Young jockeys to be given guidance to handle 'sickening' social media abuse

Apprentice and conditional jockeys beginning their careers are being given enhanced training and guidance to help tackle social media abuse, with those responsible for the education of young riders increasingly concerned by the impact of online attacks.

The issue was raised in a Racing Post column last month by Hannah Walker, following research for a university dissertation into the subject, in which she detailed the impact the abuse had on young riders and how methods were needed to help them navigate the messages.

Joe Foley-Corah, jockey development manager at the British Racing School (BRS), said he had seen some of the “sickening abuse” riders get online and felt the perpetrators had “dehumanised” their victims and needed to take more responsibility for what they wrote.

He said: “Social media abuse is something that can creep into your life as a professional sportsperson and sit there on your shoulder when you’re trying to compete to the best of your ability. It’s something we’re becoming increasingly conscious of and something we need to actively tackle.

“I’ve seen first hand some of the sickening abuse jockeys get and at the end of the day, and I think it’s something that happens with all sportspeople, they get dehumanised by those spectating. I think that’s where the social media abuse comes from.”

A bolstered jockey training and development programme was introduced last year by the BRS, which includes education on the use of social media, while experts in social media usage are set to provide additional training to riders on licensing courses and at mandatory workshops.

Jockeys are under more pressure than ever as a result of social mediaCredit: Edward Whitaker

“These guys and girls, who are going out at the most developmental stage of their career, all they want is an opportunity to showcase what they can do and how good they are,” Foley-Corah said. “It feels to me that a lot of the abuse is driven by people taking it very personally when the choice to have a bet on that race was the choice of the person having the bet, not of the jockey.”

The use of mentors and the role of jockeys coaches in assisting riders was also emphasised by Foley-Corah as part of a broad approach being taken to address and prepare riders for the issue of social media abuse.

He added that simply not engaging with social media was not the best option for up-and-coming jockeys, with the platforms presenting a base for self-promotion and proving an opportunity to showcase the positives racing has to offer as a sport.

“Sometimes the approach is, and I’ve seen this from senior jockeys before, not to engage with social media at all because then you won’t see it,” he said. “For me, I don’t think that’s possibly the best way to deal with it.

“I think social media does have a lot of benefit in terms of self-promotion, for promoting the sport, for getting awareness out there for how good a sport this is and to entice new people into it. However, within the jockey development and education we’re not maximising the potential to expose jockey to what it can be like on the negative side of things and that’s what we’re taking steps on.”

He added: “Every other sport has a problem with this but I can only affect the area I have responsibility for and I am committed to doing this.”

Read more:

Members' Club: young jockeys are being destroyed by social media abuse – here's how we can help

Members' Club: 'So cruel' – Harriet Graham defends Callum Bewley following social media abuse

PJA calls for bans following rise in abuse of sportswomen on social media

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