Discrimination in Youth Sport: Exploring the Experiences of European Coaches

Abstract

Discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation remains a critical concern across Europe, including within the sphere of youth sports. Research has shown that youth sports can be a fertile environment for discrimination and bullying and that coaches play a key role in preventing or mitigating discriminatory situations. Given the crucial role of coaches, it is therefore important to build our understanding of the experiences, perspectives, and needs of those coaches concerning discrimination in sports. Against this background, this paper presents the results of an applied survey of 174 European youth sport coaches conducted as part of the INCLUDE project. In particular, this survey focuses on the experiences of coaches when witnessing and reporting discrimination, as well as their perspectives on what needs to be done in the policy and educational areas to combat issues of discrimination. Results show that 25% of coaches witness discrimination on a monthly basis and that fans or spectators are perceived as the most common perpetrators. To combat the issues, coaches report a need for greater policy support, funding, training, and awareness raising. To conclude, we discuss the practical, policy, and research implications of these findings.