Prevalence of Bullying in Grassroots Soccer in Spain: Victims, Bullies, and Bystanders

Abstract

Bullying is a social problem that has been studied most in schools but affects other social contexts. However, there is a general lack of studies on bullying in sports. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of bullying among youth soccer players. Participants were 1,980 soccer players (88.2% boys) aged 8 to 13 years (Mage = 10.5, SD = 1.68) from 25 clubs in Catalonia, Spain. An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to analyze the prevalence and characteristics of bullying from the perspective of victims, bullies, and bystanders. The overall bullying victimization rate was 8.9%, with higher rates observed in the younger categories (p < .001); 5.2% of victims experienced bullying in both their soccer club and at school. The bullying and bystander rates were 14.8% and 34.7%, respectively, with significant differences between boys and girls (15.5% of boys and 9% of girls were bullies [p < .05], while 36.4% of boys and 21.9% of girls were bystanders [p < .001]). Verbal bullying was the main type of bullying reported. The locker room and pitch were the most common locations, and victims were more likely to deal with bullying on their own than to ask for help. Bullying is present in grassroots soccer, and anti-bullying programs are needed to instill ethical and moral values in athletes and equip coaches with the necessary skills to prevent, detect, and address bullying situations.

Teachers’ Perceptions and Position Regarding the Problem of Bullying and Its Socio-Educational Prevention

“…The findings of this research indicated that the teachers believed that family involvement and student education were necessary as preventive measures. Along these lines, school-based anti-bullying programmes that include a parent component result in small but significant reductions in bullying [ 81 , 82 ]. The teachers also advocated a subject on values education, talks/tutorials/assemblies, teacher training, and collaboration with law enforcement agencies.…”

Competencies of Serbian Youth Football Coaches

“…One of the most important factors for determining one of these decisions is the existence or absence of a motivational climate for learning and enjoyment (Back, at al., 2022) created by the coach. Emotional abuse is the intentional, repetitive insulting, belittling and humiliating of athletes with the aim of establishing complete control over them, causing a sense of guilt and fear (Ríos, at al., 2022).…”