The Three Manifestations of Harassment in School Athletics

When schools discuss inappropriate behavior in athletics, attention often centers on the coach-to-student relationship. That relationship deserves careful oversight—but it is not the only area of risk.

Harassment, abuse, and boundary violations in athletics can appear in three distinct ways:

1. Coach or athletic staff member to student-athlete

2. Student-athlete to student-athlete

3. Coach or staff member to another coach or employee

Each manifestation is influenced by the culture and structure of athletics.

1. Coach-to-Student Behavior

Coaches hold significant authority. They influence playing time, positions, team selection, recommendations, recognition, and sometimes access to future opportunities. Practices, travel, locker-room environments, electronic communication, and individualized instruction can create greater access to students than is typical in a classroom.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport’s 2024 survey of more than 4,000 adult athletes found that 10.9% reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact or sexually explicit behavior during their involvement in sports. Coaches or assistant coaches were the most commonly identified perpetrators of nonconsensual sexual touching, followed by athlete peers. Among athletes who reported unwanted sexual experiences, 43.3% said at least one incident occurred while they were minors.

These findings are not limited to interscholastic athletics and should not be interpreted as a national K–12 prevalence rate. They do, however, demonstrate how authority, access, and dependency within sports can create opportunities for misconduct.

2. Student-to-Student Behavior

Teammates spend significant time together in locker rooms, on buses, in hotels, at team gatherings, and through group messages and social media. Hazing, sexual jokes, unwanted touching, bullying, image sharing, and degrading initiation activities may be dismissed as “team bonding” or “just joking.”

Yet athlete peers are a significant source of harm. In the 2024 SafeSport survey, athlete peers were the most frequently identified perpetrators of reported rape or attempted rape in sports, followed by coaches or assistant coaches. Among athletes who had witnessed or learned about sexual harm involving another athlete, 52% identified an athlete peer as a perpetrator and 52.7% identified a coach or assistant coach. Respondents could identify more than one perpetrator.

This is why prevention cannot focus only on adult behavior. Students must also be taught expectations for consent, boundaries, hazing, digital communication, bystander intervention, and reporting.

3. Coach-to-Coach or Staff-to-Staff Behavior

Athletic departments are also workplaces. Harassment may occur between head and assistant coaches, among coaches of different teams, or between coaches, athletic directors, volunteers, and other personnel.

Athletics can intensify these risks through unequal authority, gender stereotypes, informal hiring networks, job insecurity, competitive pressure, and concern about being labeled “difficult” or disloyal.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport’s 2025 national coaches survey found that 46% of coaches had experienced verbal harassment or abuse while coaching. The most frequently identified source was parents, illustrating that personnel may face misconduct from several directions within the athletic environment. Broader workplace research reviewed by the EEOC found that approximately 70% of employees who experienced harassment in the studies examined never discussed it with a supervisor, manager, or union representative.

Research specifically quantifying coach-to-coach harassment in U.S. school athletics remains limited—another reason districts should assess their own athletic climate instead of assuming the absence of complaints means the absence of problems.

Three Actions That Address All Three Manifestations

1. Establish athletics-specific standards

Clearly define prohibited conduct for adults and students, including grooming behaviors, sexual harassment, hazing, retaliation, inappropriate electronic communication, and staff-to-staff misconduct. Apply the standards to coaches, volunteers, contractors, students, parents, and athletic administrators.

2. Provide multiple trusted reporting pathways

Students and employees should never be required to report only through the person who controls their playing time, evaluation, or employment. Provide age-appropriate, confidential-to-the-extent-possible options inside and outside the normal athletic chain of command—and explain what happens after a concern is submitted.

3. Train, monitor, and verify

Provide recurring training for coaches, staff, volunteers, and student-athletes. Monitor higher-risk environments such as locker rooms, travel, isolated instruction, electronic communication, and off-campus team activities. Document training completion and periodically review whether policies are actually being followed.

Protecting students and personnel requires schools to look beyond one relationship or one type of misconduct. A comprehensive athletics safety strategy must recognize all three manifestations—coach to student, student to student, and coach to coach.

Athletics is different. Its prevention strategy should be different, too.