'Spank her arse' coaching tactics spark outrage

An athletic club in southern Sweden has come under fire for a coach's use of sexually suggestive materials known as "Hot babes of the defence" to aid the training of a team of 14-year-old boys.

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The controversial materials employ defence strategies referred to as ”Petra”, ”Jennifer” and ”Sofia”, and were devised by the coach to show the players on a boy's floorball team within the Engelholms FBC athletic club how to play in various circumstances.

The strategies go under the name ”Hot babes on defence” (Snygga brudar i försvaret), according to reporters at the publication Feministiskt Perspektiv (FP), who have been privy the material.

In some of the strategy notes, Jennifer is described as a girl that you have to ”treat lovingly, hug and take care of”.

Another goes under the moniker Sofia, who is ”hot and sexy” and goes for it a bit more than Jennifer.

She apparently also likes to ”dress provocatively” and ”help herself in bed”.

”Petra is the crazy babe whom you almost fear. She scratches, bites and likes to dominate. Petra gets in the mood when you are aggressive, take what you want and have an attitude,” the notes read.

Other formulations deemed appropriate to teach the young teens floorball defence are:

”By snogging and feeling up Sofa at the right moment we will reach the optimum result.”

”In bed, you can rip her clothes and spank her bottom.”

The strategy notes have been used by the coach to ”anchor” the defence strategies in the minds of the 14-year-old players.

But when their usage became public, many have reacted against them.

”This is without a doubt sexist material and completely against what the sports movement stands for,” said the Swedish floorball association's chairperson Jane Andersson to Sveriges Television (SVT).

One of the parents told FP that although they had heard of the usage of female names for game strategies, they didn't grasp what it actually had entailed.

”I have asked why, but my son says that it easier to remember that way. But I had no idea that the coaches speak that way. I find it hard to believe as they coach is really popular among the guys and we parents trust them explicitly, especially the guy whose name you mentioned. It doesn't feel...no, it doesn't feel good, this,” the parent told FP, adding that the kids look up to the coaches and follow them in almost everything.

The manager for Engelholms FBC, Jonas Kihlman, said he had nothing to do with the materials.

He said that he knows the coach and is familiar with how the the boys' training sessions are usually structured.

”There's no doubt about it, those cards should not be used and they aren't any longer, either. We have had a chat with the guys and as far as I am concerned the incident is over,” Kihlman told daily Dagens Nyheter (DN).

On their webpage the floorball club has chosen to completely disassociate themselves from the "sexist" materials.

”From the side of FBC Engelholm we want to clearly and forcefully mark that this is one individual coach's own initiative to produce and use this material. The association has had no knowledge of the said materials until now,” they wrote.

”In this case, with this coach, we have obviously failed to ensure quality and we will investigate where we have fallen short in the control of our coaches and how they communicate with our youth members,” the club said.

Leif Winterhof, the vice chairman of the club, told DN that what has occurred is a glitch in their work.

”It is unfortunate if anyone has perceived this as offensive,” he said.

The club also announced that an internal investigation into the incident has been initiated.