New hazing regulations; nothing on abusive coaching

 I posted on the Title IX Blog my 2025 intention to blog more; a goal that will be facilitated by shorter (pithier?) posts. I have let go of trying to make deeply profound and impactful posts all the time--since that actually prevented me from posting most of the time--and will shift to more frequent posts that are comments and observations. 

That intention applies to After Atalanta as well, so here goes.

In this moment of downtime I have been trying to get through all the tabs of things I absolutely must read before my computer decides to automatically restart itself. 

I did not absolutely need to read about the Stop Campus Hazing Act which requires changes that incidents of hazing be included Clery Act-mandated reporting. (It's possible I already thought this was happening in fact.) But when reading about it, I did get to thinking about standards of risk and reasonableness. 

A thorough definition of hazing was provided, including this second part that the offending act:

• causes or creates a risk, above the reasonable risk encountered in the course of participation in the institution of higher education or the organization (such as the physical preparation necessary for participation in an athletic team), of physical or psychological injury … .

This gave me pause; not because I disagree but because the language contributes to the discourse that sports--in this case training for sports--gets a pass because the definition of reasonableness does not apply and my thoughts immediately turned to coaches who engage in abusive behavior.

I know there are mechanisms to address abusive coaching. But they lack rigor and effectiveness. Thus, hazing--which again I think is a bad thing--can get reported and presumably punished in ways that are more transparent and hopefully serve as a deterrent. Athletes engaging in such acts beyond reasonableness against fellow athletes thus are punished. But they all could be experiencing similar unreasonable acts at the hands of coaches that go unpunished and even unacknowledged. 

Reasonable risk is impossible to pin down when it comes to the necessary preparation for athletics with so many leaders (and athletes) blurring and surpassing that line. This act may be a step toward curbing unreasonable acts and risky behavior by athletes against athletes, but it's hard to single them out in a culture that encourages extending oneself beyond reasonableness without addressing the dangers of sport culture.