Well Rounded Person - The emotional abuse of elite child athletes by their coaches

Upcoming Sports Events

SafeClub was officially launched on 25th June 2009 with the support of the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation. Over 40 people representing sport from across NSW attended the luncheon launch to hear how SafeClub makes safety easy for community sport. A presentation from SafeClub’s Jane Nethery and Kristy Abbott included an overview of the program and the research evidence while Michelle Hanley from Football NSW covered the benefits of SafeClub from a sport perspective. Sports from across NSW are now signing up to partner with SafeClub to make their sport safer.

If you missed the launch and would like information on SafeClub click here.

Sunshine Coast Launches Girls Rugby League Competition

On Sunday, 10 May, ARL Development and the Sunshine Coast Gympie Rugby League will launch their inaugural U15's and U17s Girls Competition at the Beerwah Bulldogs JRL (Roberst Road, Beerwah) between 10am and midday. The Launch will involve Under 15 teams from Caboolture, Bribie Island, Coolum and Beerwah whilst the Under 17s will involve Nambour, Bribie Island and Beerwah.

Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience

Inspiring Youth Cricketer Jack Manning-Bancroft has helped University of Sydney Students get underway a mentoring program linking Indigenous year 9 and 10 school students from with mentors from across all university faculties. The underlying philosophy of AIME is to empower young indigenous people through positive role modelling and relationships, building self esteem and resilience, encouraging schoolattendance and progression to tertiary education.

Refugee Youth Soccer Development Program

This innovative program seeks to assist young refugees in their immigration and integration to Australia through sport. Check out their website for more information.

Upcoming Research

The third round of focus groups and fieldwork has been completed and a General Summary is being collated. Thanks to The Southport School, AB Paterson College, Rockhampton Girls Grammar School, Sapphire Coast Anglican College, Wagga Wagga Christian College, Al-Faisal College Auburn, Football United and the Burwood and Mosman Cubs for their participation. Preparation for further focus groups with parents, coaches and PDHPE teachers is underway.

The emotional abuse of elite child athletes by their coaches

This study investigates the prevalence of emotional abuse of elite child athletes by their coaches in the UK. Previous research has focused primarily on the parent-child relationship, with little attention given to date on the sports environment. Participants were 12 former elite child athletes who competed as internationals in their respective age groups. All participants had been identified as elite athletes between the ages of 8 and 16 years (M = 13.1 yr, SD = 2.4 yr) and had competitive careers of between 6 and 10 years. Participants were from the sports of diving (N = 2), football (N = 3), gymnastics (N = 4), hockey, netball and track and field athletics (N = 1 each). The study was a retrospective analysis of their experiences as elite child athletes. (Age at interview: M = 22.9 yr, SD = 0.9 yr. male = 4, female = 8.) Thus, participants were reflecting on experiences from about 10 years previously, so their responses represented the residual impact of their experiences that had survived over this period. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and response-coding techniques. Abusive behaviours were categorized under eight headings: belittling, humiliating, shouting, scapegoating, rejecting, isolating, threatening and ignoring. Results showed that all (N = 12) of the participants reported experiencing belittling and shouting by their coach, nine athletes reported frequent threatening behaviour, nine reported frequent humiliation, seven reported scapegoating, six reported rejection or being ignored and four reported being isolated when they were elite child athletes. All participants reported that the behaviour of their coaches changed and became more negative after they were identified as elite performers. Participants reported feeling stupid, worthless, upset, less confident, humiliated, depressed, fearful and angry as a result of the behaviour of their coaches. The results provide tentative evidence that the behaviour of some coaches is a threat to the psychological well-being of elite child athletes. Gervis, M. & Dunn, N. (2004) The emotional abuse of elite child athletes by their coaches, Child Abuse Review, vol 13, pp 215-223.

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