Hazing still prevalent, but how to deal with it differs among Ontario athletes, coaches: report
Global News
A new report in Ontario is shedding light on how athletes and coaches see sport culture, with a disconnect seen between how each group views the issue and how to respond.
A new report into Ontario’s sports’ culture shows hazing is still a prevalent issue, but there is a disconnect between how athletes and coaches view the act and when to intervene.
The data comes from the 2025 Ontario Coaching Report, a study by the Coaches Association of Ontario (CAO) based on a Leger survey that questioned 500 athletes and 500 unrelated parents, and brought in results from 2024 when 1,000 coaches were also questioned.
Both surveys include athletes and coaches from a wide range of sports including soccer, which was the most common primary sport played in the last two years, along with hockey, swimming, basketball and baseball.
According to the data, nine in 10 athletes, parents and coaches believe hazing in sport is a problem, yet various types of hazing are viewed differently between the players and those who lead them.
For example, a large majority of parents and athletes hold a negative view towards extreme hazing behaviour such as getting physical or fighting, or hazing that involves physical or sexual assault, with just one per cent of each category holding a positive view.
Yet the survey of coaches found 16 per cent held a positive view of this type of hazing.
“I’m not sure how that can’t be zero,” said Jeremy Cross, executive director of CAO.
Cross told Global News on Tuesday that he did not want to speculate on the results and said he believes further investigation into the data is needed, suggesting physical versus sexual should have been separated into their own categories.
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