Legendary gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi died on Friday. He leaves behind a complicated legacy of harsh, anachronistic coaching of very young girls and having revolutionized gymnastics, first in his native Romania and later to the […]
Read MoreTag: Abuse
Isolation
Season 4 of the Culture in Sports Podcast continues with Dr. Jeremy Piasecki and Lori Okimura having a discussion with Shannon Webb about her lived experience in the toxic culture at a NCAA Division I […]
Read MoreSurvival
Season 4 of the Culture in Sports Podcast continues with Dr. Jeremy Piasecki having a discussion with Emma Patterson (University of Idaho Volleyball Player) and Keelyn Muell (Central Michigan University Volleyball Player) about their lived […]
Read MoreNo Athlete Should Be Placed in That Position
Season 4 of the Culture in Sports Podcast continues with Lori Okimura and Dr. Jeremy Piasecki having a discussion with John Manly (The nation’s preeminent attorney representing victims of sexual abuse and assault) about athlete […]
Read MorePlaying in a Continuous State of Fear
Season 4 of the Culture in Sports Podcast continues with Lori Okimura and Dr. Jeremy Piasecki having a discussion with collegiate volleyball player Emma Patterson about her own current lived experience during a toxic and […]
Read MoreUncovering the Truth
Season 4 of the Culture in Sports Podcast continues with Lori Okimura (World ParaVolley) and Dr. Jeremy Piasecki having a discussion with investigative reporter Scott Reid, from the Orange County Register. Scott broke the story […]
Read MoreSafeguarding Athletes
Season 4 of the Culture in Sports Podcast is here! In this episode, Lori Okimura (World ParaVolley) and Dr. Jeremy Piasecki take a deep dive into a current #toxic and #abusive #culture on a collegiate […]
Read MoreRecovery From Toxic Culture
Teri McKeever, former head coach of the University of California, Berkeley’s women’s swimming and diving program, was recently fired due to allegations of toxicity and abuse from former athletes and staff. These allegations have been […]
Read MoreSocial media being a toxic factor in football
The power and evolution of social media continues to grow and have an impact on not just football but all sports especially in the last decade. With social media now becoming such a necessity to […]
Read MoreThe Strongest Athletes in Sports
Last week the women of USA Gymnastics testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about their stores of abuse, assault, and being ignored. One of the highest elements of government heard their stories, and made these […]
Read MoreAn Abusive Coach Caught on Camera
Last week a video surfaced of a high school coach screaming and shoving one of his players on the sideline during the game. It was a horrible coaching moment that luckily did not get worse […]
Read MoreWhat Happens When Coaches Are Reckless
The last few weeks have been extremely interesting in the sports world: The Olympic Games recently wrapped up with the Paralympic Games kicking off in a few weeks, Simone Biles brought athlete mental and emotional […]
Read More“Change the Routine”: The Ugly Side of a Beautiful Art
After an undiagnosed stress fracture led to an horrific ankle fracture during a routine, aspiring Olympic gymnast Georgia Simpson came to the realization that she would never compete again. Simpson was told that she should […]
Read MoreCoach – Protect Yourself!
Most people will now be aware of the ethical mess that some National Governing Bodies (NGBs) get themselves into when the media publicly denounce sports coaches accused of abusive behaviour. In the UK we have […]
Read MoreThe Miasma of Winning
The news on Monday that Nadia Comanenci, one of the greatest, if not the greatest Olympic women’s gymnast, is reported to have suffered what is described as “horrorific abuse,” at the hands of her coach […]
Read MoreThe Facilitators of Abusive Cultures in Sport
For abusive cultures to survive and even prosper, the abusers need to be supported, they need facilitators. The facilitators are usually management or a funding agency with the role of facilitator varying dependent upon the […]
Read MoreThe Black and White of Ethics
Sport has had a long a varied history with ethics and ethical behaviour from the systematic abuse of gymnasts to the systematic doping in the peloton. Recently there seems to have been a split into […]
Read MoreWe Need a Culture of Consistency in Believing
How do you feel about athlete abuse? How do you feel about athlete abuse when it’s in your sport? Is it still abuse? How do you feel about athlete abuse when it’s by your friend? […]
Read MoreWhy Doing the Right Thing Seems So Hard
In trying to define the focus of Culture in Sports, and what we should be writing about on this site, the Led Zeppelin song title, What Is and What Should Never Be, comes to mind. […]
Read MoreDoing the Right Thing Is Still Only Reactional
The Jacksonville Jaguars made a short lived hire this week, with Chris Doyle lasting a little more than a day before resigning. Their new and now director of sports performance came with a checkered past, […]
Read MoreThe Endemic Culture of Abuse in Gymnastics
In mid-2020 a Netflix documentary about the sexual abuse inflicted upon US gymnasts by Larry Nassar was released. This film called ‘Athlete A’ outlines the former USA Gymnastics national team doctor’s abuse and the organisation’s […]
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