Leave Quickly
Search
Search
Jump To:

Education and Resources

Understanding abuse in sports

Recognizing, Preventing, and Responding to Athlete Abuse

Abuse in sports happens when power is misused to harm athletes, physically, emotionally, or sexually. Understanding abuse in sports is the first step toward protecting athletes and creating a safer culture. Discover the types of abuse athletes may face and learn to recognize the warning signs.

Do you suspect abuse or neglect?

Types of Abuse

Emotional Abuse – This can include:

  • Name-calling, belittling, and shouting
  • Threats, humiliation, and scapegoating
  • Ignoring or rejecting athletes
  • Bullying, gaslighting, or isolating
  • Quick shifts between praise and criticism
  • Encouraging disordered eating behaviors and body shaming

Key points to remember

  • Emotional abuse in sports is any verbal or psychological tactic that diminishes an athlete’s self-worth, manipulates their emotions, or creates a hostile environment.
  • It’s often hidden behind “tough coaching” but can deeply harm an athlete’s mental health.
  • Recognizing emotional abuse is key to fostering supportive and healthy coaching relationships where athletes feel safe and valued.

Physical Abuse – This can include:

  • Hitting, slapping, or kicking
  • Throwing equipment at athletes
  • Rough physical corrections
  • Punishment through excessive exercise
  • Denial of food, water, or rest
  • Hazing 
  • Forced participation while injured or ignoring signs of injury

Key points to remember

  • Physical abuse in sports includes any intentional harm or unsafe physical correction that risks an athlete’s well-being.
  • This can range from overt violence to unsafe training practices disguised as “discipline” or a “consequence.”
  • Athletes should never be punished with excessive exercise, denied necessities like water, or forced to play through injuries.

Recognizing these abusive behaviors is essential to protecting athlete health.

Sexual Abuse – This can include:

  • Unwanted sexual contact
  • Making unwanted sexual requests such as repeatedly asking someone on a date or to have a sexual relationship.
  • Sexual jokes
  • Indecent exposure or sexual gestures
  • Grooming and sexual exploitation
  • Exposure to pornographic material
  • Creation of child sexual abuse content
  • Rape and other forms of sexual assault

Key points to remember

  • Sexual abuse in sports is a violation of trust and power.
  • It includes any sexual behavior forced upon an athlete, regardless of gender.
  • Abusers may use their authority to manipulate or intimidate athletes into silence.
  • These can be a range of violations from sexual “jokes” to exposure to sexual material to rape and other physical sexual assaults.
  • Recognizing the red flags and creating safe reporting channels are critical steps in prevention and protection.

Neglect in Sports  – This can include

  • Ignoring injuries and unsafe conditions
  • Inadequate supervision or equipment
  • Denying athletes basic needs (food, water, rest, sleep)
  • Allowing bullying or hazing to persist

Key points to remember

  • Neglect in sports often goes unnoticed, but can be extremely damaging and dangerous.
  • Failing to address injuries, provide safe equipment, or supervise athletes responsibly puts them at severe risk.
  • Athlete safety requires proactive care, not reactive crisis management.

It is vital to recognize neglect and advocate for environments where athletes’ physical and emotional needs and health are prioritized.

Signs of abuse

Signs of abuse in aTHLETES

Athlete sitting on a box, leaning forward, with colorful gradient overlay, black background.

Abuse does not always leave visible scars. Athletes may show subtle signs like sudden withdrawal from activities they used to enjoy, heightened anxiety, unexplained injuries, or unusual emotional responses. Trauma reactions, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Complex PTSD often manifest for athletes as emotional dysregulation, shame, or people-pleasing behaviors due to the trauma of long-term abuse.

Coaches, sports professionals, and other people with roles in sport who are abusers may also exhibit warning signs, such as inconsistent injury explanations, harsh discipline, secrecy, or dismissive attitudes toward an athlete’s well-being.

Understanding these behaviors is crucial to promoting trauma-informed care in the sports culture. Always approach concerns with compassion and a sense of urgency.

When the athlete:

  • Reports of injury that are made by a coach, teacher, or anyone else within the organization .
  • Has unexplained burns, bites, bruises, broken bones, or black eyes which they may be hesitant to talk about or try to keep covered.
  • Has fading bruises or other noticeable marks after practicing or traveling with the team.
  • Changes clothes for practice to cover unexplained bumps or bruises.
  • Seems frightened of any of the staff and protests or cries when it is time to go to practice.
  • Shrinks at the approach of adults generally, or coaches/sports professionals.

When a person with power and control in sport: 

  • Offers conflicting, unconvincing, or no explanation for the athlete’s injury 
  • Describes the athlete as “evil,” or in some other very negative way
  • Describes the athlete as crazy or hysterical
  • Continually undercuts the athlete or uses gaslighting tactics (distorting or denying someone’s memory or experience)
  • Uses harsh physical discipline with the athlete 

When the athlete:

  • Shows extremes in behavior, such as overly compliant or demanding behavior, extreme passivity, or aggression 
  • Is delayed in physical or emotional development
  • Is either inappropriately adult (children parenting other children, for example) or inappropriately infantile (frequently rocking or head-banging, for example) 

When a person with power and control in sport:

  • Constantly blames, belittles, or berates the athlete 
  • Is unconcerned about the athlete and refuses to consider offers of help for the athlete’s problems 
  • Overtly rejects or dismisses the athlete

When the athlete:

  • Suddenly refuses to change for gym class or to participate in physical activities
  • Exhibits overprotectiveness about their body and privacy
  • Reports nightmares (or bedwetting in the case of children)
  • Experiences a sudden change in appetite
  • Demonstrates bizarre, sophisticated, or unusual sexual knowledge or behavior
  • Has difficulty walking or sitting
  • Experiences unexpected sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy

When a person with power and control in sport:

  • Is unduly protective of the athlete or severely limits the athlete’s contact with others
  • Is secretive and isolated 
  • Is jealous or controlling with family members
  • Is constantly watching the athlete and all their interactions

When the athlete:

  • Begs or steals food or money
  • Has injuries that are not cared for, or is forced to continue with training or competing with an injury 
  • Reports inadequate equipment for training or competition
  • Abuses alcohol or other drugs
  • States that there is no one at the training or competition that is supervising the athletes
  • Alludes to a pattern of hazing or bullying within the team

When a person with power and control in sport:

  • Appears to be indifferent to the athlete 
  • Seems apathetic or depressed 
  • Behaves irrationally or in a bizarre manner 
  • Is abusing alcohol or other drugs
  • Is overly secretive and not transparent about their work with athletes

Impacts of Abuse

Impacts of Abuse: Physical, Mental, Sports Performance

Effects of Abuse on Physical Health

  • Bruises that may be odd to the specific sports activity
  • Burns, cuts, broken bones
  • Long-term effects of brain damage and permanent disabilities
  • Impaired physical development

Effects of abuse in sport on Intellectual and Mental Development

  • Lower academic achievement and poorer school performance or work performance
  • Emotional and psychological consequences:
    • Low self-esteem
    • Depression
    • Anxiety
    • Post-traumatic stress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
    • Impaired attachment
    • Eating disorders
    • Distorted body image 
    • Mistrust of others
    • Difficulty with peer relationships
    • Difficulty regulating emotions
    • Self-harming behavior, including cutting and suicide attempts
    • Suicide
  • Behavioral consequences:
    • Risk of violent behavior
    • Antisocial behavior
    • Juvenile delinquency or involvement in crime
    • Substance use
    • Increased risk-taking behaviors
    • Self-harm

Effects of Abuse on Sports Performance

  • Training effects: 
    • Changes in motivation about the sport
    • Reduced enjoyment (possibly leading to burnout and quitting sports)
    • Impaired focus
    • Difficulties with gaining new skills
    • Diminished performance
    • Feeling obligated to continue with the sport
    • Looking forward to the end of the season (counting down days)

Trauma responses

Trauma responses in athletes who have experienced Abuse

Trauma affects how athletes react to stress. Recognizing these four trauma responses—Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn—helps coaches, friends, family, and caregivers respond with empathy rather than punishment. These are survival strategies, not “bad attitudes.”

01

Fight

Anger, aggression, reactive violence

  • Sudden changes in behavior or athletic performance
  • A small mistake or minimal situation getting overblown
  • An extreme reaction to defeat like kicking or punching
  • Self-destructive tendencies from missing practices to self-harm
  • Aggressive behavior with peers and other teammates

02

FLight

Pulling away (emotionally or physically), closing off, not communicating, isolation

  • Always watchful, as though preparing for something bad to happen and hyperattentive to surroundings
  • Suddenly deciding to stop playing in a game or participating in practice based on a seemingly minor incident
  • Withdrawal from friends, family, or the team
  • Overcommitting, being extremely busy 
  • Walking away from any argument or disagreement

03

Freeze

Non-reactive, unemotional, numbness

  • Has learning problems (or difficulty concentrating) that cannot be attributed to specific physical or psychological causes
  • Zoning out during practice or competitions
  • Not paying attention when spoken to
  • Feelings of burnout
  • Lack of emotional expression, flat affect (not showing emotional responses on their face), and body language

04

Fawn

Avoiding conflict at all costs, people-pleaser, validation-seeking, un-opinionated

  • Overly compliant, passive, or withdrawn
  • Trouble saying “no”
  • Always answering “I don’t care” or deferring to others
  • Becomes anxious when minor conflict occurs
  •  Always working to please other people and do what other people want

Donate Today

Your donation supports survivors, funds sexual abuse prevention education, and helps make sport safer for all athletes.

Volleyball player in blue jersey preparing to serve during a game, with other players visible on the court in the background.

Get Involved

Stand with us! Your involvement impacts systems change, raises public awareness, and protects athletes.

Woman in sports attire performing a high-five plank exercise outdoors on a sunny day.