My College Soccer Trauma

For the first time, Alex opens up about what she endured while playing Division 1 soccer at Boston University and how she’s worked to find healing through Call Her Daddy ten years later.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Alex Cooper?

  Hi Daddy Gang. So there is no new Call Her Daddy episode this week because I just officially released my documentary, Call Her Alex on Hulu. I cannot believe I'm finally getting to say that. I'm feeling extremely proud and emotional, but if I'm being honest, I also feel nervous and scared.

• 0:31Alex Cooper?

  Most people obviously know me as the host of Call Her Daddy, right? But I realize in releasing this new documentary, the world is gonna learn about the one thing I've never really talked about before,

• 0:48Alex Cooper?

  which is the years of traumatic sexual harassment I endured from my college soccer coach.

• 1:01Alex Cooper?

  It took me a decade to tell this story, and I'll be honest, even saying the words to you right now, I was sexually harassed by my college soccer coach. I still feel uneasy and uncomfortable and anxious with all of it. There is no right way to talk about it and open up about this.

• 1:24Alex Cooper?

  But if I have learned anything from Call Her Daddy, there is such power in conversation. So why now, you may be asking? Over two years ago, I went on my first live podcast tour, and I thought it would be fun to just have a documentary crew follow the journey. So I could share some of the chaotic behind the scenes moments along the way for anyone that couldn't come and enjoy. But the entire direction of the film changed after my opening tour stop in Boston. I had told the director that I wasn't sure I wanted to get into

• 2:08Alex Cooper?

  what happened to me in college in this documentary. I figured, let's keep it light, let's keep it fun, let's just approach it with a more positive energy. And she was obviously extremely supportive and understanding, but she did encourage me while we were in Boston.

• 2:29Alex Cooper?

  Go back to BU, visit campus for the first time since I graduated, go back to the soccer field and just see what came up for me.

• 2:43Alex Cooper?

  And the minute I stepped on that field, I felt so small.

• 2:51Alex Cooper?

  Money, power, status, followers, years of therapy, none of it mattered. I felt like I was 18 years old again, completely powerless with no voice. And the minute I saw Nickerson Field, I broke down and I started sobbing. I didn't realize how much I had suppressed and how much I was still carrying with me.

• 3:23Alex Cooper?

  And I think I've hesitated to share my story for various reasons. I think the first obvious is that it's really painful to talk about. And I think a part of me also feels embarrassed that this happened to me, the call her daddy girl.

• 3:44Alex Cooper?

  In coming forward, I was also afraid of retaliation.

• 3:51Alex Cooper?

  I also worried people would downplay or dismiss the severity of what I experienced because the abuse wasn't physical. And with a podcast that focuses on empowering women, I felt shame that my abuser happened to be a woman. And I was worried that sharing my story could quite literally undermine everything I stand for. Fuck the patriarchy, fuck misogyny. And so I kept going back and forth, back and forth to tell the world what happened, to not talk about it. What do I do?

• 4:36Alex Cooper?

  But then something happened where I immediately knew without a doubt that it was time for me to speak up. Towards the end of filming this documentary, new information came to light. I found out that other women had stepped onto that same field and experienced the same harassment I did. I discovered that the abuse and trauma I had been subjected to at Boss University was still actively happening on that campus in 2025, a decade after I left.

• 5:20Alex Cooper?

  And I spoke directly with one of the victims. Everything changed for me that day. And it really put in perspective that the harassment and abuse of power was and is so much bigger than me. It is systemic and it's happening everywhere. And so I realized that if a woman in my position who has power and a platform is still fearful,

• 6:01Alex Cooper?

  is still scared of speaking out about my own lived experience of sexual harassment, how the hell will any other woman feel safe and confident to come forward? Opening up about this in the documentary, yes, it is a way for me to share not only what I've endured, but what women continue to endure everywhere, every single day. So I'm here, Daddy Gang, today to say to any other victims, you are not alone. I see you. I believe you. And I stand with you.

• 6:48Alex Cooper?

  I know that this experience doesn't define me. And there are so many beautiful moments of my life that I also got to share over the course of filming this project. You will see parts of my wedding, my family, my closest friends. I'm showing it all. But it was extremely important for me to come on today and say, just, thank you, daddy gang. Because I, I wouldn't be able to heal and grow and be sitting on this fucking couch and release this type of documentary if I didn't have you.

• 7:33Alex Cooper?

  Literally, I wouldn't be here without all of you. So, thank you so much for always fucking supporting me. And I hope you know, the support is mutual.

• 7:45Alex Cooper?

  So, with that said, I love you guys. Go watch Call Her Alex on Hulu. Love you. Bye.