Anthony Battaglia

• PhD
• Assistant Professor at York University

The athlete maltreatment crisis and associated cover-ups in sport have received considerable public attention. Calls have been made to critically reflect on broader social norms or features of the sport domain that may enable and sustain such behaviors. To demonstrate the systemic nature of maltreatment, we provide a critical analysis of the case o...

The barrage of stories from athletes about their experiences of maltreatment in sport has led some to conclude that sport is “in crisis”. Across sport types and levels, men’s and women’s sports, and countries, stories of athletes’ experiences of maltreatment are remarkably similar, pointing to the central role played by sport cultures and norms. Th...

Within the sport context, critical social agents, such as coaches and peers have a significant impact on youth developmental outcomes as well as participation decisions. While youth’s interpersonal relationships with coaches and peers in sport have received considerable attention, to-date, there remains a lack of research examining the impact of su...

Given the documented benefits associated with organized sport and thus the assumption that youth who leave sport are losing out on developmental benefits, dropout has been predominantly framed as a crisis to be solved. Throughout this paper we aimed to challenge the overarching narrative of youth dropout from organized sport as a negative outcome o...

The following study employed an instrumental case study to investigate sport stakeholders’ understandings of behavioural management strategies used in competitive youth baseball, including the identification of common strategies and interpretations of these as punishment or discipline. Twenty-one participants, from one competitive (AAA) all-boys ba...

In response to numerous highly publicized cases of athlete maltreatment, sport organizations have developed prevention and intervention strategies under the umbrella term of Safe Sport; however, confusion exists about what it does and does not encompass. To better understand what Safe Sport encompasses, this study sought to develop a conceptual fra...

In response to numerous highly publicized cases of athlete maltreatment, sport organizations have developed prevention and intervention strategies under the umbrella term of Safe Sport; however, confusion exists about what it does and does not encompass. To better understand what Safe Sport encompasses, this study sought to develop a conceptual fra...

Despite sport being a vehicle through which youth may achieve positive developmental outcomes, maltreatment in the youth sport context remains a significant concern. With increased athlete advocacy and research demonstrating the high prevalence of maltreatment in sport, and the urgent need to address it, many international organisations have create...

With increased media scrutiny, public awareness, and research on the prevalence of maltreatment experiences in sport, sport organizations have faced increased pressures to combat unsafe practices in sport. A consequence has been the emergence of the Safe Sport movement whereby organizations including the International Olympic Committee, Safe Sport...

Researchers have examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on athletes’ experiences, however, there remains a lack of attention examining the impact of the pandemic on coaches’ experiences. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine Ontario sport coaches’ perspectives on the implications of the pandemic on their experiences. As part of...

The practice of benching players or removing playing time is commonly used in sport. Although benching is used to adhere to game rules related to the number of athletes permitted on the field of play at any given time or to provide athletes with rest breaks, athletes have reportedly experienced benching in response to behavioral infractions such as...

Positive youth development (PYD) research in sport has often focused on the influence of coach and peer relations, yet the PYD research has been criticised for lacking sufficient theory. From a psychosocial development perspective, the nature and quality of interpersonal dynamics have a significant impact on the attainment of developmental outcomes...

Despite a vast body of research on youth sport withdrawal, our understanding of youth athletes’ withdrawal experiences is limited by an overemphasis on descriptive-quantitative methodological approaches (Crane & Temple, 2015) and models of withdrawal that are not grounded in sport stakeholders’ experiences (Gould, 1987; Lindner et al., 1991). The p...

The negative consequences associated with punishment, highlighted by researchers in the parenting and education domains, have stimulated a shift toward more developmentally appropriate methods of behavior modification. Despite the reported negative outcomes linked with punishment use, preliminary research in sport indicates that punishment, specifi...

Dropout is the term used by researchers and policy makers when referring to youth leaving or withdrawing from sport participation. To-date, the predominant use of quantitative approaches to researching dropout has limited our understanding of sport stakeholders’ experiences and whether or not researchers’ and stakeholders’ perspectives of the dropo...

The recent, highly publicized cases of maltreatment of athletes have garnered critical attention by the public at large and stakeholders in sport, alike. For many, these cases threaten popular views that sport contributes in important ways to positive youth development. The growing evidence showing that maltreatment occurs to youth sport participan...

This study examined athletes’ experiences of punishment in competitive hockey and the potential influence of these experiences on their decisions to cease participation in the sport. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 former female and male competitive hockey athletes, 18–19 years of age. Data were analysed using inductive thematic a...

Objectives Anecdotal evidence suggests that youth may experience negative outcomes when benched, such as a lack of fun and intentions to quit (Frank, 2013; O' Sullivan, 2015). In the sport of ice hockey, it is speculated that amongst position players, including goalies, forwards, and defenders, the negative effects of benching may be exacerbated fo...

This study examined the use of punitive coaching strategies in youth sport and the nature of these experiences for youth athletes. Semi-structured interviews and concept maps were conducted with 12 competitive male and female hockey athletes 11–13 years of age. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results revealed that punishments...

The educational benefits of embedding hands-on experience in higher education curriculum are widely recognized (Beard & Wilson, 2013). However, to optimize the learning from these opportunities, they need to be grounded in empirical learning theory. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of internships in Ontario colleges and...