{"id":84932,"date":"2022-11-14T11:05:37","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T16:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=84932"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:08","slug":"abuse-in-sports-culture","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/abuse-in-sports-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Abuse is widely accepted as part of organized sports culture but it should not be tolerated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Abuse is widely accepted as part of organized sports culture but it should not be tolerated\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

This article is republished<\/a> from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by The Conversation<\/a> from various sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a trigger warning, please note that the article includes information about abuse and sexual violence. We understand that this can trigger strong reactions and we encourage the community to connect with Carleton University’s Sexual Assault Support Centre<\/a> and\/or Health and Counselling Services<\/a> for support. Additional community supports can also be found here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Participating in sports as a child or adolescent can have many benefits, including improvements in both physical and mental health with positive impacts into adulthood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, various forms of abuse within sports appear to be common, negating benefits in participating in sports and resulting in long-term negative impacts. Greater recognition that verbal and emotional abuse in sports is abuse and harmful regardless of victim or perpetrator gender is necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Carcillo, former NHL player and two-time Stanley Cup winner, is the lead plaintiff in a class action abuse lawsuit filed against the Canadian Hockey League in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carcillo alleges abuse by teammates when he was a 17-year-old player with the Ontario Hockey League<\/a>. He retired in 2015, and is involved in activism that lets kids know that hazing rituals \u2014 whether physical, sexual, verbal or emotional \u2014 are abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadian figure skater Elizabeth Manley, a silver-medalist Olympian, reported years of verbal abuse as a young skater that included being fat-shamed and told she wasn’t “tough enough” to be a winner<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, players in the National Women’s Soccer league have come forward to report the abuse they experienced at the hands of some of their coaches<\/a>. One player was so frightened about the potential fallout that it took her six years to report the abuse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar stories of abuse abound. Larry Nassar, a former doctor with USA Gymnastics, may be the most prolific sex abuser in sports: over 500 girls and women reported being abused by him<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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