Respect and inclusion online
Everyone in the team chat
A new player joined your team last week. On the pitch, the coach made sure she was part of every drill. But the team group chat already has 40 messages a day — inside jokes, nicknames, plans she hasn't heard about.
Think about your team chat as an extension of the changing room. The same values apply: nobody is left on the bench just because they are new. Small actions — adding someone, explaining a joke, asking their opinion — make a big difference.
Your action this week
This week: if someone new joins your team, check they are in the group chat and send one message that includes them in a plan or conversation.
Where this comes from
The scenario is an editorial adaptation, inspired by:
A Qualitative Study of Social Media and Electronic Communication among Canadian Adolescent Female Soccer Players — Dunn, Kim, Poucher, Ellard, Tamminen, 2021 (online); 2024 (issue).
Finding: Players described social media as tools for friendship, trust and inclusion; parents and coaches were more concerned about subgroups and possible exclusion.
Limit: One team, small sample (10 players, 8 parents, 4 staff); describes experiences, not prevalence or causal effects.