A History of Exceptional Dentistry

potential dangers and inherent power imbalances in the coach-athlete relationship,” Smith said on the show.

Despite its dismissal, the lawsuit represented a “tremendous call to action” that could help empower athletes at every level by promoting lasting institutional change within the bodies responsible for athletes’ well-being, Smith added.

In March 2020, USA Today reporter Christine Brennan’s story about the allegations against Rembao broke the same week COVID-19 lockdowns dominated the headlines. “It was overshadowed and not as groundbreaking as we hoped,” Erin says.

Nonetheless, the negative publicity and SafeSport sanctions ended Rembao’s last coaching job. Los Gatos High School terminated his employment after hearing of his SafeSport suspension, according to the Sentinel.

Erin was pleased with SafeSport’s quick action despite its voluminous case load.

“I think the reason we pretty much instantaneously got him banned was because he was coaching high school girls,” she says. “That bumped it up to the very top. We got him out of sports, which was the objective in all of this.”

During the pandemic, Erin’s career in commercial real estate seemed doomed (“we did not know if the world was ending or what,” she says). Her husband (chief academic officer at an online college) works remotely, so they sold their Southern California house to return to Dallas.

Today they live in Lakewood, and Erin, after working with a performance and life coach, decided to become one herself.

In her new role as owner of Ascension Coaching & Consulting, her most painful experiences have become some of her most valuable assets.

“I have been in so many places, competed at the highest level in two sports, lost and regained motivation, been unhappy and happy,” she says. “I just knew I had to leverage it all and help others going through similar phases in life.”