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A college bowling team is at the center of controversy. The Stephen F. Austin program saw an assistant coach resign after it was uncovered that he’d been involved in a love affair with a player.
Not only that, but his wife was the team’s head coach. Fans and media are now reacting to the wild situation on social media.
Steve Lemke is married to head coach Amber Lemke, with the duo teaming up to lead the program to a pair of national titles and two runner-ups. An unexpected discovery has since led to the couple filing for divorce.
Text messages revealed Steve’s intimate relationship with a player on the team. Those messages, which Amber found while going through his phone, led to his departure from the staff. Here’s what he said about a specific text from the player that piqued Amber’s initial suspicions.
“It didn’t have anything in detail,” he said. “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.”
Steve had previously been a volunteer assistant before becoming an official member of the staff in 2019. His wife, Amber, has been at the helm since 2011. He apparently grew frustrated with his role, which he noted as reasoning for his affair.
“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 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.”
The school said that the relationship violated university rules, and he was soon given the option of a resignation or termination. He chose the former.
“He’s not working here anymore,” SFA athletic director Ryan Ivey stated, according to Nathan Hague of The Daily Sentinel. “From a departmental standpoint, he had a choice, and he chose to resign.”
Following the departure, Steve Lemke commented on the relationship as well as his subsequent exit from the staff. Those wild remarks have led to a reaction from sports fans online.
“I knew it was kind of a no-no but there’s not a rule saying it can’t happen,” Steve 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.”
The comments section is filled with response to the love triangle on social media.
Basketball analyst Rob Dauster said, “This is one of the craziest stories I’ve ever read. An assistant bowling coach at Stephen F. Austin resigned after getting caught in an affair with a player. His wife is the head coach. And his quotes are *wild*, why would you say any of that out loud?”
He then uploaded a clip from Friends which seems eerily similar to the real-life drama.
He almost quoted Ross word for word this hahaha pic.twitter.com/YoK9cMpx34
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) June 21, 2023
Others also chimed in, with this person focusing on the headline for the love triangle.
oh god the headline pic.twitter.com/rxZ7RLKeaY
— Dylan McLemore (@voiceofD) June 21, 2023
And as there is for any situation, a relatable Seinfeld clip was posted by one follower.
— Colonel Angus (@tomhayes83) June 21, 2023
This fan asked, “Even if you feel this way, which is fine, why would you admit it publicly in an interview with a journalist?”
While Steve Lemke is no longer a part of the Stephen F. Austin bowling program, Amber remains the team’s head coach.