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This presentation is not meant to be
offensive.
However, this presentation does contain
some language that some people may find
offensive.
PLEASE NOTE: the language used in this
presentation is actual data we collected from
coaches.
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Heterosexual perspective.
Male on female violence.
Data was collected from high school coaches.
Setting the stage…..
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Sexual violence is a societal problem – violence
against women is primarily a learned behavior.
Sexual violence exists in many domains/spaces.
 Athletics and sport is one example of domain/space
 Other examples are music; politics; workforce
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Some research suggests that sexual violence
“roots” in power issues and entitlement.
 Similar “roots” exist in sport.
The goal of this project was to develop a partnership between the North
Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCCASA), the North Carolina High
School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) and UNC Greensboro (UNCG) that:
 In the short-term, developed an educational program for high school
coaches in North Carolina that effectively increased the positive role
that North Carolina coaches can play in stopping gender-based
interpersonal violence among their athletes.
 Our long-term goal was to develop a strong partnership between
NCCASA, NCHSAA and UNCG that provides the foundation for a
future collaborative action, research and grant funding that: (1)
enhances the leadership role that North Carolina coaches and athletes
can play in reducing gender- based violence; (2) exposes, examines,
and reduces the tolerance of gender-based violence by the athletic
community; and (3) reduces gender-based violence perpetration by
athletes.
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One of the most fundamental aspects of
coaching.
Powerful, yet often overlooked in terms of
possibilities to create change.
Helps to create the “culture of a team.”
Establishes a “tone.”
Can be verbal and non-verbal.
• Some statements lead us to believe that women are
weak and men are strong.
• Allows some to believe it is okay for men to have power
over women, which may include:
• Influence and persuasion
• Physically overpower
• Confuses the boundaries of what is right and wrong
• Allows us to think that sexual violence is not serious.
• Allows us to think if sexual assault happens, then
something that the woman did brought it on.
• Language is the pre-cursor…do not let it normalize
acts of sexual violence.
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Speaking to athletes and other coaches using
patronizing language sends the message that:
o
o
o
o
o
Women are weak.
Men are strong.
Women are inferior to men.
There is something “less” about being a woman.
There are some athletes who don’t “live up to” a
coach’s expectations about masculinity.
o
Using language to “motivate” athletes through “name
calling”…masculinity is questioned.
1.
2.
3.
What coaches need to believe.
What coaches need to know.
What coaches need to able to do.
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Coaches need to
believe they can
influence and change
behaviors that don’t
support the mission of
your athletic program,
and aid in the
productive
development of
positive life skills.
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Athletics can be a vehicle to educate North
Carolina’s youth to become responsible community
members.
As a coach, your impact continues after their
involvement in athletics is completed.
 They will call you “coach” forever.
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For many student-athletes, a coach is an incredibly
influential figure.
As a coach, you have an opportunity.
 To help your student-athletes maximize their physical,
social, personal and psychological development.
 Help your students become contributing members of the
community.
You don’t only teach the game…you teach about life!
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Competence
Approachability
Confidence
Fairness and Consistency
Motivation
Personal Concern
Support
Value them as an individual and teach them
how to effectively interact with their
environment.
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In order to affect
change, coaches need
to recognize sexually
violent language when
they hear it, and they
need to know what to
do to eliminate it from
their team/culture.
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NCHSAA believes, that as a coach, part of your
job is to:
 Provide opportunities to develop skills and learn
responsibility in a safe, non-threatening and
respectful manner, which includes:
▪ Physical skills
▪ Affective skills –leadership and communication
are a part of what you teach your athletes directly and
indirectly.
▪ Emotional skills
▪ Communication skills
▪ Verbal
▪ Nonverbal
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What sexual violence actually is.
 Rape, assault, battery, coercion & harassment
Sexual violence is a societal issue.
Sexual violence is about power and control and
not sex.
 Sexual violence is preventable.
 Often times, the words sexual violence and rape
are used interchangeably…not accurate.
Think of Sexual Violence as the umbrella and there
are 5 things that stem from the umbrella…
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Two separate offenses against the person that
when used in one expression may be defined as
any unlawful and unpermitted touching of
another. Assault is an act that creates an
apprehension in another of an imminent,
harmful, or offensive contact. The act consists of
a threat of harm accompanied by an apparent,
present ability to carry out the threat.
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Battery is a harmful or offensive touching of
another
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Harassment -- the act of systematic and/or continued
unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a
group, including threats and demands, or merely gain
sadistic pleasure from making someone fearful or
anxious.
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Coercion -- to dominate or control, especially by
exploiting fear, anxiety, etc.
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Sexual Assault -- the sexual exploitation, forcible
penetration, or an act of sexual contact on the body of
another person, male or female, without his or her
consent.
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Language and word choice may contribute to a
sexually violent culture.
Whose language? Whose word choice?
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Yours
Your coaching staff
Your athletes
Parents
Administrators
Fans
EVERYONE must buy in!
1.
2.
3.
4.
Recognize sexually violent language when
you hear it.
Do not use it.
Do not ignore it.
Be willing to stop it.
 Athletes
 Coaching staff
5.
Know what to say to stop it.
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Don’t know what to say when we hear it.
Don’t want anyone to think badly of me.
Don’t like confrontation.
Don’t want to make a big deal “out of nothing.”
 “This sort of thing happens all of the time.”
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Society gives us the checkmark to talk like this.
What you permit, you promote…to fix it,
you have to face it!
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Introduce concepts of sexually violent
language and speaking with respect as part of
your team code of conduct
To other coaches, introduce concepts as part
of your mission as a role model…at all times.
Have a symbolic “code word/phrase”
associated with the conduct
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A code word or phrase can be “transparent”
– meaning that when others hear it, they will
be able to figure out what you are talking
about to some extent because the meaning is
clear from the code words.
Pro: clear and easy to understand
Con: may embarrass receiver of message if
publicly heard
“Language Violation”
“Speech Foul”
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A code word or phrase can be “opaque” –
meaning is not directly related to the words;
only “insiders” will understand the message.
Pro: Limits audience to those “in the know”
Con: have to clearly establish what the code
means in advance so the meaning is loud and
clear to those who need to receive message.
“Where’s our pride?”
“Be Aware!”
“Not in our vocabulary”
Address SVL violations seriously and at length in
practice and meeting situations, but use the code
word/phrase to build strong association
 Give specific consequences for violation of this rule
in line with other conduct violations
 In high-pressure, game time situations, use code
phrase only – still get message across without
breaking focus
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Things Learned From Training
 We need to be aware and
change the use of sexually
violent language
 We have normalized this
language
 Phrases to say, instead of
ignoring it
 Your athletes are always
watching
 Must be willing to intervene to
stop this
 This language infiltrates more
than just sports & is
everywhere
 Sexual violence is a societal
issue, about power & control
and not sex
 Change can happen and we can
trigger it
A lot of what kids say and know starts at
home, we have to have parental involvement
& support
This training will raise my personal awareness
and use more non-abusive language
This would be a good program to give
students
Role to live by (for coaches): “If you wouldn’t
want your name beside it in the newspaper—
don’t say it”
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Dr. Donna Duffy, UNCG
Dr. Paige Hall Smith, UNCG
Mark Dreibelbis, NCHSAA
Chiquana Dancy, NCHSAA
Manika Jan Ho, NCCASA
Ashley Frazier, UNCG
Dr. Deanne Brooke, Greensboro Cllege
Leilani Madrigal, UNCG
Erin Reifsteck, UNCG
Marli Bennett, UNCG
Introduction
Coaching Coaches: An educational program to
eliminate and reduce sexually violent language
in coaching
This training manual is designed to
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Introduce the theoretical foundation for the Coaching Coaches program.
Provide a script for presenting Coaching Coaches at your organization.
Suggest follow-up discussion questions and reinforcing activities.
Getting Started
Welcome to Coaching Coaches – an educational program to eliminate and reduce
sexually violent language in coaching. We are so happy that you have chosen to
bring this program to your school or organization. This manual will help you to
present this program with confidence and skill. Inside you will find a script that can
be used with the official presentation slides, as well as suggestions for viewing the
narrated presentation for a group with follow up discussion and group activities.
Please read the manual in its entirety for the best Coaching Coaches experience.
The Coaching Coaches program materials are available for download at
www.uncg.edu/coachingcoaches
Program Partners
Funding for this project has been provided by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
The Coaching Coaches project was developed in partnership between The University
of North Carolina Greensboro, The North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault,
and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
Table of Contents
Topic
Page
1. Background
3
2. Presentation Script
4
Materials available for Download
The Coaching Coaches website has all the materials you need to present this
program at your school or organization, and can be personalized to meet your
needs in addressing specific groups, time constraints, and location. Find the
following materials at www.uncg.edu/coachingcoaches
•
•
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Full PowerPoint slide presentation, with audio narration and closed
captioning
PowerPoint slides only, to be used with an on-location presenter
Presentation manual with script
Resource list with links to additional information
Responses from coaches who have experienced the program
Contact information for the creators of Coaching Coaches
Presentation Manual
Background
The Coaching Coaches program was developed to address the use of sexually
violent language by high school athletic coaches in the state of North Carolina.
Sexual violence is a societal problem, and includes sexual harassment,
coercion, battery, assault, and rape.
Violence against women is primarily a learned behavior (Katz, 1995), so
tackling this issue at an earlier stage of its development is important. High
school coaches, many of whom believe that part of their job includes character
development (Gould, Chung, Smith, & White, 2006), may play an important
role in violence and sexual assault prevention among studentathletes. Exposure to the sexist culture in sport begins long before college,
and high school may be an appropriate time for this issue to be
addressed. Rather than encourage players’ misogynistic banter toward
women, high school coaches could play an active role in monitoring these
conversations and rebuke them. The influence of high school coaches who
have daily access to these athletes can be a vital source for dissolving these
dangerous attitudes amongst their teams.
While the sport environment seems to facilitate this rape-supportive
culture that is characterized by misogynistic language, negative attitudes
toward women, and facetious rape myths, there is a void in the research
literature regarding coaches’ attitudes about this matter and their efficacy
beliefs about whether or not they have the capability to positively influence
their athletes about violence and sexual assault prevention. If high school
coaches are to be targeted as a viable option for initiating violence and sexual
assault prevention strategies, the next logical step would be to examine the
attitudes and beliefs of these coaches to evaluate their current knowledge
base and determine effective ways of equipping coaches with the necessary
tools to help their young athletes develop the positive life skills that are
attributable to sports as well as maintain respect for all persons, including
women.
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©Donna Duffy et. al 2012
Presentation Script
Slide 1: Title Page
Slide 2: It is important to cover this slide fully because it sets the
tone for the presentation and so that participants will be ready to
hear the “rough” language used at certain points in the
presentation.
Slide 3: This slide explains the limitations of the presentation from
our point of view and recognizes that there are other ways to look
at and address this issue.
Slide 4: Setting the stage……..
Slide 5: This slide provides an overview of what sexual violence is
and its role in society. In addition, this slide begins to introduce the
participants to the notion and power and how power is rooted in
sport.
Presentation Manual
Slide 6: Explains the purpose of the project and
introduces the three organizations that
collaborated to develop this presentation.
Slide 7: This slide provides the visual cues that
are used throughout the presentation that will
help to guide the instructor through the
heuristic-red=stop, yellow=slow down and think
and green=start doing this. We used the
stoplight as a familiar cue for the participants
because it is something that they see, use and
respond to every day.
Slide 8: Why language? It lays the groundwork
for why we center our efforts with this
presentation on language and the possibilities
around language as an agent of change.
Slide 9: Describes the contributing role of
language in sexual violence and how it relates to
diminishing the value of women. In addition, this
slide begins to explain how sexual violent
language normalizes acts of sexual violence.
Slide 10: Provides examples of how sexually
violent language in coaching settings can infer
that women are “less than men” and that
masculinity is questioned if men do not socially
conform to gender expectations based on
language.
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©Donna Duffy et. al 2012
Slide 11: Presentation outline with the use of heuristic cues, which
are: (1) what coaches need to believe, (2) what coaches need to
know, and (3) what coaches need to be able to do.
Slide 12: What coaches need believe. Coaches need to believe
that they are role models for their athletes. Coaches need to
believe that they can influence and change behaviors that don’t
support the mission of your athletic department, the positive
development of youth and the development of positive life skills.
This slide is an opportunity for you to personalize your presentation and make is specific to your
school/organization. Use this slide to tell a story that relates to the aim of the presentation. For example,
“What we believe the role of a coach is at XXXX High School.”
Slide 13: What coaches need to believe…..Coaches need to believe
that they are role models who have the ability to make a lasting
impression on their athletes. Coaches need to believe that part of
their role as a coach is to help their athletes grow into positive
contributing members of the community.
**If presenting outside of NC, personalize this slide with information from your state.
Slide 14: What coaches need to know…In order to affect change,
coaches need to recognize sexually violent language when they
hear and they need to know what to do to eliminate from their
coaching/team culture.
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Coaching Coaches Presentation Manual
Presentation Manual
Slide 15: What coaches need to know….that the
affective skills like leadership and communication are
a part of what you teach your athletes directly and
indirectly each day.
**If you are delivering this presentation outside of NC, please personalize this slide with
local information.
Slide 16: What coaches need to know…..coaches
need to understand what constitutes sexual violence.
Often times, the words sexual violence and rape, for
example are used interchangeably. This is not
accurate. Think of sexual violence as an umbrella and
there are 5 things that stem from the umbrella; (1)
rape, (2) assault, (3) battery, (4) harassment, and (5)
coercion. The important thing to note when talking about this slide is that the
definitions and parameters around what sexual violence is are defined stateby-state.
**Provide your participants with the definitions of all forms of sexual violence from your
state.
Slide 17: What coaches need to know…..everyone connected
to your team culture, athletes, coaches, parents, etc. have to
“buy in” to not using and not allowing sexually violent
language and name calling.
Slide 18: Transition slide…What is unacceptable. The
following slides provide actual phrases and words that
are commonly used by coaches that are sexually violent
in nature. In addition, the phrases on the following
slides came from our research with coaches.
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©Donna Duffy et. al 2012
Please explain to your participants that this is the point in the presentation where language
becomes “rough.”
These phrases or words may make participants uncomfortable, which reinforces our premise
that this type of language is in appropriate in learning and teaching settings.
•
Slides 19-26: provides actual examples of phrases and words that coaches have used
o
Slides 19-24 are words and phrases that are overtly aggressive and the
message is clear in terms of sexual violence
o
Slides 25 and 26 challenge masculinity in a less aggressive and obvious way.
The presenter will need to explain the difference between the two types of
messages: aggressive and overt and less aggressive - challenges masculinity.
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Coaching Coaches Presentation Manual
Presentation Manual
Slide 27: transition slide…what coaches need to be
able to do
Slide 28: this slide highlights the 5 skills that
coaches need to develop and practice as a result of
the presentation that will eliminate sexual violence
from their coaching culture.
Slide 29: This slide helps the participants and the
presenter brainstorm reasons and explanation why
sexually violent language may be ignored in
coaching settings.
Slide 30: What coaches can do…the presenter
must take time with this slide to empower the
coaches and to help them realize that they can
change their coaching culture so that sexual
violence isn’t a part of it.
Slide 31: Introduces the concept of code words. It is
important for coaches to choose a code phrase that
will get the message across clearly, and then use it
in context when they are introducing the concept of
sexually violent language or language that respects
others.
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©Donna Duffy et. al 2012
A code phrase should be meaningful to the team, and authentic for
the coach to use (it should not feel embarrassing to say or become
something a team ridicules). Laughing at a code word reinforces the
message that using respectful language is a joke.
A code may be transparent or opaque. The concept of transparency
in code words is introduced on this slide. Slides 32 and 33 give
examples of transparent code phrases.
Slide 34: This slide introduces the concept of opaque code words or
phrases. These are called opaque because the meaning is not clear
from the word/phrase itself. Slides 35 - 37 feature opaque code words
and phrases.
Slide 38: This slide discusses how code words and phrase should be
used to b effective. For a code word or phrase to really work, the team
must instantly know what it means when they hear it. To lay this
groundwork, the coach must be very clear in practice and meeting
situations that using sexually violent language is a violation of rules of
team conduct, and treat it that way.
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Coaching Coaches Presentation Manual
Presentation Manual
For example: “On this team we do not use sexually violent language. This
includes coaches, staff, and team members. If you want your teammate to play
more aggressively, that’s what you should say. If I hear you calling him a pussy,
I am going to stop you. I am going to say, that’s a “speech foul.” That’s not
acceptable language to use on this field. Please don’t disrespect yourself, your
team, or anyone with that language here. Speech fouls are not part of our
team culture. If I hear them there will be consequences.”
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