{"id":131916,"date":"2026-06-10T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=131916"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:00:00","slug":"junior-sport-facing-growing-cyberbullying-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/junior-sport-facing-growing-cyberbullying-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Junior sport facing growing cyberbullying challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NEARLY one in five children involved in junior sport have been cyberbullied by someone connected to their sporting community, according to research released last month.<\/p>\n<p>The study by the eSafety Commissioner and Sports Integrity Australia found two-thirds of cyberbullying experienced by children aged 10 to 17 came from teammates or someone involved with another team.<\/p>\n<p>Messaging apps, group chats and calls were the most common setting for cyberbullying, making up 59 per cent of incidents, followed by comments or posts on social media at 36 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>Geelong-based youth mental health charity Read the Play said the findings reflected issues it had been addressing through community sporting clubs for almost a decade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sport should be a place where young people feel connected, supported and safe, but the sporting environment now extends well beyond the oval, court or change room,&#8221; general manager Michelle Gerdtz said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Read the Play has been delivering Huddle Up for nearly 10 years because we know online behaviour, cyberbullying and peer pressure can have a significant impact on young people&#8217;s mental health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Group chats, social media and online interactions are part of young people&#8217;s sporting experience, and clubs need practical support to respond.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Since 2021, more than 2,100 young people aged 14 to 16 in community sporting clubs and groups have participated in Huddle Up.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30038\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30038\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30038\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/AdobeStock_233715395_88903.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Research released last month found nearly one in five children involved in junior sport had experienced cyberbullying from someone connected to their sporting community. Photo: Raw Pixel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The eSafety Commissioner&#8217;s findings mirror Huddle Up survey data collected between 2021 and 2025, which found almost two in five participants said they or someone they knew had experienced cyberbullying.<\/p>\n<p>Of those respondents, only one in four said they or their friend had sought help, highlighting the need for trusted adults, clear reporting pathways and education before issues escalate.<\/p>\n<p>Gerdtz said the new findings should prompt greater investment in prevention programs that support young people, families and community sporting clubs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The answer is not just responding after harm has occurred,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It is about education, early intervention and building mentally healthy clubs where young people know how to support themselves and each other.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Read the Play says community sporting clubs are increasingly expected to respond to complex wellbeing issues, including cyberbullying, mental health concerns, peer pressure and harmful online behaviour, often without the resources, training or support to do so effectively.<\/p>\n<p>Gerdtz said the scale of the issue showed the need for more sustainable funding for evidence-informed, community-based education programs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We cannot keep expecting community sport to respond to complex online harm without properly resourcing prevention,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Philanthropy has allowed programs like Huddle Up to reach clubs at no cost, but if cyberbullying in sport is a serious child wellbeing issue, then prevention education needs sustained investment.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEARLY one in five children involved in junior sport have been cyberbullied by someone connected to their sporting community, according to research released last month. The study by the eSafety Commissioner and Sports Integrity Australia found two-thirds of cyberbullying experienced by children aged 10 to 17 came from teammates or someone involved with another team. [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/junior-sport-facing-growing-cyberbullying-challenge\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":131917,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-131916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Junior sport facing growing cyberbullying challenge - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nearly 1 in 5 kids in junior sport face cyberbullying, highlighting the need for education, prevention, and support programs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/junior-sport-facing-growing-cyberbullying-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Junior sport facing growing cyberbullying challenge - 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