Carla Tejas: Texas university soccer coach accused of making out with students, asking them for bail money
Trigger warning: The article mentions suicide which could be traumatic to some readers. Discretion is advised.
ODESSA, TEXAS: A group of players from the University of Texas Permian Basin's women's soccer team wrote an anonymous letter to the school and the NCAA, alleging that their coach, Carla Tejas, had made out with students and begged them to bail her out of jail when she was arrested for DUI. The letter has since led to the suspension of the coach.
Tejas, 28, was arrested for DUI on September 11, 2022, after authorities claimed she had slurred speech and stumbled while taking sobriety tests at a traffic check, the New York Post reported. A letter containing numerous allegations against Tejas was delivered by members of the soccer team to the university, NCAA, and Lone Star Conference after her detention. The students expressed concern that the institution would "sweep her arrest under the rug." According to the letter, the head coach's first year involved many NCAA and school violations. Her actions are also thought to have contributed to several students suffering from emotional trauma and self-harm. The accusations against Tejas include kissing members of the men's soccer team in public, serving alcohol to minors, and requesting players to contribute to her DUI bail, which some did, according to Kayler Smith, the sports director of KMID's ABC Big 2 Sports, in a series of tweets. The athletes said that Tejas re-entered a game she had previously been removed from and resumed coaching while disguising herself and using a two-way radio.
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As neither the university nor the NCAA had a DUI policy, she was permitted to carry on coaching after her arrest, according to KMID. At a news conference on October 3, the school's athletic director Todd Doley informed the media that the department is looking into the accusations made against Tejas who has been placed on paid administrative leave. “Our focus has always been and will always be unwavering support for student-athletes. Period. That doesn’t change now or ever. So I want to make that perfectly clear. Our support is clearly squarely on our student-athletes,” Dooley said.
Former athletes who played under Tejas at other institutions have come forward alleging more violations after the news of her arrest and the letter from her players leaked. One of the players Tejas coached at Belhaven University for two years as a graduate student informed KMID that Tejas had made her consider suicide. One more said that she had attempted suicide. “She’s telling me everybody hates me and nobody wants me on the team and this had been after a few months of abuse from Carla. That was the tipping point with a lot of other things that had gone on mainly from Carla and Kimberly Harrell that led to me attempting suicide that day,” former Belhaven soccer player Nolyn Murphy said. Tejas coached at Louisiana Christian University before taking the reins as head coach at UTPB.
If you or anyone you know suspects child abuse, you are urged to immediately call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential and the hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).