Exploring verbal and mental abuse within the context of coaching elite female volleyball in manitoba

Abstract

Athletes can be exposed to verbal and mental abuse from their coaches, which can include behaviours such as belittling, humiliation, and psychological stress. This issue is exacerbated by the contention that exists within the literature on how to define verbally and mentally abusive coaching behaviours. The goal of this research is to explore coaches’ personal definitions and views on verbal and mental abuse and ways to address it within the community of elite female volleyball in Manitoba. This qualitative research study triangulates auto-ethnography, semi-structured interviews, and content analysis of both coaching education and policy text sources in force in Manitoba to explore the complexities of verbal and mental abuse in elite sport. This study analyzes consistencies and inconsistencies between the views of elite coaches, coach education text sources and coaching policies, and provides recommendations for addressing verbal and mental abuse in the context of elite female volleyball in Manitoba.