The board of Volleyball Australia has issued an apology to former players who suffered through “an environment of fear,” coercive control, physical and psychological abuse.

The apology was issued to players in the Australian women’s indoor team who were based at the Australian Institute of Sport between 1997 and 2005 who were as young as 14.

In a statement the board wrote: “We have heard that you experienced an environment of fear, unacceptable and punitive training practices, a lack of coach accountability, coaches disregarding advice from medical and performance support staff, limited athlete support and inadequate complaint handling mechanisms.

“We are deeply sorry for the ongoing effects these experiences have had on your life, and on your relationship with the sport of volleyball and with Volleyball Australia.

“We unreservedly apologise for that harm,” the statement says.

A former player, who only wants to be known as Selina, says the team trained in an “atmosphere of fear and control as we over-trained seven hours a day, six days a week”.

“Training became punishment, and we endured verbal and physical abuse, humiliation, insignificant recovery time, favouritism, isolation, excessive penalties, and body-shaming,” Selina said.

“We were belittled and called ‘weak’, ‘pathetic’, and ‘useless’ by coaches and accused of ‘making excuses’ when we were in fact injured.

“It was an environment where no athlete could thrive, and some were broken and driven out of the program.

“Another player was pushed to the point of hyperventilating and vomiting up in bins.

“She was bleeding from her hips because of court burn all the time from diving to get balls.

“Another athlete, now coping with PTSD stemming from her time at the AIS, has been hospitalised multiple times in the past four years since this process started, reliving the trauma she endured during her experience there.”

Selina said one team member recounted a memory of watching a teammate doing a drill who said: “She couldn’t even walk, and her lips turned blue, and her face was white … then we found out later she got sent to the hospital.”

She said another player recalled being pushed to play with a fractured finger.

The apology has come four years after the former players approached Volleyball Australia with their concerns about their treatment.

That led to Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) conducting a confidential review of the program between 1997 and 2005 which was completed in 2022.

The SIA review found:

“A culture of fear and punishment which caused harm to many players.

“The lack of oversight of coaching methods allowed unacceptable behaviour to go unchecked and when issues were raised, they were not addressed in an appropriate manner.

“The recommendations from this review aim to inform VA on areas they need to address to protect against this type of culture and behaviour from recurring.”

The review made seven recommendations including that Volleyball Australia set up a restorative justice process and issue an apology.

Despite that it has taken a further two years for VA to apologise – a delay that has angered the former players.

The general secretary of Australia’s Athlete’s Alliance Jacob Holmes, who helped facilitate the players talks with VA, said he was pleased to see the historic apology.

“The players have demonstrated immense resilience throughout this lengthy four-year process,” he said.