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Bullying Behavior by Athletic Coaches
Abstract
A parent recently sought help addressing an individual bullying her child. When she provided more details, it became apparent the bully was not another student, but rather a high school basketball coach. One afternoon, the mother was early picking up her daughter from practice, so she went into the gym. She found the head coach screaming at the team that they lacked intelligence and were lazy because they had not executed a play properly. Horrified by this behavior, the mother waited until practice was over, then confronted the coach, telling him what she had observed and how upset she was by the screaming and name-calling. The coach responded by refocusing the conversation on the mother’s own transgression: parents knew that no one was allowed in the gym during practice “for safety reasons.” The mother felt as though she had to defend her own behavior. After the incident, she began asking around and discovered this coach had a long history of intimidating his athletes. She was not just witnessing a “bad day,” so she reported her concerns to the school and, again, was confused by the response. The principal told her he had spoken to the coach and the coach had apologized. He explained that the coach was very successful and won a state title last year, but sometimes got “overexcited.” Confused and angered by the school’s and coach’s reactions, she went to her pediatrician for advice.
Although the study of bullying has made considerable strides over the last 2 decades, the definition remains vague. Bullying is generally defined as a systematic abuse of power, …
Address correspondence to Nancy L. Swigonski, MD, MPH, Children’s Health Services Research, Indiana University School of Medicine, 410 W 10th St, HS Suite 1000, Indianapolis, IN 46202. E-mail: nswigons{at}iupui.edu
... In fact, these ineffective apologies are often underpinned by power imbalances in sport. For example, Swigonski et al. (2014) called attention to a common apology from youth sport coaches: "I am really sorry; I got a little carried away, but we really need to work on fundamentals if we are going to win" (p. e274). ...
When conversing about social justice issues, it is not a matter of if you make a mistake but when. This is because not only have we been socialized to adopt oppressive discourses and practices but also because social justice conversations continue to evolve to bring justice to those at society’s margins. The purpose of this paper is to provide practical guidelines for apologizing with cultural humility using transformative justice and research on effective apology components as guiding frameworks. Given that missteps are inevitable, it is important to engage in practices that support genuine efforts for continued reflection, learning, and reconciliation.
... In the grassroots environment, a coach is more than just a football coach, he is a pedagogue and an educator with a central aim and Victories and defeats compare nothing to what football can promote regarding social values and moral development (Mills, 2019). However, some coaches desire to win and their bullying behaviour towards children creates negative values (Swigonski, Enneking and Hendrix, 2014;Carlsson and Lundqvist 2016). Although most of the time they are unaware of the harm they unintentionally cause to their players, their verbal and sometimes physical abuse (Yabe et al., 2018), makes children feel worthless, depressed, angry, and less confident (Gervis and Dunn, 2004). ...
Football has long transcended its state of being a sport, to evolve into a business that supports a complex and dynamic multi-billion industry. Never having lost its identity, it still bears massive influence, far beyond the economic one, affecting and being affected by a multitude of stakeholders. Inexorably, this phenomenon of multi-stakeholder envelopment, entails a wide set of challenges, risks and considerations for football clubs that need to develop the requisite strategies that identify, interrelate and, ultimately, balance the value exchanges involved, towards a sustainable future. The above highlight the imperative of understanding the nature and role of key stakeholders and delineate their delivered value towards a football club. Clubs share value and align interests and strategies with each stakeholder, forming alliances and partnerships that are founded on a win-win principle; and the collection and interconnection of these relationships constitute the backbone of a strategic framework, that enables clubs to respond and adapt efficiently and effectively to the incessant environmental changes. This is, however, not a set of individual linkages, but a systemic network of stakeholders and values, whose collective effect shapes the essence of the football ecosystem.
Despite its afore-described importance, existing theory remains in its infancy and new in terms of explicit knowledge and degree of interaction. Extant studies on the topic are only partial and incomplete; or tend to over-focus on individual stakeholder-value relationships; or perceive stakeholders as broad categories overlooking the fact that various sub-categories exist as diverse entities; or analyse the industry’s actors and values individually and not as a system. This research contributes to the field of sports strategic management and bridges the gap in knowledge through its aim, to comprehensively identify the football industry stakeholders and their relative value in the individual club perspective, and to conceptualise and test their interrelationship in the Cyprus context towards the development of a corresponding framework of club benefits. This study addressed the stakeholder theory on a wide range of individuals and groups, enhancing the theory itself, in a context that until now was lacking empirical validation, and developed for the first time a unified club-specific framework of benefits.
Methodologically, considering the complex contextual circumstances, the study developed and applied a customised multi-level approach to collect and verify qualitative data. The research deployed every significant relevant study in the field to develop an initial theoretical generic framework, which was first validated by an Experts Panel and subsequently tested in the Cyprus-specific context. The empirical stage applied the qualitative approach, gathering data through forty-one semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with individuals within the top nine football clubs, as well as with key industry stakeholders who de facto represent specific groups, in order to validate the findings.
The research findings contribute significantly to knowledge, presenting scholars and practitioners with a systemic and comprehensive understanding and prescription of the individual club stakeholder management relationships and synergies. In this vein, the development of the final framework acts as a map, a blueprint for both theory and practice, bridging the gap in the literature, offering new avenues for further research, and arming executives with practicable valid knowledge. The research’s content, context and methodology generate a holistic set of contributions to scholarly business knowledge, and the gained insights and recommendations act as catalysts to individual football clubs’ strategic redevelopment and repositioning against their internal and external stakeholders
... What coaches may not fully understand is that bullying can have longlasting effects on its victims. Athletes that are bullied may experience lasting effects from the stress including mental health issues (c.f., Lentz et al., 2018), in addition to socialemotional development and cause substantial harm to mental health (Schinnerer, 2009;Stafford & Lewis, 2011;Swigonski et al., 2014). When athletes are bullied, they may begin to doubt their ability to perform, which causes them to question their athletic prowess. ...
Literature illuminates that when youth develop habits in their education that allow them to succeed, they become more likely to achieve their educational pursuits, personal accomplishments, and life journey. We propose that if formal education and athletics work together to
look for creative ways to enhance students’ Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) by having access and mentoring from exceptionally skilled and trained coaches in SEL skills and strategies, the 21st century graduates and workforce may be more prepared for their future. However, with an identified coaching shortage, those who are leading student-athletes may not be formally trained teachers but community volunteers who may require support from athletic associations, school districts, and
administrators. After a review of literature, the authors provide recommendations to support multiple educational stakeholders such as athletic directors, coaches, parents, and those who wish to become coaches, to develop critical understanding of student-athletes’ needs
to develop social-emotional skills not only in classrooms, but in athletic arenas as well.
... Coaches do not always act in ethical pedagogy manner (Vveinhardt et al., 2018) and sometimes yell or intimidate the players (Owusu-Sekyere & Gervis, 2016). Swigonski et al., (2014) mentioned that "bullying behavior by coaches is an underacknowledged but frequent experience" (pp. 274, 2014). ...
This study explores the influence of individual and relational predictors on bullying perpetration/victimization among semi-professional team sport players in North Cyprus. Three variables reflect on an individual's level characteristics (e.g., gender, age, and nationality), and another one, representing the relational level factor (e.g., negative coaching behavior). The current paper obtained data from athletes through convenient sampling technique and online survey utilization. A total of 190 sports players with an average age of 24.77 (SD = 4.52) participated. All participants were club athletes from 16 diverse nations, competing in four different sports disciplines: football, volleyball, handball, and basketball. Hierarchical regression analysis was implemented to evaluate the above underlying linkages. It was found that age, nationality, and the coach's negative personal rapport significantly predicted bullying victimization dynamics among athletes. Bullying perpetration was only predicted by negative personal rapport with the coach but not by any of the individual level predictors. The moderation analysis showed that negative personal rapport with the coach significantly predicted the level of bullying victimization, the age and the nationality of the athlete moderated the relationship between the negative personal rapport and bullying victimization. In other words, the negative personal rapport had a higher effect on bullying victimization for the younger athletes and for international ones. Such findings have the potential to shape the base for further ongoing works, which could underline the critical demand for more emphasis and analysis of nationality, gender, age, and coach's negative rapport on bullying perpetration or victimization. The significance of the study's findings, its limits, and potential paths for further interpersonal violence research are addressed.
... Do some coaches believe they have freedom for their actions because they are coaching, and what happens during practice stays within the bounds of the practice field? Coaches use lots of excuses to rationalize their actions including moral justification ("All coaches lose it now and then"), backhanded apology ("I'm sorry, I got carried away a little bit; but we really need the athletes to try harder if we're going to win"), it could have been worse comparison ("I didn't touch anybody, it's not like I push them around"), escalation of stakes ("If you can't take how I am doing things, get off the team"), mental toughness argument ("We are tough on our athletes so they can handle the competitionwe build mental toughness"), and secrecy and building team culture ("we'll handle this stuff in our family") (Swigonski et al. 2014, Strand et al. 2017. ...
Coaches have a profound and long-lasting impact on the athletes they coach. Coaches’ behavior affects athlete anxiety, stress levels, burnout, and eventually, their mental health. This study aimed at gathering relevant information on coaches’ use of inappropriate behaviors towards athletes as reported by athletes and to make comparisons between the responses of the athletes in this study with those of coaches in a previous study. Participants were 251 college students from ten midwestern states who completed a 25-item survey that included a listing of coaching actions described as bullying. Three specific research questions guided the study: 1) has your coach ever done the identified action to you, 2) do you think this is an inappropriate coaching action, and 3) do you consider this bullying. Results indicate that athletes and coaches’ interpretation of the frequency of inappropriate actions, if the actions are considered inappropriate, and if the actions are considered bullying are markedly different. Athletes were more likely to report that the various physical, relational, and verbal actions occurred than were coaches. Keywords: coaching, bullying, athletes, inappropriate
... Further, people under the supervision of toxic leaders often report higher levels of stress, alcohol abuse, lower self-esteem (Ashforth, 1994), higher rates of workplace deviance, and reduced citizenship behaviors (Aryee et al., 2007;Tepper, 2000;Zellars et al., 2002) Toxic Coaches. Some coaches engage in toxic leadership behavior (see Statum, 2020;Stewart, 2013;Swigonski et al., 2014), hereafter referred to as toxic coaches. Toxic coaches may be self-promoting, inflexible, and push student-athletes to prioritize athletic performance and winning over academic goals (Cosh & Tully, 2015). ...
________________________________________________________ Collegiate student-athletes manage multiple, and at times competing, roles as both students and athletes. Whereas some coaches recognize student-athletes' dual roles and actively help them navigate school and sport conflicts, others may engage in toxic forms of leadership. Thus, we hypothesized toxic coaching may adversely relate to the degree of role conflict, burnout, commitment, and school/sport performance reported among collegiate student-athletes. We also hypothesized role conflict would be adversely related to student-athletes' burnout, commitment, and performance in school and sport contexts. To test our hypotheses, we surveyed 176 current or recent collegiate student-athletes via a snowball sampling method. Participants completed measures of their coach's toxic leadership, personal role conflict, burnout, commitment to school/sport, and school/sport performance. A series of partial correlation and hierarchical regression analyses largely confirmed our hypotheses. As expected, toxic coaching positively predicted role conflict. Furthermore, toxic coaching and role conflict adversely predicted burnout, school/sport commitment, and academic performance. Neither toxic coaching nor role conflict were related to sport performance. Exploratory analyses revealed burnout mediated the relation between role conflict and commitment to one's team and college or university. Implications for coaching and student-athletes are discussed.
Recreational classes are one of the forms of leisure activites and teaching work that is
recilized in nature. Educators point out that room and the nature of schools is of great importance for
mental and physical development of each child. The aim of this work was to determine the effects of
the program recreational classes versatile development of a students, first and second grade of primary
school, aged 7 to 8 years. Recreational education program was implemented in Kopaonik for a period
of seven days. During recreational classes students are actively involved in all activities. Program
recreational classes consisted of a large number of educational and recreational activities and
entertainment. Data collection method was used survey. Interviewing was conducted on the last day
of the pilot simple of 40 students. The interview we get the folloving results: 38 students responded
that the program recreational alasses or physical activity is very important, while two students
responded that they did not. On the basis of these results, we can conclude that the program
recreational classes of great importance to broad development of students.
This study explores the causes and solutions to youth hockey coaches’ abusive behavior, particularly shouting, swearing, and punishing. It draws on extensive literature regarding youth sports, Positive Youth Development, coaching behaviors, emotional abuse, and the culture of hockey. The issue was approached from four perspectives: players, parents, referees, and coaches. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and written questionnaires, then transcribed and coded through numerous readings to determine common themes. Perceived reasons for abusive coaching predominantly included “they coach as they were coached,” the “culture of hockey,” and “pressure to win,” with “ego,” “poor communication skills,” “lack of maturity,” and “substance abuse at the low end of the scale. Proposed solutions focused overwhelmingly on emphasizing Positive Youth Development.
The use of inappropriate coaching behaviors has been an ongoing concern for many years. However, not yet well researched is the use of inappropriate and bullying behaviors by coaches toward student-athletes. The purpose of this study was aimed at gathering relevant information on coaches' use of inappropriate behaviors towards athletes, as reported by coaches. Participants for this study included 488 public/private school sport coaches, males (N=332) and females (N=153), from eight states. Data were gathered via an on-line survey in which participants identified if they had engaged in any of 22 listed actions among three types of bullying (physical, relational, verbal). Participants identified three actions ('poking fun at an athlete', 'embarrassed an athlete in front of others', and 'name calling without hurtful intent') as having been done by at least 30% of them. In summary, most actions were reported to have not been used by most coaches, three-fourths of the actions were considered inappropriate, and less than half were considered bullying.
This is the report of a major three year study of children and young people’s experiences of participating in organised sport in the UK.
“The massive threats to human welfare are generally brought about by deliberate acts…, It is the principled resort to aggression that is of greatest social concern but most ignored in psychological theorizing and research.”
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Online Resources for State Child Welfare Law and Policy
Child Welfare Information Gateway. Online
Resources for State Child Welfare Law and
Policy. Washington, DC: US Dept of Health and
Human Services, Children' s Bureau; 2012
Illinois, 60007. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy published, and trademarked by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 Northwest Point publication, it has been published continuously since 1948
- Elk Grove Boulevard
- Village
Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, Illinois, 60007. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy
published, and trademarked by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 Northwest Point
publication, it has been published continuously since 1948. PEDIATRICS is owned,
PEDIATRICS is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A monthly
Online Resources for State Child Welfare Law and Policy US Dept of Health and Human Services, Children' s Bureau; 2012 ; originally published online
Child Welfare Information Gateway. Online
Resources for State Child Welfare Law and
Policy. Washington, DC: US Dept of Health and
Human Services, Children' s Bureau; 2012
; originally published online January 13, 2014;
2014;133;e273
Pediatrics
Nancy L. Swigonski, Brett A. Enneking and Kristin S. Hendrix
Bullying Behavior by Athletic Coaches
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/133/2/e273.full.html
located on the World Wide Web at:
The Consequences of Verbally Abusive Athletic Coaches
- J L Schinnerer
Schinnerer JL. The Consequences of Verbally
Abusive Athletic Coaches. Psych Central; 2009