Coaches’ and participants’ experiences of bullying in sports

The sample of this research included three cohorts: players under 18 years old, players over 18 years old, and coaches. However, for the present report, the under 18 cohort was excluded as the sample size was too small (N=15); therefore only the two sub-samples of players above 18 years old and coaches were retained for data analysis¹.

In total, 156 players (52.6% Women) aged 26.1 years, (SD=9.6) and 312 coaches (55.5% Women) aged 40.3 years (SD=11.2) completed the survey. Almost half (48.7%) of the survey responses were from Sweden, 38.9% from Ireland, 9.6% from Spain, and 2.8% from Germany.

¹ Although survey responses for the under 18 year old participants in this study were too low for meaningful comparative analysis, they do provide a sound basis for future study. For example, while only 15 of the 61 children who accessed the survey answered questions about bullying, half of these reported being victimised during their time playing sport. In addition, only half felt confident in their ability to ‘recognise’ bullying when they see it.

An email containing a link to the survey was circulated via established networks across all project partners in Ireland, Sweden and Spain. A distinct survey was used for each target cohort. Stakeholders across project partners included National Governing Bodies and individual sport club contacts. Surveys were also promoted across social media platforms in order to maximise response rates. Data was collected on Qualtrics. Before completing the survey, the scope of the study was explained to participants. Furthermore, participants were informed that their answers were anonymous and that they could quit the survey at any time. Following this, they were invited to give their consent. With regards to the sub-sample of players under 18 years old, consent was first provided by their parents, and then by the participants themselves.

A survey designed specifically for the purposes of this study was developed. The survey comprised five sections: personal background (including demographics), sporting background and experience in the sport club, experience of bullying in sport, types of bullying, and reporting bullying. Questionnaire items were derived from previously validated surveys, and some items specific for the purposes of this study were also included. Responses to open-ended questions were organised

Most participants identified as heterosexual (93.2% for players, 96% for coaches), while the remaining participants identified their sexual orientation as LGBTQ+. Furthermore, a minority of participants reported having a disability (6.7% for players, 11.4% for coaches). Player participants were asked how long they have been involved in sport, with the majority reporting that they have been playing for more than 10 years (82.1%; see Figure 1). 

Coaches were asked how long they have been coaching sport, and almost one third reported having coached sport for more than 10 years (see Figure 2).

Furthermore, the majority of player participants (48.7%) and of coach participants (67.9%) were involved only in team sports, while 16% (playing) and 15.7% (coaching) were involved in individual sports, and 35.3% (playing) and 16.3% (coaching) were involved in both team and individual sports. The percentages of participants playing different kinds of sports are presented in Table 1 and divided by sub-sample and type of sport. The most popular sports were gaelic football among player participants (35.9%) and soccer among coach participants (37.5%).

In total, 96.8% of player participants and 94.9% of coaches indicated they felt a sense of belonging in their sports club, and a similar number (95.5% for players and 92.3% for coaches) indicated they felt safe at their sports club. 

Regarding the sports club climate, most participants reported having good friends (89% for players and 87% for coaches) and supportive coaches (88% for players and 90% for coaches), and stated that, in their club, bullying is not tolerated, diversity is well accepted, and players are actively involved in the decision making process (Figure 3). Finally, most participants disagreed with the statement that players are not being listened to.

Both player and coach participants reported a quite ethnically diverse environment at their sports club (see Figure 4). Furthermore, almost half of coaches (44.6%) also reported having players with disabilities, while around 42.3% of player participants reported having players belonging to the LGBTQ+ community. Finally, almost the whole sample reported that, in their club, there are players who participate in sports just for fun and who may not always have the newest sports equipment.

When asked about their experience with bullying in sports, 31.4% of players and 20.2% of coaches reported having been bullied at least once. In most cases, participants were bullied while playing team sports (90% for players, 79.8% for coaches). In a small number of instances, participants skipped the training sessions in order to avoid being bullied (5.9% for the players’ sample and 3.1% for the coaches’ sample). 

With regards to the player participants who have been bullied, most of them were targeted by older players (90%) or adults (80%), regardless of whether they belonged to the same or to a different club. Interestingly, at least 63% of players with experiences of bullying were targeted by a coach. 

Figure 5 summarises how frequently coaches were bullied by players’ parents, peer coaches, or players during the last season, with peer coaches being the most common perpetrators (13.1%).

Participants were also asked on what basis they had been made to feel excluded, uncomfortable or unsafe in their sports club, and in most cases this happened on the grounds of participants’ body type and body weight (22.3% for players and 17% for coaches; see Figure 6).

Participants tended to report their experiences of bullying. Most of the players expressed their concerns to their parents (35.5%) or to their friends (24.4%), while reports to coaches (4.4%), siblings (4.4%), and teammates (2.2%) were not as frequent. Regarding coaches, they mostly talked about being bullied to club members (33%), family (28%), peer coaches (27%) and friends (24%), while only 12% reported it to the senior coaches. Despite this, 37.5% players and 24% coaches among those that have been targeted did not tell anyone about having been bullied.

When it comes to witnessing bullying, rather than being targeted, one in two coaches (50.3%) reports that they have witnessed such behaviours at least once either by coaches, parents or players. 

With regards to players, they reported that they frequently heard body-shaming (57.7%) and homophobic remarks (44.2%) by fellow players (either from the same team or from a different one) towards other players (see Figure 7).

Player participants also reported having heard negative remarks about players’ performance (66%), body weight (50.6%) and gender identity (48.1%) by coaches or other adults in the sports club (see Figure 8). In the case of coaches, the most frequent negative comments they heard by other coaches regarded players’ gender identity (28.8%) and body weight (27.6%).

About 10% of player participants indicated that they had engaged in bullying behaviours; the rate dropped to less than 3% for coaches.

In the fourth section of the survey, participants were asked about the specific types of bullying they endured as targets in their sport club. 

Players reported that being called hurtful names (22.6%) and having mean rumours spread about themselves (19.1%) were the most common types of bullying they endured by their own teammates, while being called hurtful names (36.5%) and being physically shoved (26.4%) were the most common forms of bullying perpetrated by opponent players towards participants (see Figure 9). Finally, players reported that they were mostly targeted by coaches by being left out on purpose (12.9%) and by being addressed with hurtful names (10.2%).

As far as coaches are concerned, they were usually targeted by other coaches through exclusion (19%) and mean rumours spread about them (16.4%; see Figure 10). They also reported that being called hurtful names and having mean rumours spread about them were the most common forms of bullying perpetrated towards them by parents (respectively 10.4% and 11.1%), by athletes of their team (respectively 12.8% and 9.3%), and by opponent athletes (respectively 15.6% and 10%).

According to players, the places that they would avoid the most in order to hide from bullying are the changing rooms (4.7%) and social media (4.1%); similarly, coaches stated that they would avoid locker rooms (5.2%) and social media (3.8%; see Figure 11).

According to both players’ and coaches’ perceptions, bullying takes place mostly online (33.1% and 36.7% respectively; see Figure 12).

In the fifth section of the survey, participants were asked about their habits regarding bullying reports in their sports club. 

Only 14.2% of players stated that they reported the bullying they endured to a coach, parent or other club member. Furthermore, 37.2% of players stated that they witnessed other athletes being bullied, and among them only 21.6% reported it to a coach, a parent, or another player. 

Among coaches, it was more common to report bullying incidents: 39.5% of coaches reported to management their personal bullying incidents. When they didn’t, the most common reason was that they sorted out the incident on their own (38%; see Figure 13). With regards to other people’s experiences, 26.3% of coaches witnessed another coach being bullied, and 47.7% witnessed players being bullied, and in 60.9% of cases they reported the witnessed incident.

Most players (66.7%) and particularly coaches (83.6%) reported that they knew whom they should report incidents of bullying. However, around one quarter of players (30.6%) and coaches (22.9%) indicated they were unsure or would not feel comfortable reporting bullying to a coach or parent. Similarly, 29.5% of coaches and 26.5% of participants indicated they were not confident or unsure in their ability to notice bullying.

About half of player participants stated that, if they witnessed bullying in the sports club, they would report it to the coach (46.9%; see Figure 14), whereas for coaches the most common choice was to take the matters into their own hands (45.3%), followed by telling others and dealing with it as a group (42.6%; see Figure 15).

Finally, participants were asked what the adults (or fellow coaches, in the case of coach participants) do when they see a bullying incident. For 25.9% of players and for 42.4% of coaches stopping the bullying was the most frequent behaviour that (fellow) adults in the club adopted to deal with bullying. Interestingly, around one quarter of participants above 18 y.o. (25.2%) were not aware of how adults deal with bullying (see Figure 16)