The Dark Side of Youth Sports: COACHES SEXUALLY ABUSING CHILDREN - the need for a code of conduct

Society must initiate programs to educate youngsters about illicit sexual contact by adults who coach them, as well as establish a code of conduct for those who work with kids and sports.

MANY OF THOSE involved in sports believe that athletic participation has the capacity to teach youngsters positive life lessons and help establish habits of character. However, reports of sexual deviancy and abuse among professional, collegiate, and high school athletes make people pause. Particularly distressing are reports of sport leaders and coaches sexually abusing children.

It is not easy to define sexual abuse by coaches, but let us assume a continuum of sexual misconduct. At one end there are behaviors such as listening to and telling sexist jokes, where it could be argued there is low potential for harm to the recipient. Behaviors that have potential for harm include inappropriate romantic relationships with athletes, sexual harassment, and inappropriate fondling (behavior pedophiles commonly engage in). Acts that have a higher potential for harm include threats and violence as well as sexual assault. Behavior at the farthest end of the continuum that has the highest potential for victim harm is rape.

In the 1997 update of its coaching handbook, USA Hockey, the governing body of amateur hockey in America, indicated that "Sexual abuse of a minor participant occurs when an employee, volunteer or independent contractor touches a minor participant for the purpose of causing sexual arousal or gratification of either the minor participant or the employee, volunteer or independent contractor. Sexual abuse of a minor participant also occurs when a minor player touches an employee, volunteer or independent contractor for the sexual arousal or sexual gratification of either the minor participant or the employee, volunteer or independent contractor, if the touching occurs at the request or with the consent of the employee, volunteer or independent contractor." Further, "neither consent of the player to the sexual contact, mistake as to the participant's age, nor the fact that the sexual contact did not take place at a hockey function are defenses to a complaint of sexual abuse."

It is difficult to get an accurate estimate of the extent of sexual abuse in youth sports for the same reasons that it is difficult to pin down the nature and extent of sexual abuse in the population at large. One cannot rely on data obtained from legal authorities because most victims rarely report the assault to anyone, let alone the police, since they have feelings of shame, guilt, powerlessness, and despair. Compounding these feelings is the fact that, in practically all cases, they knew and trusted the perpetrator, so they feel that somehow they were to blame.

That leaves data obtained by researchers in the fields of psychology and social work. Many researchers fail to document clearly how they defined sexual abuse, so the reader does not know if it is of the type that has low or high potential for harm to the child. Second, there is the problem of methods used to collect data. Most researchers use questionnaires and/or interviews that require retrospective recall of abuse. For instance, they might ask adults whether they were ever sexually abused as a child. Although this methodology is widely used and accepted, its accuracy can be questioned due to faulty memory, denial because of guilt or shame, and, in some cases, false positive recall due to "suggestion" during the interview.

Researchers also have been criticized for using the words "sexual abuse" in their questionnaires or interviews, thus leaving it up to the subject to interpret what is meant by the term. Researchers should provide clear behavioral descriptions of experiences that enable the subject to answer either yes or no--such as "someone fondled you in a sexual way (i.e., touched your genitals or other parts of your body)."

Third, estimates from these studies have examined varied populations, with different prevalence rates between samples of college students and other community samples, by socioeconomic status, and among different countries of the world. For example, in a study that used data from 19 countries in addition to the U.S. and Canada, the researchers found sexual abuse prevalence to range from seven to 36% for women and three to 29% for men.

Experts agree that these prevalence rates are underestimates of actual sexual abuse cases. The National Foundation to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse estimates that one of three girls and one of six boys will be subject to some form of sexual abuse by age 16.

What happens in youth sports in the U.S., where approximately 50% of all youngsters between the ages of eight and 18 participate in some form of non-school-based organized sports and millions more participate in high school-sponsored sports? The truth is that the scope of sexual abuse is not known because no studies have been conducted on this population.

John Bales, president of the Coaching Association of Canada, believes that the sporting world may be particularly vulnerable to the problems of sexual abuse because it is an environment characterized by close relationships and trust. However, virtually the only data available today comes from newspaper reports and magazine stories that chronicle sexual abuse cases where the abusers typically are male coaches and the victims are females.

In the past five years, as numerous reports of sexual abuse of athletes by coaches have appeared in newspapers and magazines, two cases in particular have drawn national attention. The first, reported in Sports Illustrated in the spring of 1997, described how Rick Butler, the coach at the Sports Performance Volleyball club in West Chicago, Ill., allegedly abused at least three of his teenage volleyball players sexually. The abuse, according to the report, began in 1984, when one of the athletes was 15, and continued over a period of years. As is typical in such cases, the victim did not report the abuse until 10 years later.

The second sexual abuse case that continues to draw attention in the U.S. and Canada involves former Boston Bruin Sheldon Kennedy. Although the abuse began when he was 14 and playing hockey in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1984, it was not reported until 1997. Over a period of approximately five years, his coach, Graham James, sexually assaulted Kennedy more than 300 times. James received a 42-month jail sentence for his crimes.

A search for newspaper reports of coach sexual abuse in the U.S. and internationally covering the last two years shows the following headlines as examples: "Girls' Coach Sentenced to Jail for Sex Crimes" (Arizona Republic), a case where a male coach had sex with a student at a Hopi reservation school; "Sex Sentence Reduced for Ex-Anita [Iowa] Volleyball Coach" (Omaha World-Herald); "Girls Suing Fort Bend School District over Alleged Sexual Abuse" (Houston Chronicle); and "Ex-Celtic Boys Allege Sex Abuse by Coach" (The Scotsman). On Jan. 31, 1999, a London Sunday Telegraph story accused the Women's Tennis Association of staying silent over sex abuse claims. The report was in reference to two French coaches being fired for having sex with junior girls.

Boston's major newspapers--the Herald and Globe--have headlined several cases of coach sexual abuse of athletes in Massachusetts. In January, 1999, a 30-year-old swimming coach was arrested and charged with forcible rape of a child, attempted rape of a child under 16, and indecent assault and battery on two members of his swim team. On March 9, 1999, the Boston Globe ran a headline, "Martial-Arts Teacher, 31, Accused of Raping Pupils." Two days later, another major story broke detailing the case of a 36-year-old husband and father who allegedly inappropriately fondled at least nine boys over a period of three years while he was coach of a youth soccer team.

In examining sexual abuse cases in sport, it becomes clear that, in most instances, there is a pattern of behavior driven by characteristics of the coach, athlete, and sports interacting in unique ways. The coach is typically male, older, and physically bigger and stronger than the athlete. It is difficult to profile the predator coach by occupation, because he may have been a gifted athlete and might be a successful businessman, scoutmaster, trained as a teacher, or even a member of the clergy. He usually has some form of credibility in the sporting community for previous coaching success, and is often a coaching taskmaster demanding a great deal from his athletes--physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The sexual predator coach works hard at establishing athlete and parental trust, and frequently is a "charmer," making it unthinkable to most people that he would engage in this behavior. He often promotes himself by making promises regarding the star potential of children he coaches. He carefully structures the coaching environment so that there are opportunities to be alone with specific athletes during practice and road games. The acts are not random, but well-planned and aimed directly at athletes who either will do almost anything to get to the top of their field or are from broken homes. Sexually abusive coaches also know that, because of the athlete's desire to get a scholarship and/or make the team, it is unlikely that the abuse will be reported.

In the case of male athletes in sports such as hockey (for example, Sheldon Kennedy), the coach knows the athlete probably will not report the case for fear of being labeled as a homosexual. William Houston, writing in Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, about the problems of youth hockey, claimed the sport has a "culture of silence."

The abused athlete on the other hand, is typically female, younger, smaller, and weaker, with a low level of awareness about appropriate behavior, low self-esteem, a weak relationship with parents, an intense devotion to the coach, and a desire for achievement in the sport.

Coach predators usually are careful to seek out sports environments that allow for physical handling in coaching and where privacy is available for practice and trips away, little parental or organizational monitoring occurs, and there are weak association codes of ethics.

In 1993, the National Child Protection Act (NCPA) was passed by Congress to protect children from sexual abuse. It had two major flaws, however. First, unless a state passed legislation implementing the Act, organizations were not permitted to request fingerprints of volunteers and employees for FBI background checks. Second, Congress did not mandate state legislation, so the law had no teeth.

On Oct. 9, 1998, the Volunteers for Children Act (an amendment to the NCPA) was signed into law by Pres. Clinton. Essentially, the amended law states that a "qualified entity" now has the ability to request national fingerprint-based checks of volunteers and employees. A qualified entity is any business organization-whether public, private, for-profit, nonprofit, or voluntary--that provides care, treatment, education, training, instruction, supervision, or recreation for children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities. With the amendment, if a volunteer or employee of an organization sexually molests a child in his or her care and if it can be shown the volunteer or employee had been previously convicted somewhere in the U.S. for a relevant crime, the organization may be held liable under the legal principle of negligent hiring. Many lawmakers and educators see the 1998 law as one that finally enables parents to turn their children safely over to leaders in youth sports.

While the law has the potential to identify readily the worst abusers of children, it has its limitations. First, few organizations are fully aware of the law. Second, there is a bureaucracy that needs to be overcome. For instance, sports organizations must first obtain permission from the employee/volunteer to do a serious background check and obtain fingerprints. The organization then contacts the state law enforcement identification bureau, which, in turn, contacts the FBI. The FBI reports back to the state law enforcement agency, which then reports back to the organization.

Although laborious and time-consuming, this law is a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, more than laws are needed to control sexual abuse against children in sport. In discussing the Sheldon Kennedy case, Hall of Fame goalie, National Hockey League general manager, and lawyer Ken Dryden said: "We want to believe that regulation or law can control our relationships with strangers, even with family. But they can't. We have to depend on the basic goodness and decency of others, just as they have to depend on that in us. We can screen and monitor, but ultimately we have to trust. Trust must be earned, and in our fragmented world, it isn't easily earned. So when we impose regulation to replace trust, we do so running scared."

What can sports do?

Perhaps the largest contributor to the issue of coaches and sexual abuse is lack of awareness and education. The U.S. is the only country in the major sporting world that does not have a national coaching education program for volunteer coaches. In fact, there are no Federal laws requiring coaching education at any level of competition--youth sports, interscholastic (high school), collegiate, Olympic, or professional.

Because of this, less than 10% of the 2,500,000 volunteer coaches have any type of coaching education. In school contexts, less than one-third of interscholastic coaches have received any type of coaching education. More than 50% of the interscholastic coaches do not hold a teaching certificate and have no affiliation with the school system. Forty-nine states allow non-faculty to coach school sports. The lack of fundamental education for the majority of coaches and a code of coaching conduct simply is inviting problems.

Steps currently are being taken to educate coaches and others in sport. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC), established by Federal law in 1978 as the lead organization for sports in the nation, has developed a long-term plan that includes establishing national standards for coaches in three major areas: ethics, safety, and knowledge/competencies. The organization's Code of Ethics was published in 1996, and it is mandatory for all USOC coaches to read the code and sign it.

Unlike governmental coach education programs in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, those in the U.S. have been developed by individuals, organizations, and universities, with little standardization. In addition to the USOC leadership, the National Association of Sport and Physical Education, also in 1996, developed national coaching education standards. The NASPE currently is in the process of developing an accreditation program.

Coaches would learn about six general principles that include competence, integrity, professional responsibility, respect for participants' dignity, concern for others' welfare, and responsible coaching. Moreover, they would be taught about sexual harassment; misuse of influence; exploitative relationships (they shall not engage in sexual/romantic relationships with athletes they coach); prohibition of sexual intimacies with current athletes; limiting sexual intimacies with former athletes for at least two years after termination of professional services; and coaching former sexual partners. They also would learn how to confront ethical issues and report ethical violations.

There are many people and groups that have a role to play in preventing child sexual abuse in sport. They include coaches' organizations, national sports governing bodies, local sports organizations, universities, high schools, coaches, parents, and children themselves.

What is needed is a national coaching education program that deals with both career (professional) and community/volunteer coaches. All must belong to a coaching organization. Training must be complemented by a system of regulations, standards of membership, a comprehensive code of ethics, and a monitoring mechanism to ensure accountability.

Schools and community sports programs must insist that each of their coaches receives education including coaching ethics. They should do a thorough background check and conduct an extensive interview with the prospective coach. Organizations should have a written policy regarding procedures for reporting possible coach sexual abuse, hearings, and sanctions.

Parents have a responsibility, too. They must invite their offspring to talk about their sports experiences, get to know the child's coach, and inquire about his or her qualifications. Parents should attend games and practices and observe the nature of coach-child interaction without being intrusive. They should educate youngsters about appropriate and inappropriate coaching behavior.

Children need to be told that it is okay to say no to adults who engage in behavior they have learned is inappropriate. In this way, youngsters can begin to protect themselves and know where to go for help.

The problem of child sexual abuse in sport is a serious problem. There are at-risk youngsters playing sports and there are a number of sexual predators masquerading as coaches. Most coaches (volunteer and career) are competent and have high ethical standards, and society must be aware of the possibility that they can be wrongfully accused of sexual abuse. Their rights must be protected as well.

It is regrettable to think that a volunteer coach in youth soccer could not put his arms around an eight-year-old to comfort her when she twists her ankle or to hug a young athlete during celebration because of the fear of sexual abuse charges. Nevertheless, there are some rotten apples out there. Society has to get rid of them and prevent other rotten apples from becoming coaches of children.

Leonard D. Zaichkowsky is coordinator of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Program, Boston (Mass.) University, a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation, and a consulting psychologist for the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics.

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