SOCCER STAR'S BRAVE ACTIONS HAVE LED TO A SERIES OF DISCIPLINARY STEPS AGAINST HER ABUSER
NAPERVILLE– Candice (Choquette) Fabry, a star athlete at Naperville's Neuqua Valley High School in the early 2000s, has bravely come forward this week as she publicly shared her story regarding incidences of sexual assault by a former coach/co-worker while attending the University of Toledo in 2007.
After giving a detailed account of the incident that shattered her world to global news organization The Guardian, Fabry's story went public on July 6, 2022. As a result, according to a recent Yahoo! News report, U.S. Soccer has since suspended the coaching license of Brad Evans, the former Toledo head coach currently working for a number of major organizations in Ohio. Evans was named as the abuser in Fabry's story by Fabry, as well as many other victims. The Guardian report outlined a litany of sexual misconduct allegations over the years.
Candice Fabry was a standout soccer player while she attended NVHS in Naperville, and later attended the University of Toledo, where she played, and later worked, for Brad Evans.
The report shared that Evans resigned as head coach of Toledo in 2015, reportedly after one former player, Candice Fabry, told an athletic department official that Evans had sexually assaulted her after hiring her as a volunteer assistant coach. No reason was publicly provided by the university and Evans alluded only to "interactions" with co-workers that "demonstrated poor judgment."
Since he resigned, Evans had resurfaced in leadership roles in youth soccer and education, serving as the head of coaching education for the Ohio Soccer Association and coaching in the Olympic Development Program in addition to his work as a US Soccer instructor.
According to Sports Illustrated, his coaching license is now suspended and Evans has been blocked from the organization’s learning center. He has also been removed from all instructional courses.
Candice is bravely speaking out about the sexual assault & harassment that she endured at Evans' hands during her time in college athletics, and has since inspired other athletes from that same college to speak up against the perpetrator that they all have in common.
This story contains accounts of sexual assault. If you or someone you know is a survivor of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673or at https://www.rainn.org.
