Stronger Together: Empowering Student-Athletes and Coaches to Become Agents of Change

For many years, I’ve had the privilege of working with high school and college athletic teams who are dedicated to addressing and preventing sexual and domestic violence. In one instance, I worked with a men’s team who were particularly passionate about becoming leaders in violence prevention not just on their campus but in the surrounding community. They did a tremendous amount of work as individuals and as a team to learn about gender-based violence and to become trained facilitators to be able to speak to their peers on these issues. They spent months planning a community-awareness campaign. Weeks before the campaign was scheduled to launch, a member of their team was arrested for sexually assaulting another student. It was devastating for the team, the coaching staff, the survivor, and their community. It was also where the real work began. 

If you are a coach or work in college athletics, you have known and cared about student-athletes who have experienced sexual and/or domestic violence. You have also likely known and cared about a student-athlete who has used harm in their relationships. There have been numerous stories in the news about college and professional athletes using violence towards others. What’s worse, there have also been high profile stories- such as Jerry Sandusky and Larry Nassar- of athletic organizations and institutions remaining silent or covering up accusations of sexual abuse. It can be incredibly upsetting to learn that a student or staff member you know and care about has harmed someone else. It’s also imperative that we face it when this happens and resist denying or turning away. But we don’t have to do that alone. And there are real actionable things we can do to reduce the likelihood that it will happen again. 

Training is required and can be transformative

In 2017, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) adopted a policy that requires college athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators to complete annual training in sexual assault prevention. As someone who leads these trainings, I recognize the potential challenges- logistical and otherwise- to organize an annual workshop that is externally mandated and engages every athlete and athletic staff member. I also have seen, firsthand, how powerful and even transformative these workshops can be when an effort is made to tailor the presentation to the specific campus culture and leverages the expertise of the students themselves. 

Empower your coaching staff  

I always recommend that schools train their staff and students separately, and offer additional time for coaches and athletic staff to access 1:1 consultation. In the workshop itself we offer facilitation prompts that coaches can use to continue the dialogue following the students’ training, as well as explicitly addressing the impact on coaches when learning that a student has been sexually assaulted or has assaulted a fellow student. Coaches play a tremendous role in student-athletes’ lives and development. Their ability to be successful as a coach requires them to establish trust and to be able to hold students’ accountable with compassion. These skills can be applied to behaviors off the field, including promoting healthy relationships and respecting boundaries. They also have the ability to foster a culture of compassionate accountability and collective care across their team. 

Inspire your student-athletes to use their influence to promote change

When I work with athletes, coaches, and athletic administrators, I see so much potential for changing the public’s perception of athletes from those who cause harm to seeing athletes as leaders in preventing violence. Student-athletes are often leaders both on and off the field and can harness those leadership skills to impact social norms and prevent gender-based violence. 

We know that time and budget are very real factors when scheduling a facilitator, especially when your audience size is well into the hundreds. We also know that it is possible to create an impactful experience that can foster intrinsic motivation and inspire change. 

Reach out to schedule a training session with us or to learn more about our partnership opportunities!