My daughter, who’s in kindergarten, started a youth sport this season (for grades K–2). Around midseason, a first grader began picking on her. My daughter has always been outgoing and friendly with everyone, so this is her first real experience with someone being repeatedly and deliberately unkind. She’s a sensitive soul, so I started watching practices a bit more closely to make sure she wasn’t overreacting and honestly, it was tough to see. She’d ask to play with this girl, and the girl would say no or whisper about her to other teammates, runaway from her or poke her with her field hockey stick. It’s not the kind of behavior I expected to see at this age. We’ve mostly tried to use it as a teaching moment, talking about how that’s not someone you to be friends with anyway, not everyone will like you in life and that it’s not a reflection of who you are or something you need to change. We’ve practiced ways she can stand up for herself and build resilience. But part of me is torn because these girls are SO young. This was supposed to be about having fun and learning a new sport, and I’m just sad for her. I don’t want one mean-spirited child to ruin the experience or make her not want to play next year. I’ve been on the fence about bringing it up with the coaches, especially since it’s one of their daughters. But I don’t know if I failed my daughter by not speaking up. Has anyone been through something like this before? I’d love any advice on how to handle it. If this is what we’re facing in kindergarten, I can’t help but feel like we’ve got a long road ahead for youth sports. If she even wants to continue now.