Stephen F. Austin bowling assistant coach. Story with quotes is absolutely wild:
NACOGDOCHES — Stephen F. Austin State University assistant bowling coach Steve Lemke chose to resign rather than be fired this spring after the university discovered he had an affair with a student-athlete.
Lemke, 38, who is married to head coach Amber Lemke, resigned April 10 from the program he helped coach to two national titles and two second-place finishes.
“He’s not working here anymore,” SFA athletic director Ryan Ivey said. “From a departmental standpoint, he had a choice and he chose to resign.”
The Daily Sentinel has chosen not to identify the athlete, who was a member of the bowling team.
Steve Lemke defended his actions and said the relationship was consensual but might have been “amplified to the magnitude that it is now because of the national championship caliber that we’ve developed. I think it’s more of an ethics thing when it comes to the college as far as a coach/teacher being with a student-athlete.”
Women’s bowling is the only sport at SFA to win a national title after the university moved up to NCAA’s Division I. The bowling team was the NCAA champion in 2016 and 2019. The bowlers finished as runner-up in 2015 and 2022.
Although Lemke and the athlete are two consenting adults, they violated the university’s relationship rules, Ivey said.
Steve and Amber Lemke have since filed for divorce, according to court records.
Amber Lemke did not respond to requests for comment.
“I knew it was kind of a no-no, but there’s not a rule saying it can’t happen,” Steve Lemke said. “There’s not a law saying I’m going to go to jail for doing something like this. There’s nothing in stone. I guess it’s just an ethics code, like we frown upon it, but there’s no rule, there’s no law broken.”
Consensual sexual relationships between faculty and students at the college level are not prohibited under state law, but many universities have policies in place prohibiting those types of relationships.
The affair with the bowler was discovered when Amber Lemke saw a text message from her on Steve Lemke’s phone, he said.
“It didn’t have anything in detail,” Steve Lemke said of the text. “It was just about how amazing I am, basically, in general perspective. Amber saw that and questioned me, and I got to the point where it just built up so much that I basically told her the truth after she dug through my phone.”
SFA’s bowling program started in 2009. Amber Lemke was hired in the 2011-2012 school year, and Steve Lemke was a volunteer assistant until Sept. 1, 2019, when he was officially hired as an assistant coach. He reported directly to Loree McCary, associate athletic director for administration because of state nepotism laws.
“I was the stay-at-home dad for five years with the kids while Amber got to go off and coach the team, and when she’d get back, I’d run practices on top of taking care of the kids while she was back,” Steve Lemke said. “When they’d travel again, I would sit back and take care of the kids. Then when I got hired on, she almost forced me to run practices. I was a volunteer the entire time before that trying to help out Amber. Once I got hired on, one thing stemmed from another. I felt like I was doing too much for what I was being valued at.”
Amber Lemke will return as head coach.
The athlete Steve Lemke had the affair with has no eligibility and will not return to the team.
“As soon as we found out, we went through the process,” Ivey said. “We support our student athletes and obviously Amber, with what was going on.”
lufkindailynews.com
NACOGDOCHES — Stephen F. Austin State University assistant bowling coach Steve Lemke chose to resign rather than be fired this spring after the university discovered he had an affair with a student-athlete.
Lemke, 38, who is married to head coach Amber Lemke, resigned April 10 from the program he helped coach to two national titles and two second-place finishes.
“He’s not working here anymore,” SFA athletic director Ryan Ivey said. “From a departmental standpoint, he had a choice and he chose to resign.”
The Daily Sentinel has chosen not to identify the athlete, who was a member of the bowling team.
Steve Lemke defended his actions and said the relationship was consensual but might have been “amplified to the magnitude that it is now because of the national championship caliber that we’ve developed. I think it’s more of an ethics thing when it comes to the college as far as a coach/teacher being with a student-athlete.”
Women’s bowling is the only sport at SFA to win a national title after the university moved up to NCAA’s Division I. The bowling team was the NCAA champion in 2016 and 2019. The bowlers finished as runner-up in 2015 and 2022.
Although Lemke and the athlete are two consenting adults, they violated the university’s relationship rules, Ivey said.
Steve and Amber Lemke have since filed for divorce, according to court records.
Amber Lemke did not respond to requests for comment.
“I knew it was kind of a no-no, but there’s not a rule saying it can’t happen,” Steve Lemke said. “There’s not a law saying I’m going to go to jail for doing something like this. There’s nothing in stone. I guess it’s just an ethics code, like we frown upon it, but there’s no rule, there’s no law broken.”
Consensual sexual relationships between faculty and students at the college level are not prohibited under state law, but many universities have policies in place prohibiting those types of relationships.
The affair with the bowler was discovered when Amber Lemke saw a text message from her on Steve Lemke’s phone, he said.
“It didn’t have anything in detail,” Steve Lemke said of the text. “It was just about how amazing I am, basically, in general perspective. Amber saw that and questioned me, and I got to the point where it just built up so much that I basically told her the truth after she dug through my phone.”
SFA’s bowling program started in 2009. Amber Lemke was hired in the 2011-2012 school year, and Steve Lemke was a volunteer assistant until Sept. 1, 2019, when he was officially hired as an assistant coach. He reported directly to Loree McCary, associate athletic director for administration because of state nepotism laws.
“I was the stay-at-home dad for five years with the kids while Amber got to go off and coach the team, and when she’d get back, I’d run practices on top of taking care of the kids while she was back,” Steve Lemke said. “When they’d travel again, I would sit back and take care of the kids. Then when I got hired on, she almost forced me to run practices. I was a volunteer the entire time before that trying to help out Amber. Once I got hired on, one thing stemmed from another. I felt like I was doing too much for what I was being valued at.”
Amber Lemke will return as head coach.
The athlete Steve Lemke had the affair with has no eligibility and will not return to the team.
“As soon as we found out, we went through the process,” Ivey said. “We support our student athletes and obviously Amber, with what was going on.”
Spare relationship causes awkward split
NACOGDOCHES — Stephen F. Austin State University assistant bowling coach Steve Lemke chose to resign rather than be fired this spring after the university discovered he had an affair with
