By Donna A. Lopiano, Ph.D.
President, Sports Management Resources
As we celebrate the culmination of what for many athletes and their coaches has been years and sometimes decades of preparation to qualify and participate in the Olympic Games on the world’s most respected and watched sport stage, it would be easy for all of us to simply focus and dwell on effort, performance and victory — all that is good and uplifting about sport. The greater challenge is to use this occasion to recommit to addressing those problems that sports governance organizations find most significant, even if distasteful and difficult. Coaches having sexual relationships with their athletes – consensual or not and adult or not, is one of those issues.
Research on the frequency of athlete sexual abuse in the USA is almost non-existent. However, anecdotal data from news reports within the USA abound, probably representing the tip of the iceberg:
159 coaches, nearly all male perpetrators abusing girls, in Washington State fired or reprimanded over the period of a decade for sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to rape. (Seattle Times, 2003)
USA Swimming declared 64 coaches or others permanently ineligible for membership, with 58 listed as committing code of conduct violations. (USASwimming.org, 2011)
USA Gymnastics declared 84 coaches or others permanently ineligible for membership due to conduct violations. (USAGym.org, 2012)
A quick review of news articles in a 30 day period from June to July 2012, excluding continuing coverage of the Penn State, Syracuse and AAU cases, reveals just a few additional examples of the breadth of the problem:
Three male swimming coaches accused of sexually abusing young female swimmers in Pennsylvania, Virginia and California. (Kozens, 2012)
A male boxing coach in California accused of sexual abuse of a teenage boxing participant. (Frere, 2012)
A male basketball coach in North Carolina agrees to plea for sexually assaulting a female player. (O’Donnell, 2012)
A male soccer coach in Illinois accused of sexually abusing a young male participant. (Potts, 2012)
A male cheerleading/tumbling coach in Virginia accused of molesting five female participants. (McElway, 2012)
A male New Hampshire baseball coach accused of molesting two boys and one girl. (Marchocki, 2012)
International research on prevalence of such conduct is much more extensive, with one of the most respected studies conducted by Leahy et al in 2002. Of 370 elite and club level athletes in Australia participating in the study, results indicated that 31 percent of females and 21 percent of males had been sexually abused at some time in their lives and of these, 41 percent of the females and 29 percent of the males reported this abuse to have occurred in the sport environment. The authors concluded that among elite athletes there was a 50 percent chance of abuse and among club athletes a 25 percent chance for abuse. This and other international research reports also conclude that it is more likely that athlete sexual abuse will involve a male perpetrator and a female victim. Thus, it appears reasonable to maintain that data abounds demonstrating the fact that coach sexual abuse of athletes, male and female, including the unethical use of a coach’s power and authority over younger adult athletes to ostensibly engage in consensual sex, permeates open amateur sport.
In schools and colleges that are recipients of federal funds, Title IX prohibits sexual harassment and abuse. Most educational institutions also have policies prohibiting faculty from having sexual relationships with their students and prohibiting supervisors from having sexual relationships with the employees they supervise. However, athletics departments are less likely to have separate policies prohibiting coach-athlete relationships, representing a gap since most coaches are not faculty and may not even be full-time employees of the institution. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, sexual harassment (including all forms of sexual violence) is an illegal form of sex discrimination. But Title VII only applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Many businesses of this size also prohibit relationships between employees and those they supervise. But it is fair to say that the smaller the business the less likely there is anyone charged with human resources responsibilities or the promulgation of human resource policies.
Most people simply don’t realize that open amateur youth sport (non-school sports clubs and leagues) serves over 44 million participants (NCYS, 2008) compared to high school sports that serve 7.5 million participants (NFSHA, 2011). These open amateur sport organizations consist of primarily three types: (1) small local non-profit organizations that do not receive federal funds that are run by parents or volunteer boards of directors and have less than 15 employees, (2) single coach owner operated businesses (LLCs) like martial arts studios or gymnastics clubs as an LLC and (3) sport programs operated by larger youth agencies like Boys and Girls Clubs, the YMCA, etc. While there is an overlay of state child welfare laws that criminalize child sexual abuse and provide tort protection, many of these state laws do not include coaches or sport administrators as mandatory reporters.
Further complicating this issue is the nature of the coach-athlete relationship. It is highly unlikely that an athlete, especially a young athlete, will report a coach’s transgression to the police. Young athletes don’t think other adults or even their parents will believe their word over that of a coach, especially since most of this conduct is one-on-one with no witnesses. Unfortunately, many athletes perceive themselves as dependent on the coach for their athletics success and fear that withdrawal of the coach’s attention or commitment (or the removal of an athletics scholarship at the college level) will occur if they don’t comply with whatever the coach asks them to do. Further, pedophiles are known to be artful in the cultivation of their victims. These circumstances mitigate the likelihood that athletes are or will report sexual harassment and abuse that occurs in schools and colleges as well as in open amateur sport. Discussion of strong policies prohibiting coach-athlete relationships between two adults, no matter what the age or authority differential, go nowhere because politically and socially, there are many coaches who have married athletes they have coached. Their coaching colleagues are loath to point an ethics questioning finger. However, whether the athlete or an employee is an adult, of age to enter into a consensual relationship, it is never proper for such a relationship to be ethically acceptable. Employees, volunteers, or others who have authority over subordinates or who provide professional services to athletes must exhibit the highest standard of impartiality and professional treatment. Having a sexual, intimate, romantic, or similar close personal relationship with individuals over whom a person has an instructional or service responsibility creates the appearance or actuality of favoritism and special treatment, which is professionally unacceptable and should be expressly prohibited.
It appears logical to conclude based upon the above discussion that (1) coach/athlete sexual abuse is both an obvious and foreseeable risk, (2) every local sports club or business has a duty and responsibility to protect athletes against the occurrence of such harm by having policies or prevention programs and (3) if sued by the sexual abuse victim or her/his family and the club is without such policies and prevention programs, a court would most likely opine that such athlete was harmed by the club’s failure to exercise reasonable care that could have prevented the abuse suffered. Yet, few sports clubs and independent sport businesses have such policies in place and the magnitude of the effort to get them to do so one at a time is daunting. However, it is very reasonable to assume that the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), appointed by Congress to control amateur sports in the USA, has an important obligation to lead such an effort.
The USOC appointed and received a comprehensive report on this issue from a blue ribbon committee in 2010 (USOC, 2010) and adopted an outstanding Coaching Code of Ethics (USOC, 2011) that even included a prohibition of coach-athlete relationships between consenting adults until two years had elapsed during which the coach no longer coached the athlete. However, these recommendations and the Coaching Code of Ethics remain “recommendations” that are optional for adoption by the national sport governing bodies recognized by and receiving funding from the USOC. If the USOC considers banning the use of performance enhancing drugs an important enough issue to make such a ban and drug testing policies mandatory for all national sport governing bodies, it should do the same for this important athlete protection and safety issue. The USOC could create a rule consistent with its authority that would deny recognition as a national sport governing body (NGB) or USOC funding to any NGB that did not require all of its individual and organizational members to comply with the USOC Coaching Code of Ethics.
If the USOC does not act, there is nothing preventing the national sports governing bodies and other national organizations that administer the conduct of youth sport programs from adopting strong codes of ethics that apply to all coaches and other members of the organization who work with children. Such codes should expressly prohibit sexual harassment, sexual abuse, bullying and forms of professional misconduct such as the improper use of physical punishment, mental, emotional and verbal abuse and improper romantic and social relationships with participants or employees under a coach’s supervision.
All NGBs and other national sports organizations should have policies and processes that:
define professional misconduct, including all forms of sexual harassment and abuse;
mandate criminal background checks for all sport coaches and administrators;
specify the manner in which misconduct complaints should be handled;
specify the sanctions that may be imposed, including banning coaches and others from working in NGB or association member programs, clubs and on national teams;
protect athlete sexual abuse victims from being confronted by their alleged abuser; and
prohibit retaliation against any individual that files a complaint.
Further, all NGBs should have an “athlete protection officer” on staff trained to support athlete victims of sexual abuse.
Because local clubs bear the direct responsibility for the safety of their participants, whether these clubs are coach-owned businesses, parent-owned non-profit organizations, or sport programs sponsored by larger institutions (YMCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, school districts and institutions of higher education, etc.), these entities should have comprehensive athlete safety and welfare policies, procedures and educational programs that include the following elements as recommended by Safe4Athletes (Safe4Athletes, 2012):
POLICIES that require criminal background and reference checks for coaches, volunteers and others working directly with children and clearly define prohibited conduct in a detailed way, from poor instruction or supervision practices and bullying behaviors, to more serious allegations of professional misconduct such as sexual harassment, or physical or sexual abuse.
REQUIREMENTS that coaches, employees, and volunteers sign a code of conduct agreement acknowledging having read and understand their obligation to adhere to the club, NGB and USOC ethics and conduct policies.
REQUIRED PROGRAMS for coaches, athletes, volunteers, and parents that educate these stakeholders on how to identify sexual harassment, abuse and other forms of misconduct and how to report such conduct.
AN ATHLETE WELFARE ADVOCATE (AWA) to assist athletes who are often afraid of confronting more powerful coaches or even their own parents when faced with a distressing situation.
APPROPRIATE PROCEDURES to restore a safe environment if misconduct occurs, specifically:
availability of an Athlete Welfare Advocate to meet in a confidential and supportive environment to assist the athlete (and/or parents) in identifying and addressing the concern;
commitment to immediately correct any hostile environment or situation that threatens the safety and well-being of participants;
in the case of minor transgressions, a mechanism to resolve the situation to the satisfaction of the affected athlete (and his/her parents); and
in more serious situations, a mechanism to temporarily suspend the coach or other individual accused of misconduct for the duration of the complaint process that includes the following elements:
the AWA represents or accompanies the athlete who is never required to confront her/his alleged abuser,
the accused is given notice of all charges,
the Club appoints an impartial Fact Finder to interview all parties,
the accused receives a full hearing before and the opportunity to submit a detailed written statement to the Fact Finder,
the Fact Finder presents the facts and recommendations, including the statements of the accused, the complainant, and all witnesses to an Ethics Panel that determines if Club policy was violated and, if necessary, imposes appropriate sanctions, and
the Club reports any coach or volunteer alleged of misconduct or judged to have committed serious misconduct and whose employment or affiliation with the Club was terminated to the Club’s national sport governing body (NGB). In the case of the latter, the Club requests that the NGB revoke the individual’s membership and ability to coach or be affiliated with all NGB member clubs.
State governments also need to do a better job. At the state level, child welfare laws mandating that individuals in certain professions report instances of child abuse should include sport program coaches, administrators, and directors. Further, such laws should require that sport program coaches, administrators, and directors receive training on the identification of sexual and other forms of abuse. Most state laws currently do not name coaches, administrators and sport directors unless they are affiliated with schools, colleges or public agencies.
Our sport culture has elevated the power of a coach to an almost God-like status. Our athletes are taught to revere, respect, listen, trust and respond to coaches with almost blind obedience. Especially in the wake of the Sandusky/Penn State scandal, we should be reminded that any obsession with the purity of the “brand” – be it the Pennsylvania State University football program, the Olympic Games or the respected coach – should not result in a denial of our basic obligation to protect the welfare of sport program participants. Prevention of coach and sport leader misconduct and the advancement of athlete safety begin with the adoption of policies that are clear statements of expectations, responsibilities and consequences for engaging in prohibited conduct.
References:
Frere, E. (2012) Santa Ana Boxing Club Coach Accused of Sexual Abuse. KABC-TV/DT Santa Ana, California (July 16, 2012). Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=8738059
Kozen, K. (2012) More Coaches Accused of Sexual Abuse. Aquatics International, July 2012 Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://www.aquaticsintl.com/2012/sep/1209n_abuse.html#.UAqTNaNRC1g
Leahy, T. Pretty, G. and Tenenbaum, G. (2002) ‘Prevalence of sexual abuse in organised competitive sport in Australia’, Journal of Sexual Aggression, 8(2): 16-36
Lopiano, D.A. and Zotos, C. (Publication 2013) The Athletics Director’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Practical Guide to the Management of Scholastic and Intercollegiate Athletics Programs. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. See excerpt “Sample Policy: Ethical and Professional Conduct of Athletic Department Employees” at
http://sportsmanagementresources.com/library/ethical-conduct-of-employees
Marchocki, K. (2012) Sex abuse investigation into former York youth baseball coach broadens
The New Hampshire Union Leader, July 19, 2012. Retrieved on July 21 at:
Sex abuse investigation into former York youth baseball coach broadens
Mikelway, B. (2012) Accusers confront cheerleading coach in Henrico sex-abuse case Richmond Times-Dispatch (June 27, 2012)
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jun/27/tdmet01-accusers-confront-cheerleading-coach-in-he-ar-2016009/
National Council of Youth Sports (2008) Report on Trends and Participation in Youth Sports. Stuart, Florida. Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://www.ncys.org/pdfs/2008/2008-ncys-market-research-report.pdf
National Federation of State High School Associations. (2011) 2010-11 High School Athletics Participation Survey Results. Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=3282
O’Donnell, J. (2012) Agreement Reached in Sandburg Coach’s Sexual Abuse Case, Sentence to Come. OrlandParkPatch (July 9, 2012) Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://orlandpark.patch.com/articles/agreement-reached-in-sandburg-coachs-sexual-abuse-case-sentence-to-come
Potts, S. (2012) Soccer group puts ex-coach on indefinite suspension after sex abuse charges. Salisbury Post (July 20, 2012) Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://www.salisburypost.com/News/072012-crime-Ralph-Wager-charged-sex-offense-suspended-soccer-association-qcd
Safe4Athletes. (2012) Safe4Athletes Handbook: Local Club Policies and Procedures. Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://safe4athletes.org/component/k2/item/80-safe4athletes-handbook
United States Olympic Committee. (2010) Working Group for Safe Training Environments Recommendations to the USOC Board of Directors (September 28, 2010) http://www.teamusa.org/News/2010/September/29/Safe-Training-Environments-Working-Group-Issues-Report.aspx
United States Olympic Committee. (2011) Coaching Ethics Code. Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at: http://www2.teamusa.org/USA-Roller-Sports/Resources/For-Coaches/USOC-Coaching-Ethics-Code.aspx
USA Gymnastics (2012) Permanently Ineligible Members: Notice to Members. Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://usagym.org/pages/aboutus/pages/permanently_ineligible_members.html
USA Swimming (2012) Individuals Permanent Suspended or Ineligible (Updated 6-4-12) Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at:
http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx?TabId=1963&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&mid=10011&ItemId=5107
Willmsen, C. and M. O’Hagan. (2003) Coaches Who Prey: The Abuse of Girls and the System that Allows It. Seattle Times (December 14, 2003) Retrieved on July 21, 2012 at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/news/local/coaches/news/dayone.html
