Victims of sport bullies aged eight

Pupils tell of ‘psychological warfare’ on playing field

AS any football fan knows, ‘mind games’ and intimidation are all too familiar in professional sport. Yet such behaviour is already rearing its ugly head at primary school.

Children as young as eight say they are the victims of psychological warfare and bullying on the playing field.

They are teased, taunted and sworn at during sports and PE lessons, while some pupils are physically attacked by opponents who kick, punch, headbutt and trip them.

Some are so dismayed that they give up the sport rather than risk further abuse.

A survey of 1,250 children aged eight to 16 found that 51.1 per cent admitted to being a victim of ‘mental intimidation’ on the sports field.

Among the 54 eight-year-olds questioned, almost half said an opposition player or team mate had targeted them with teasing, taunting, swearing, threats or had deliberately put them off when they were trying to concentrate.

Some 15.4 per cent said they cried and 11.5 per cent admitted being scared as a result of their treatment on the pitch.

Across all ages, 67.4 per cent said they had witnessed some form of verbal abuse and 55 per cent had seen physical violence such as a player being tripped up, pushed over or kicked, or being struck with equipment such as a bat or racquet.

Among the eight-year- olds, the proportion witnessing violence while playing sport at school was 42.6 per cent. Twenty-two per cent had seen a player being pushed over by an opponent or team mate.

The survey was published by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Chance to Shine campaign, which plans to bring competitive cricket – and its educational benefits – to at least two million state school children by 2015.

To help teach young people how to play matches in a sporting manner, MCC and Chance to Shine are delivering a nationwide scheme to encourage ‘fair play’ in schools.

From today, coaches will

‘We need to stamp this out’

address assemblies and give lessons in sportsmanship to around half a million children in 4,000 state schools.

Families have backed the move as more than two-thirds of parents of eight- to 16-yearolds (66.4 per cent) said they have witnessed different forms of ‘mental intimidation’ while watching their children play.

More than two-fifths of par- ents said their child lost confidence after being bullied on the playing field and a fifth felt they were reluctant to take part in sport because of the ‘mind games’.

Almost 7 per cent reported that their child gave up at least one sport as a result, according to the survey.

Mothers were more likely to take up their concerns with a teacher, coach or referee. However, a third of fathers confronted the bully themselves.

The survey also found that footballer Wayne Rooney was rated as the worst role model for children by parents polled (17.8 per cent), followed by John Terry (17 per cent).

Wasim Khan, chief executive of Chance to Shine, said: ‘We are teaching children from a young age to play competitively but to respect the opposition as well as their team mates. We need to stamp out this bullying in school sport.’