16-year-old hockey player refuses to return to her former robotics team after the 51-year-old coach kicked her out: 'Dave demanded I come back to the team. I said no. You can’t kick me off a team, then beg me to come back?'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Feb 18, 2026 8:00 AM EST

He's a horrible, delusional person who deserves to lose his job. 

High school elective teachers are some of the most deranged people on the planet. This is obviously not true across the board. If your art teacher was your favorite person when you were 16, you are valid. But nearly everyone I know had either a coach or music teacher who was a total freak. My theory is that many high school coaches/arts teachers are failed athletes/artists who never quite got over not making it big. They look back on their youth and wish someone had pushed them harder, so they push the kids they teach as hard as they can. They do so without realizing that most kids who play school basketball do so because it's fun, not because they think they're going to go D1. They're delusional enough to think that if they push their theatre students hard enough, they will make it to Broadway someday.

Maybe deranged elective teachers don't actually think that their "tough love" approach will create great results. Maybe they just hate their jobs and their lives, so they take out their frustrations on teenagers who did nothing wrong. If they are resentful that they are a teacher instead of a scientist, a professional singer, or a professional athlete, they're going to see the children they're responsible for as villains, even when they're nothing of the sort. The kids aren't the reason they aren't a success!

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  • 01
    Two students work together on a complex machine
    via Andrej Lišakov (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The robotics instructor in this story is totally out of line. He kicked a young girl off his team after accusing her of flirting with the boys. A year later, he begged her to come back so he could have her design the team shirts. Talk about a loser!

  • 02

    Am I the bad guy for not returning to a robotics team after getting kicked off?

    I (16F) was apart of a robotics team for 2 years. Before it was a robotics team I was in the tech team.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 03
    I mainly did it because I had an interest in STEM (living in a rural area it's hard to find anything close to clubs that relate to it) and some of my friends were in it as well.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 04
    I also play ice hockey, and I've had a commitment to my team and playing hockey for longer than I was apart of the robotics team, since I hoped to one day play college hockey.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 05
    However, my hockey team got the short end of the stick this year and a lot of games were out of town.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 06
    Our roster is pretty small as it is, and a lot of girls double roster, so if you can show up to a game, you need to.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 07
    A group of young people paying a game of ice hockey
    via April Walker

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 08
    My robotics team had meetings and practice on Saturdays, which on most Saturdays, I was playing hockey out of
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon

    town.

  • 09
    The guy who runs the team had no issue with it, as long as I showed up for the actual meets because I'm one of the best speakers for the team.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 10
    I showed up to the actual meets, and did my job. Apparently however, I wasn't interacting enough with the other girls on the team, who I recently cut off except for necessary interactions due to personal reasons, which is not something I want to get into right now.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 11
    I stuck closer to the boys on the team, not because I had crushes on them, but because I found they were easier to talk to and i had never gotten to know them before.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 12
    Our team leader (51M) "Dave", decided I was only talking with the boys to try and get romantic with them.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 13
    That I was stunting team growth because of it. He kicked me off the team the following week, also with the argument that I didn't spend enough time on the robotics team, and spent too much time on hockey.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 14
    I remember feeling a sense of relief, because I wasn't planning on doing the robotics team next year and I was just glad it over soon.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 15
    The robotics team went to the state competition, I played hockey, and apparently they made it to a championship in Chicago this summer.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 16
    A group of students building and programming electric toys and robots at robotics classroom
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 17
    Good for them. I returned my team shirt, my parents don't plan on sponsoring them anymore, neither do my grandparents, and I was content on focusing on hockey fully.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 18
    Dave however started to cal me every day, asking if I could design a new design for shirts and get my parents to buy them, as I did the logo work and my parents sponsored the gear and clothing we got.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 19
    I remember saying something along the lines of "not my problem anymore." Which... yeah a bit harsh.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 20
    Dave was livid however, because my aunt runs the business that makes the team shirts, my parents have always paid for them and I've always designed what goes on them.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 21
    Dave demanded I come back to the team. I said no. You can't kick me off a team, then beg me to come back???
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 22
    Dave called me a spoiled brat, the girls I cut off are now texting me from different numbers calling me the B word and other such insults.
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 23
    I don't know. I don't think I did anything wrong. AITA?
    via u/Europa_JupiterMoon
  • 24
    hyperspace_hussy So you have a 51 year old man calling you to harass you and your parents haven't called the cops yet? NTA at all. Call the cops and report him for harassment then call the school and file an official complaint of harassment with them also. Im not sure how it works where you are but in most places teachers are not allowed to contact students privately
    via u/hyperspace_hussy
  • 25
    snack-scream-repeat NTA. Report this both to your parents and to school authorities. This needs to be nipped in the bud now.
    via u/snack-scream-repeat
  • 26
    SpecialProfile2697 Your parents should be shutting that crop down immediately. If you haven't told them, do so. NTA
    via u/SpecialProfile2697
  • 27
    definitelynotfbi13 If a 51 year old man is really calling a 16 year old girl to disrespectfully make entitled demands for an extracurricular that he booted you from ... that's not a You problem. You tell your parents everything, and they will make it a Him Problem with an extra side of GTFO from the school board.
    via u/definitelynotfbi13
  • 28
    Dense_Abroad_4571 NTA. It's best you not return to the club. You know you're being used for your family contacts. I'm assuming this club is not a stand alone and is part of a larger organization (e.g. school, boys and girls club). It's time to contact the leadership in that organization and lay out exactly what's going on. BTW, great job on your writing skills.
    via u/Dense_Abroad_4571
  • 29
    FederalLie3196 NTAH. But this adult man needs shut down and the girls. A report to the sheriffs office and or prosecutor...by your parents, is required.
    via u/FederalLie3196

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rural robotics activities teenagers hockey stem teacher high school coach parents
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