A recent survey of teen athletes and coaches across Canada, has found athletes to be both victims and perpetrators of teen dating violence ranging in severity from psychological to physical and sexual violence. The survey, conducted by researchers from the University of Toronto Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, found athletes disclosed their experiences of violence primarily to their peers, family members and coaches.
The surveyed athletes shared that they believe coaches have a role to play in listening, supporting and educating athletes in the event of a conflict in their relationship. The coaches’ responses, on the other hand, demonstrated a neutral stance on whether they should be aware of their athletes’ dating experiences, but also reported that they find themselves in situations where they become aware of participants’ experiences of teen dating violence and feel they are in a position to play a supportive role.
“We know that teen dating violence and gender-based violence exists in the lives of teen sport participants,” says Ashley Stirling, associate professor and vice dean of academics at KPE. “We also know that coaches play a critical role in the lives of young athletes and thus can potentially play a central part in supporting sport participants experiencing teen dating violence. In the moment, if a coach witnesses violence occurring, if safe to do so, support can include direct intervention or deescalating the situation by diverting attention away from the teen victim.”
Although coaches may not observe the violence directly, they can identify or hear about a sport participant’s violent dating relationship, says Stirling, who worked on the project with Professor Gretchen Kerr, also of KPE. In this situation, they say, coaches can play an important supportive role by communicating with the sport participant, acknowledging the harmful behaviours, and providing direction to appropriate resources and supports.
This is where Support Through Sport comes in.
“The Support through Sport series is a project funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada that focuses on addressing teen dating violence through sport and includes the development of educational modules and resources for coaches,” says Stirling. “These modules and resources strive to assist coaches in understanding, recognizing and addressing gender-based and teen dating violence and promoting healthy relationships in and through sport, targeting teens aged 11-24 years.
“Given the well-documented influential roles of coaches on teen development, with the appropriate supports and education, coaches can influence healthy relationships of teens both within and beyond the sport context.”
The Support Through Sport series officially launched on June first.