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.
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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.
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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.
But he added that doesn’t negate the concerns he has about any amount of positive opinions of hazing.
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“We don’t think the data is wrong,” he said. “It’s just that there is beliefs out there that, you know, certain levels of extreme hazing is OK … We still need to get rid of it.”
The CAO report showed hazing exists across age groups though it is found more prevalent in older ages.
About 15 per cent of Ontario athletes six to nine years reported hazing at some point in the last two years, while 43 per cent of Ontarian athletes aged 19 to 24 reported the same.
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Hazing was also reported to be found more prevalent in school sports at 43 per cent, compared to 32 per cent for development athletes and 19 per cent for those in grassroots. The data showed athletes in school sports are also three times more likely — or 16 per cent — to experience extreme hazing, such as pretend abductions or not being allowed to sleep or drink water, compared to five per cent for both grassroots or competitive sport.
Dr. Marge Holman, an associate professor emerita in sport management at the University of Windsor, told Global News hazing remains a prevalent issue because of how it’s been viewed for decades.
“What parents, coaches, athletes would argue, it’s a way for teams to bond, and that’s the strong public reason for continuing hazing practices,” she said.
“So they will argue that the veterans will organize it and bring the rookies on board and that’s how they bond. The problem with that is a lot of the activities are not socially positive.”
The report lists various hazing behaviours that athletes and coaches engaged in over the last two years, ranging from physical tests or wearing embarrassing clothing to more extreme acts, such as damaging equipment or buildings on purpose or physically fighting one another.
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It also examined the policies surrounding hazing and intervention, another area where the report showed a disconnect.
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While two in five coaches said they intervene to stop hazing practices every time, just one in five athletes said their coaches did so. At the same time, less than 10 per cent of athletes say their coach gave consequences for hazing, despite four in 10 coaches believing they do.
Holman said that difference in perspective may depend on how consequences are viewed by each group.
“It’s perception of … are the consequences sufficient enough to make them even recognize it as a consequence,” she said.
“While coaches think they ban them from practice for a day, an athlete might not see that as any kind of a consequence at all.”
She added views around hazing may differ for coaches because they went through it themselves as they were growing up and made it through, so they may see it as “no big deal.”
It’s why both Cross and Holman say action needs to be taken.
About 50 per cent of athletes surveyed said their coach is the adult they trust most next to their parents or guardians, with Cross telling Global News that coaches could help in changing the culture.
“The expectations by the athletes and the players, because of how important you (coaches) are in their life, we just need to make sure that we’re doing good by them and making sure that we’re building the most positive place where they can participate in the sports that they love,” Cross said.
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However, Holman adds all parties need to be involved if change can take place.
“Everybody has to be a part of change that creates that positive sport experience,” she said. “It’s an incredible experience to be a member of a team and leaves you with many, many memories and you want them to be good memories.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
