Bullying

Yes, we as a family, have experienced bullying towards our son by one of his teammates. Last Spring, Nick was asked to join a team of little riders, kids his age going to the same races. My husband and I tought it was great, would help to ease the anxiety and tension at races if he had some kids/friends from home his age to play with in between racing. It certainly did and by Summer, Nick was on a total winning streak at home and at Nationals. He was the first kid on the team to turn Expert, with one other following shortly after. This boy is 11 months older than my son, his Dad is the "team manager" and the little boy, being a spoiled only child, didn't like getting beat by my son. He was telling Nick that if he kept beating him his dad would kick him off the team, he would run him off the track, etc. We had other team parents telling us they overheard this, etc. Not wanting to use this as an excuse as to why Nick was all of a sudden hitting his breaks letting this kid go by, losing, whatever, we ignored it, not thinking much. When we asked Nick about it he just would get quiet and say, no, nothing was wrong. Then the parents of this kid got word by another parent and they addressed it, apologizing to us and Nick, chastising their child. Well, we reminded Nick that the reason he was invited to be a part of the team was because of his skills and then, we never let him out of our sight. We still take him to the chutes with us, go to the bathroom at the track with him, everything we can because little kids are mean. Ultimately, we left the team because the kid's dad, the "manager", was having his son run mine off the track. Jealously can be an evil emotion, even by little kids but worse are the parents behind these kids. Always take a deeper look - it starts somewhere and generally, from home.
Allison