First is the bond between coaches and athletes. It's very intense . . . The coach, too, is viewed by students as wielding enormous power. They provide and protect . . . The sports environment creates circumstances that invite misconduct, experts say.
Teams travel to games and stay in hotels overnight.
Athletes undress in locker rooms. Teams return late at night from games, so students need rides home. Even fifteen years ago, there were behaviors and communications between genders which were deemed perhaps somewhat offensive, but not improper . . . But perhaps the single most critical factor contributing to coach-athlete sexual abuse and harassment is a lack of education, the experts say. Coaches, particularly part-time and volunteer coaches, simply do not have the training most teachers receive in what behavior is acceptable with kids.