It was a sad piece of news to break on Teacher’s Day. A swimming coach has been booked for sexually molesting a minor swimming girl trainee who was under his charge. It shocked the parents of other trainees, who are now concerned about the safety of their wards. Naturally. It is with full trust in the coach that parents send their children to them, and the behaviour of this swimming coach, that has been caught on camera, raises doubts of the safety of the children at the hands of those with whom they have been entrusted. It creates doubts in the minds of parents over the security of their children undergoing coaching in various sports.
Stunned parents have said that they ‘worshipped him like God’. His coaching was bringing their children victories in the swimming pool. Ironically, this was the same coach who was in the past congratulated for his victories. Parents of other trainees now claim that the coach had been harassing the girl for the past months – abusing her in public, even slapping her. If that was happening, some parent should have called the coach’s attention that this is not the manner in which to behave. The parents who witnessed this also had the responsibility of bringing it to the notice of the association that the coach was allegedly misbehaving. None of this was done. It was left to the girl to trap the coach, and she did it by filming his act.
The Goa Swimming Association (GSA) has done well to sack the swimming coach who has been accused of molesting the trainee swimmer. It should not end there. That there is video footage of the incident leaves little doubt that the case against the coach will stand in a court. The law will take its course, especially if the police take it seriously, but the swimming association has to introduce checks to ensure that the coaches and trainers that they employ are trustworthy. The association cannot wash its hands off by saying that there were no complaints in the past against the coach.
There has to be a system in place whereby the swimming association should seek regular feedback from the trainees that has to be kept confidential. Not just the swimming association, but every sports association that employs coaches and trainers and other staff should introduce a system whereby feedback on all the staff – their professional and personal conduct – is sought and action taken on any deviant behaviour. All associations have to tighten up their systems. This act of the coach could perhaps have been avoided had the parents of the other trainees and the swimming association been alive to what was happening in public view. The harassment would have stopped, and so too would the sexual molestation.
There has now been raised the issue of appointing women swimming coaches. This may instill some confidence in parents of girls who would be sending their children for swimming classes, but it is not a solution to stop sexual predators from pouncing on minors in the sports field. This would need a different approach. Most sports associations are run by men, so having women around would help, but we need to go beyond this.
Violent behaviour of any kind in sport is condemnable. Studies in Europe have shown that sexual abuse in sport does exist. It has to be taken seriously in Goa and India too. Athletes may not always be comfortable with speaking or disclosing to the authorities of how they have been harassed or abused, many a time fearing reprisal from the perpetrator. In this particular case there is video footage that makes it impossible to ignore the crime. It won’t happen in every other incident so other measures have to be devised to stop it. Winning medals cannot come at the cost of abuse of the athletes.
