Coaches - What to do now

As a club coach the way you act, the things you say and the behaviours you accept will influence how players treat each other. As their coach you’re responsible for:

• creating a safe environment for your team/athlete free from bullying and harassment
• ensuring everyone is clear about acceptable ways of behaving on and off the field
• taking action to address bullying when it occurs.

When bullying occurs, it is important that you, as the coach, do the following things:

• take all signs of bullying or complaints of this nature seriously
• provide support to the person being bullied (e.g., listen to their concerns; offer honest praise and feedback on their performance; don’t place them in a position where they have close contact with the person bullying them)
• don’t penalise the person being bullied by removing them from the team – when bullying occurs it is the bully who needs to have their behaviour curtailed
• speak to the person being bullied and the person responsible for the alleged bullying separately - make sure the latter understands the possible repercussions if the behaviour continues
• keep records of the incident(s) and document your discussions
• discuss the matter with their parents, if a child is involved
• remind the team of the club’s Code of Behaviour and Member Protection Policy
• monitor the situation.