Hannah Hidalgo is having a monstrous year at Notre Dame, putting up 25 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists in her sophomore season. However, the star guard for the Fighting Irish sparked controversy earlier this year. Hidalgo shared a controversial video on her Instagram story with homophobic implications and promptly deleted it. This attracted a large amount of backlash from fans of women’s basketball, as a lot of their beloved stars are openly a part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Women’s basketball is unique in that the players open-minded enough to be free with their sexuality and preferences. There is little to no judgement when talking about your individual choices and preferences. However, lapses in judgement happen, and Hidalgo had really messed up. And On the podcast Good Game with Sarah Spain, legendary NCAA coach Muffet McGraw shared her own two cents on it. 

“I thought it was a really poor choice on her part,” said McGraw, condoning against any form of homophobia. “First believing that I think it’s a poor choice. Then saying it, as you said, on a stage where women’s basketball, there are a number of gay players out there.”

McGraw continued: “I thought that it was almost insulting to her teammates, to everybody in the game of basketball, I was really disappointed that it came out that way. I was happy that she deleted it, but the damage I think was done before she deleted it.” The long-time ex-coach of Notre Dame said when talking about Hidalgo. McGraw also went on to discuss how important trust is in a team, how it isn’t easy to trust someone who may condemn you like this.

Accountability and cooperation are very important in team sports. To prevent such divisive situations from happening again, the Notre Dame squad must keep each other accountable and honest while dealing with each other. Hidalgo, after deleting the homophobic post from her story, has not said or shared anything that resembles it—but she hasn’t apologized yet either. That’s where accountability comes in. A similar situation happened with the USWNT and was handled much better.

Korbin Albert, a lesson in accountability

The Korbin Albert debacle was highly similar to Hidalgo’s actions. Albert, a midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain, was selected to be part of the USWNT for the Paris Olympics. However, she drew immense criticism for sharing anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiments on her social media accounts. Not only that, Korbin liked posts that made fun of legend Megan Rapinoe and her injury.

Needless to say, fans were outraged. The difference between Hidalgo and Albert was that the midfielder was quick to share an apology. On her Instagram story, the midfielder wrote, “I’m really disappointed in myself and am deeply sorry for the hurt that I have caused to my teammates, other players, fans, friends and anyone who was offended.” The soccer star said, acknowledging her mistakes. She further continued, “I truly believe that everyone should feel safe and respected everywhere and on all playing fields. I know my actions have not lived up to that and for that I sincerely apologize. It’s an honor and a privilege to play this sport on the world stage and I promise to do better.”

Albert’s actions were inexcusable, but her reaction was sensible, well-meaning, and genuine. She kept her head down for the entirety of the Olympics and scored a crucial game-winner against Australia to seal the USWNT a playoff berth. Korbin Albert then went on to become an Olympic gold medalist. Though she faced backlash from the crowd, Albert regained the trust of her teammates. Hannah Hidalgo made a mistake, it will be interesting to see if she addresses it. There is always a path towards redemption, you just have to take it.