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On Superbowl Sunday, we celebrate the pinnacle of teamwork and dedication in the sport of football. But beneath the surface, the same sport that unites communities on the big stage can also often foster toxic cultures in high school locker rooms. At least 10 high school football programs across the country are reeling following serious allegations of hazing on their team in the past season.

At Santa Fe High School in New Mexico, two football players face criminal charges following an accusation that they held another teammate down and sexually assaulted him. In Orange County, California, reports surfaced of at least eight students who were sexually assaulted by their teammates at Santa Margarita Catholic High School. Mead High School, in Spokane, Washington, fired their coach after four Black high school students filed a lawsuit alleging that white teammates assaulted them. 

Studies show that almost half of all high school students experience hazing, with 25% of respondents saying that it took place in a sports setting. Dr. Elizabeth Allan, the founder of the research group StopHazing, defines hazing as “any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them, regardless of a person’s willingness to participate.” 

Hazing is most common in large groups like sports teams, where individuals are attempting to establish their position within hierarchies shaped by norms of traditional masculinity. These rituals can range from an unspoken tradition of requiring freshman athletes to carry the water bottles of seniors to sexually abusive behavior. 

Researchers fear that hazing is increasing in severity and frequency, with sexually degrading acts emerging more often as a shortcut to humiliate and disempower a student. Despite their prevalence in sports, it is vital to recognize that hazing and sexual violence are not inherent to sports; they take hold when a culture of abuse is allowed to thrive.

As a sexual violence prevention educator who has facilitated workshops on building healthy sport cultures, I know firsthand that sports don’t need to be this way, especially when school districts and coaches prioritize efforts to create healthy and inclusive cultures on their athletic teams.

My journey as an advocate  began when I was a captain of the Melrose High School track and field team in Massachusetts. Melrose Alliance Against Violence, a local nonprofit with a mission of raising community awareness of domestic and teen dating violence, has worked closely with the Melrose Public Schools to implement prevention programs at the middle and high school levels since 1998.

In my senior year, I was selected along with other sport captains to participate in a gender violence, sexual harassment, and bullying prevention program called Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP). The program follows a model in which the social capital and leadership skills common in high school athletes are leveraged to promote a culture of respect and inclusion.

Facilitators lead participants through discussions of realistic scenarios covering a variety of abusive behavior they might witness as bystanders and discuss how they can safely and realistically intervene. Participants also learn how gender stereotypes and dominant cultural expectations of masculinity – such as telling sexist jokes, catcalling, harassing girls and women, and making homophobic remarks – contribute to a culture where sexual violence and hazing are allowed to thrive.

Such partnerships with community-based nonprofits can help schools tackle these issues. But, buy-in from coaches is critical as well.  A recent study from Canada found that 86% of coaches agreed that hazing was an issue in their community, but only 40% had a clear set of standards around appropriate behavior or how and when to intervene when hazing occurs. The study also found that six in 10 of coaches personally experienced hazing when they played a sport, which may lead them to normalize these behaviors unless they are provided with proper education and resources on how to build healthy team cultures.

Given that many high school coaches are volunteers or receive minimal compensation, they cannot be expected to drive change without the support of school districts and policymakers. In 2024, the Virginia Senate took a significant step by unanimously passing legislation requiring the development and implementation of a research-based anti-hazing education program in all high school health and physical education classes statewide. 

This builds on Virginia’s earlier efforts in the anti-hazing space, particularly Adam’s Law, passed in 2022 in honor of Virginia Commonwealth University student Adam Oakes, who died in a fraternity hazing incident in 2021. Adam’s Law mandates hazing prevention education at all Virginia colleges, grants legal immunity to bystanders who intervene, and requires universities to publicly report hazing incidents online.

In his last weeks in office, then-President Joe Biden signed the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which requires universities to collect and publicly report data on hazing incidents. While this will improve transparency and awareness, the high number of violent hazing incidents in the past year’s high school football season shows the need for earlier intervention, as modeled in Massachusetts and Virginia.

School districts can reinforce their commitment to hazing prevention by implementing clear policies that include education for both coaches and athletes on what constitutes hazing, how to intervene safely, and how to foster team traditions and school spirit in ways that promote inclusion rather than harm. Additionally, athletic directors should establish anonymous reporting mechanisms that empower athletes to speak up safely and enforce zero-tolerance policies with well-defined consequences for hazing.

Sports have the potential to teach young people the value of teamwork, resilience in the face of challenges, and principles of lifelong physical fitness. But to truly fulfill this potential, all stakeholders in youth sports—policymakers, school administrators, athletic directors, coaches, and parents—must treat hazing, sexual violence, and abusive behaviors as the urgent, preventable issues that they are. 

If you have experienced sexual violence, hazing, or any form of abuse in a sports setting, you are not alone. The Courage First Athlete Helpline is a no-cost call, text, and chat service for athletes, coaches, parents, and anyone in sports communities who has questions or concerns about abuse or mental well-being in athletics.

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