Safe sport education and training is required for coaches, officials and sometimes even administrators in most provinces across Canada–but the system leaves athletes themselves lacking the same resources. To close this tremendous gap, Athletics Canada (AC) teamed up with the volleyball and swimming national sport organizations, launching a first-of-its-kind education program, Safe Sport Education Resources for Youth aged 13-19.
The national sport organizations for volleyball, swimming and athletics are pleased to announce the launch of Safe Sport Education Resources for Youth aged 13 to 19. The free program is available in both official languages at pic.twitter.com/EIQ2sW4Gda
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) January 23, 2025
The training is free, bilingual and digitally interactive, and consists of eight modules that are two to three minutes in length–the whole program only takes about 20 minutes. Athletes will receive a certificate upon completion.
Chris Winter, AC’s director of domestic programs & safe sport, gave Canadian Running the inside scoop. “It was a crazy long work in progress,” the former Olympic steeplechaser said. “We had a vision to focus on athlete education around safe sport, and thought it was most relevant to youth, who are in a developmental stage and are more at risk. We decided to start there–they’ll be the next generation of athletes that will graduate into senior ranks.”
The three governing bodies teamed up with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), which granted them funding to bring the project to life. Collaboring with other sports also allowed them to share the costs of developing and distributing the program.
The content for the new Safe Sport program was developed by two-time Olympian and former alpine skier, Allison Forsyth. Forsyth is herself a survivor of sexual assault in sport and a passionate advocate for safe sport education; she founded her own safe sport program, Generation Safe. She’s often featured as a keynote speaker, sharing her story to educate athletes and coaches.
In the brief, yet informative, videos, Forsyth dives into seven topics:
- Bullying
- Hazing
- Boundary transgressions
- Grooming
- Discrimination, psychological and physical maltreatment
- Neglect, sexual maltreatment and micro-aggressions
- Report and support
U18 and U20 national teams will be required to complete the program, and eventually it will become a requirement for provincial teams also. AC also hopes that club teams will enforce the education modules for team members, even though they can’t force clubs to adopt the system–the body only controls athletics at the national level.
Respect in Sport, a safe sport training program offered by the Respect Group, is already required for national team coaches. The content is updated and training must be refreshed every four years. Winter says AC’s new system will operate in the same way.
The program director emphasized that this is just the first iteration of the project, with further developments expected in the future. “We envision safe sport to be an overarching theme that other issues can fall under,” he says. “When people hear ‘safe sport,’ they usually think of maltreatment or sexual abuse. Going forward, we also want to cover topics such as body image, REDs, disordered eating, concussion and injuries.”
With the new program, athletes are being empowered to continue protecting themselves and others in the world of sport. “We’re challenging athletes to be proactive and seek information, and to be part of the system to make sport safer,” Winter says.
