Will Soccer Make Your Kid A Bully?
Certainly not unique to club soccer teams, is an increase in bullying; most often in middle school and high school aged girls’ team.
Most schools have in-house programs to address bullying yet soccer clubs may not have strict policies against this and coaches may not even be able to tell the signs of bullying on a team (or within a club itself).
As you’ll see from some of the reviews on this site and from the comments from readers, may clubs bring-on international soccer coaches who use the US as a training background then they’re off to another state or country. These coaches clearly come from very different backgrounds and they may not be in tuned to what we classify as bullying – so pay close attention to your kids and look for clear signs.
If bullying is happening on a team then it is the responsibility of the coach and club administrators to keep all the kids safe. Many times it could be mental as opposed to physical forcing kids to leaver soccer altogether. Some teams may have certain clicks that unknowingly (?) make others feel intimidated or threatened.
Look to the coach as he/she is responsible for all the actions of the team. These kids need to be identified and the issue addressed so the team can play and have fun as a true united team.
Coaches, please be aware and don’t turn a blind eye towards the thugs at hand.
Here’s a great video on bullying as well.
