Watchign from the sidelines

It is very sad to see how widespread the bullying seems to be. My daughter was bullied out of her league and a sport she loved - she left while she still felt she had some dignity in tact - by the force of one person who had the energy and power to take the small governing group with her, and after threats if she discussed it with anyone else. The structure of the league is just not appropriate for dealing with issues like this and there is nothing to stop it happening again.

We're sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident between your daughter & her previous league. Hopefully she's been able to get back on her feet and skate either with another league or independantly. Please relay to your daughter not to leave the sport she loves, because the sport & majority of us out there love her back. Keep your head held high, it sounds like she stood up for her beliefs and that kind of strength in character comes from our parents.
Thank you for sharing you & your daughters story with us :~)

Thank you for the very supportive response. She is not skating at the moment because, geographically, there is no other league within reasonable travelling distance, and the power of inter-league gossip should not be underestimated, so going somewhere else may involve difficult explanations and so on. I'm intrigued by the idea of 'skating independently' though. What do you mean by that? Is that just attending skating events such as discos etc.? Again, that would mean coming into contact with people she would rather not see at the moment - hopefully time will improve that.

skatema wrote:Thank you for the very supportive response. She is not skating at the moment because, geographically, there is no other league within reasonable travelling distance, and the power of inter-league gossip should not be underestimated, so going somewhere else may involve difficult explanations and so on. I'm intrigued by the idea of 'skating independently' though. What do you mean by that? Is that just attending skating events such as discos etc.? Again, that would mean coming into contact with people she would rather not see at the moment - hopefully time will improve that.

Skating independently is basically filling in for other teams and playing mixers. It would also mean you are 110% responsible for your own training, insurance, and bouting dates. Please send us a PM ~or~ Email, maybe we can help hook her in with a young league in need of fosters or mixers in her area.

Another option is to start her own league with other previously bullied skaters from their former league. Again a PM ~or~ Email to us would be most helpful here because we could point her to a league genius that is always happy to help. Starting a new league is not easy and should not be taken up lightly.