There’s no doubt bullying is widespread, especially in the context of team sports. Even more, I agree that it can be “useful” in the ways that the above article indicates but that doesn’t mean that it should be considered in any way acceptable.
Let’s look at this: “Enduring an atmosphere of bullying can build mental toughness and enhance performance under pressure.”
Well yeah it can. Or it can do the opposite. Everyone is different and I bet there are tons of good players across sports that never made it because they couldn’t deal with the bullying. That doesn’t at all mean that they couldn’t deal with tough times on the court/pitch/whatever because the competitive atmosphere of an actual match is different from being tormented in day-to-day interactions with people.
“Bullying in sports can strip an athlete of individuality and rebuild his identity based primarily on being a member of the team.”
Eh, it’s debatable whether you would even want this in a sporting context. Players need to have confidence in themselves that they, as individuals, can make the difference. Feeling part of a team is important but so is personal belief in yourself. Out with sport, in a personal context this is horrible thing to try to force upon anyone. Stripping people of their individuality and identity? Yikes.
“performance is enhanced when athletes know they have the support of teammates in accomplishing a common goal. Bullying can expose those athletes who seek only individual accomplishment and are unwilling to make individual sacrifices for team improvement“
I don’t see how bullying someone shows them any support whatsoever. Why the hell would someone who’s being bullied want to make sacrifices for a bunch of people who are behaving like jerks?
“Those athletes are faced with the choice of leaving the team or enduring continued bullying.“
Isn’t that nice? Sorry, I love sports and when I play I take it very seriously, even if it’s just with a bunch of friends but being successful at sports is not a good enough reason to sacrifice human decency or treat other people as inferior. Luckily you don’t have to: you can be good at sport and a nice person too.
I’m also surprised the twins’ bullying is being taken so seriously, but I’m glad it is. The sooner this kind of attitude is removed from sports, and life for that matter, the better. With that said though, there does have to be a limit to it. People change and the twins don’t deserve to suffer the consequences of that dumb stuff they did forever.
I’m not going to say anymore here because it’s completely.