The athletic trainer who helped oversee a military-style workout that left an Arizona State University hockey player on life support is no longer with the team.
Assistant trainer Amanda Doyle was "reassigned to another sport" and replaced by a new team trainer, university officials confirmed Oct. 5. It was unclear if her transfer was voluntary.
"Trainers are employed by ASU student health services and are reassigned regularly," ASU spokesman Jay Thorne told The Arizona Republic in an email.
The move comes as ASU continues to grapple with fallout and demands for accountability over the Aug. 20 outdoor workout where defender Matthew Mayich suffered exertional heatstroke during exercises led by an ex-Green Beret.
Head hockey coach Greg Powers was put
on paid administrative leave Sept. 30 after Mayich's family and several hockey players accused the university of "whitewashing" events surrounding the workout. The university on Oct. 2 announced that it had hired a former state Supreme Court justice to conduct an independent review of the workout.
Doyle declined to comment through a university athletics spokesperson.
But her role as a trainer on the field Aug. 20 was called into question by Mayich's family and other players, who have asked why coaches, trainers and staff failed to intervene in the workout and why emergency protocols were not followed in the aftermath. It was not clear whether other trainers were on the field.
Phoenix lawyer Tim Casey, who represents seven hockey players who were on the field during the near-fatal workout, asked why nobody in a position of authority ended the workout when Mayich and two others became sick and showed obvious signs of distress.
He said he wondered if the team's culture was such that trainers and junior staffers felt they could not speak up or risk censure.
The role of trainers is to "provide championship level injury prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for the student athletes," according to the ASU Athletics Department website.
The seven players, in a Sept. 28 letter to ASU President Michael Crow, called on the university to place the entire hockey staff on administrative leave and for outside investigators to conduct an independent review. Casey said the players needed to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
The players described the military-style workout as extreme. They said Mayich received no water and showed signs of distress that coaches and staff ignored. They allege the staff left Mayich lying on the ground while they treated him and that Powers minimized his condition and told other players he would be fine.
Athletic trainer was with ASU hockey team since 2022
Doyle had served as the hockey team's athletic trainer since 2022, according to her biography on ASU's website. She previously worked for the water polo program and as an intern athletic trainer for the triathlon team.
She is a certified and licensed athletic trainer in Arizona. She also is member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Doyle is from Muscatine, Iowa. She earned a bachelor's degree in athletic training and a minor in psychology in 2021. She obtained a master's degree in nutritional sciences and sports nutrition from ASU in 2022.
Doyle was replaced on the hockey team by Maggie Corbett,who previously was the athletic trainer for men’s and women’s swim and dive program, according to the Sun Devils' website.
It was unknown if any other members of the hockey staff were reassigned after Mayich's collapse. But other high-profile coaches remained in place. Assistant coach Mike Corbett was tapped to lead the team in its Oct. 2 season-opener. Assistant hockey coach Alex Hicks continued in his role.
Mayich family lawyer Robert Carey said Hicks should have been placed on administrative leave, calling him Powers' close friend and saying their relationship goes back more than a decade.
Casey, the lawyer for the seven players, said the team refers to Hicks as Powers' "enforcer," carrying out "unpleasant, harsh or forceful" edicts for the coach.
The university for weeks had resisted calls by Mayich's family to turn over the investigation of the workout to an outside law enforcement agency while it investigated itself.
Two state lawmakers on Sept. 28 petitioned the Arizona Board of Regents for a third-party investigation. U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, both Democrats from Arizona, echoed the need for an independent investigation on Sept. 30.
Board of Regents Chair Doug Goodyear, in an Oct. 5 letter to Arizona Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, and Sen. Hildy Angius, R-Bullhead City, promised a full vetting of the workout. The board oversees Arizona's public universities.
"President Crow has updated the Board and brought forth a plan to seek an independent review of the Mayich matter to establish more fully what happened on August 20, and in the aftermath, and to seek recommendations to help ensure that nothing like this happens again," Goodyear said.
He highlighted the hiring of former Arizona Chief Justice Scott Bales to lead the review, saying he won't face resource constraints and could hire whatever outside help he needs.
"We are aware of the need to get this right, and we believe this approach will do that, both for the Mayichfamily and for the community at large," Goodyear said.
What went wrong before and after Mayich's collapse at workout
The ASU Police Department began investigating the circumstances of Mayich's collapse after getting the 911 call about a heat-related incident. Administrators also promised a separate internal review of everything surrounding the workout.
ASU Senior Vice President James Rund outlined initial findings to ASU President Michael Crow on Sept. 22. He called for a blue-ribbon advisory panel, made up of experts who would recommend how the university should conduct outdoor athletic activities and use outside consultants.
Rund's investigative summary and four-page timeline did not identify anyone responsible for the failures or outline accountability measures.
An ongoing investigation by The Arizona Republic found multiple potential policy violations connected to the workout and Mayich's collapse.
The Republic found the ex-Green Beret did not go through the required vetting process or sign standard forms before starting drills. Powers and other coaches arranged the Aug. 20 workout with guest instructor Tim Ziesel, who said he was never asked to sign a contract, an apparent violation of school policies.
The Republic also found ASU did not appear to follow its own rules designed to protect students from exertional heat illness before, during and after the workout. The university didn't follow its emergency guidelines after Mayich collapsed on the field and he hadn't gone through the standard heat acclimation period for athletes prior to the workout.
Mayich, like many players, came from or had lived in cold climates and arrived in Arizona within the prior two weeks, his teammates said.
Mayich, a sophomore from Stoney Creek, Ontario, was in his first year at ASU. He was part of a 2026 transfer portal class that ranked first in the country. He appeared in 34 games, tallying seven goals and eight assists, in his freshman season at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.
He was drafted by the St. Louis Blues of the NHL in 2023. Drafted players retain their college status while NHL teams hold their exclusive signing rights.
Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X @robertanglen.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU reassigns athletic trainer who worked with hockey team | Exclusive
