. Gina has done nothing for the program, as far as effort to create a positive culture and climate. Despite her extensive experience and knowledge of the game, she is a terrible coach. She has put together only one winning season and frankly I’m not sure how she still has a job. Gina is a bully, her assistant coaches were afraid of her and she did not allow them to have say in anything that went on with the team. They both quit in the same year. She has no interest or ability to read the needs of her players or awareness of their mental health. Overall a horrible experience.

Athletes beware. Gina will say all the right things during the recruiting process and then once you are there you will find out that she’s nothing like what was advertised. Frequent mind games and doesn’t communicate with players in an honest and open manner. Doesn’t value academics and penalizes players who prioritize academics. Is not approachable and you can’t come to her with issues without repercussions. Any HS girls considering UC should look elsewhere.

I played for Gina for four years- here is a brief summary of what I witnessed and went through: Conditioning sessions where multiple people became physically exhausted and unable to continue- which they were berated in front of the team for for being “weak” or “soft” Multiple girls being sent to the hospital due to Gina’s conditionings or practices More than half of the team being injured during fall seasons due to Gina’s conditioning Strength coaches being fired (repeatedly) for refusing to condition us as hard as Gina wanted them to Gina did not visit several of her players in the hospital post surgery One player was hospitalized for mental health due to treatment by Gina and Gina did not visit her or check up on her afterwards Forcing players to incorrectly accept CARA logs through implied threats of punishment- practices being lengthened for reporting incorrect CARA logs Told team multiple times that lacrosse should come before school Gina said to the team “I don’t care if I’m the reason you have to go talk to someone about your mental health” one week after a player was hospitalized for mental health reasons Routine physical punishments, which could and often did last up to 3 hours (the entire practice block) Constantly pinning players against one another Encouraged team not to receive covid shots during the 2021 season and punished those who were sick after receiving their shot Physically and verbally intimidated players on the sidelines Bullied players routinely about personal things during practice Made a player cry after berating them for being injured (yes, really) The list goes on and on. I have seen gina ruin and de rail the careers of many talented young women. Very few people who finish her program will say that Gina had any sort of positive impact on their lives- but many will tell you about the awful mental and physical abuse they suffered, and the mental consequences that will follow them for the rest of their lives. Not to mention she has had one winning season in her 10+ years at Cincinnati, which only occurred after Gina was put under heavy watch due to the entire team refusing to practice or play until she was held accountable for how she treated them.