Nicole Woody, the mother of 9-year-old Kennedy Woody, took to Facebook to share an experience of how her daughter was removed from the travel ball team.
Reportedly, her daughter was abruptly kicked from the Mountain Mystics Fastpitch Softball team immediately after her parents pushed to have Coach David Clark removed.
They said he was misusing his position as head coach and mistreating the kids, especially her daughter, Kennedy.
Nicole wrote in the Facebook post, “Effective TODAY—our daughter was REMOVED from the travel ball team.“
She even called out the names, writing:
The head coaches who called for her removal were @David Clark and Cody Kephart.
Nicole Woody
Nicole sheded light on her daughter’s abrupt removal, writing:
Not because she missed practice. Not because she’s a bad ball player. Not because she missed a tournament. BECAUSE SOMEBODY IS MAD AND TAKING IT OUT ON A DAMN CHILD!
Nicole Woody
It began in August when their family was experiencing a series of rough experiences.
Their AC broke down in the middle of summer, and they were left at 84 degrees with six kids running around.
Nicole’s husband, Thomas, didn’t get home from work most nights until after 7:30 p.m.
It didn’t stop there; then their car transmission gave out. To top it off, their dog, the one that followed Nicole everywhere, started having seizures.
And in the middle of all that, Kennedy missed the RSVP cutoff for a big tournament on August 30th. The team uses an app called GameChanger to track who’s coming.
Nicole clicked send but forgot to hit the “Woody” button to confirm.
Right after that, she received a message from another coach, David, stating that Kennedy couldn’t play because the deadline had passed.
Before her removal, things had turned sour when her coach, David Clark, got upset with her dad, Thomas Woody.
Reportedly, Thomas had made a joke or something that didn’t sit right with David. Instead of letting it go, David took it out on Kennedy during practices and games.
After that, Kennedy faced harsh words and unfair treatment. On top that, it wasn’t about her skill or she missed practice.
Initially, the family tried to handle it quietly at first. Later, Nicole wrote back, filing a formal grievance.
She pointed out that David hadn’t even checked in to see if they were okay. She asked in the email to Kyle Ray, the team’s moderator, writing:
What if he tried to help or showed a bit of grace?
Kyle replied quickly, saying he was sorry for their tough times and would get back to them soon. But days turned into weeks and there was no answer.
Nicole followed up, stressing that they had come to him for help fixing things. She even offered her phone number for a call.
Kyle finally responded but it sounded stiff. He thanked her for sharing, but explained the RSVP rule was there to keep things fair for planning tournaments and rosters.
He admitted their bad week clashed with it, but stuck to the policy.
Nicole replied back, saying it sounded like something from ChatGPT, writing:
ChatGPT is great for some stuff, but not for a worried parent needing real talk.
Kennedy’s father and Nicole’s husband, Thomas, jumped in too. He emailed and laid it out straight saying the grievance started over David’s poor treatment of their girl.
He also said that all of negativity because David was mad at him.
Thomas then called for David’s removal, saying the coach abused his power. But instead of action against David, the response hit Kennedy hard.
On October 14, 2025, an email came from David and assistant coach Cody Kephart stating that after talks the 9U team’s coaches decided to end Kennedy’s spot on the squad.
Apart from her removal notice, there was no reasons tied to her play or attendance.
Nicole expressed her frustation writing, “I hope you rot.“
Lacey Anthony, a parent whose kid is on a travel ball team, expressed her disgust, writing:
As a mom who’s kid was on a travel ball team, that is completely unacceptable coming from coaches. That should be an adult conversation on the side, leave the kid out of it.
Lacey Anthony
I’m sorry you had to go through that, I’m sorry she has to be pulled
