UNITY COMBAT CLUB EMPLOYS A COACH WHO HAS AN OPEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE.
I am writing this because I believe women deserve full transparency when choosing where to train.
Unity Combat Club is currently employing Max Williams as a coach. Max has an open criminal case involving allegations of assault against his ex-girlfriend.
This case is publicly searchable through county court records. Here's how to access it: Google "Travis county case information and records" press on the link to the homepage, scroll down and click on the online court records search portal. Click on smart search and then type in "Williams, Maxwell" and click on either of the active cases followed by the magistration PC affidavit.
After learning this, several female members, including myself, raised concerns with management and had a conversation where we explained how the open case affected our sense of safety while training. We also detailed many prior situations at the gym where we observed conduct from Max that we personally felt was unprofessional at best and that contributed to our sense of discomfort. Management ultimately chose to continue his employment.
Knowing that a coach at the gym has an active case involving allegations of violence against another woman significantly changed how safe I felt walking into that space. And knowing that Unity chose to continue his employment after we all expressed our discomfort made me question the morality of financially supporting the gym. I then chose to cancel my membership.
For women considering training here, I encourage you to review the publicly available court records yourself and decide what aligns with your own standards for safety and comfort. It is also worth considering whether you feel comfortable financially supporting a business that, in my experience, does not take the safety of its female members seriously.
I want to say that this has not been an easy decision for me. I have loved Unity/Black Sheep Combat Club for a long time. I've trained here through ups and downs, invested years into this community, and have been deeply loyal to this gym. It meant a lot to me, which made leaving the gym and writing this review incredibly difficult and heartbreaking. But I believe that women deserve to know the truth especially when that truth has an impact on their safety.
I also want to be clear that this review is not about the other coaches at Unity. Tai and Leanne, in particular, are exceptional coaches who care deeply about their athletes. My decision and this review has nothing to do with them or their professionalism. This is solely about the employment of Max Williams and how it impacted my sense of safety.
Women deserve to train in spaces where they feel fully secure and heard. I no longer felt that way here. read more
