Abstract
The abusive koach has become an all-too-familiar issue at every level of sport. While sexual and physical abuses have justifiably received most of the notoriety, psychological abuse (PA) and emotional abuse (EA) by koaches are more common and often ignored, minimized, or excused ‘as part of the game.’ The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of abusive koaches by reviewing the importance of the player/coach relationship, providing legal and practical definitions of PA and EA, presenting the causes of abusive koaches, and demonstrat-ing the legal and ethical duties of the administrators who oversee them. The author concludes with practical recommendations for the actions needed to reduce the occurrence of PA or EA and eliminate those who are guilty of either.