All genders are capable of grooming and any gender can be groomed. Families and trusted individuals of the targeted person can also be groomed in order to gain their trust.

The process of grooming can span over weeks, months, and even years. Groomers are often seen as a mentor and as someone with consistent authority in the targeted person’s life - a position that a coach often holds.

Grooming can be one of the hardest things to identify because it can seem like your coach or other athletic staff person is just being nice to you or that they see your athletic potential over others on the team. This is why it’s helpful in identifying grooming to compare the treatment your receiving from an athletic staff person to how they are treating your other teammates or athletes getting treatment from them.