i-Protect aims to help your club develop and implement a holistic and comprehensive child safeguarding strategy, in which you have a part to play.

This is the first general course aimed at all adults involved in the i-Protect Programme. It includes some general remarks, a glossary section and an introduction to the 10 key messages to be worked with the children in the club setting.

Child safeguarding is every adult’s responsibility and we want you in our team. The i-Protect Team.

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This course aims at providing you with information on how to respond to a child disclosing concerns or allegations of violence or abuse against him/herself or against another child. Research suggests that the perpetrators of violence against children in sport can be both men and women; coaches, athletes, medical staff, volunteers, etc; but also children and young people. In some countries, there is a legal requirement to report concerns about allegations of violence against children.

On completion of this course, coaches will gain knowledge and draw practical applications about:

• What child abuse in sport is
• What we know about child abuse in sport
• The impact and signs of child abuse
• The preventing of child abuse in sport
• Actions taken against child abuse in sport

On completion of this course, coaches will gain knowledge and draw practical applications about:

• What are the minimum requirements to work as a coach?
• Rights and obligations of the coach
• Codes of conduct for coaches
• Conducting risk assessments
• Minimising the risk of allegations against you
• Dealing with allegations

Thank you so much for signing up for this course. The children and young people you coach and their families will benefit greatly from your desire to be an even better coach!

This course is an adaptation of the FIFA Guardians toolkit that was launched in July of 2019.  The content of this toolkit was developed by the FIFA administration together with the FIFA Child Safeguarding Working  Group in collaboration with UNICEF, the Council of Europe, the Scottish Football Association, OFC and Concacaf and consultation from the FIFA Development Committee and the OFC Just Play project managers.

This tool was developed to support FIFA’s member organisations in implementing best practice to keep children safe and ensure involvement in football in fun for all.  However, it can be adapted to any sport as it sets the minimum requirements for any sport club on child safeguarding.

This module provides a framework to help clubs consider how they can prevent risks of harm to children in sport and respond appropriately.  It includes templates that you will be able to adapt to the needs of your club.

Course objectives:

1. To promote accountability and responsibility for keeping children safe from harm when involved in any sporting activities
2.  To self-assess and inform the development of their safeguarding policies, plans and programmes, including for human resource and training needs;
3.  To assist coordinators and technical staff with risk assessments and the development of safeguarding plans and programmes;
4.  To support practitioners, such as coaches, trainers, medical personnel, staff and volunteers, who provide services,  training  and  programmes to children to apply good practice  for effective action.

Physical activity is good for children (and adults) not only because of health reasons, but also because of mental, social, emotional and cognitive benefits. But participating in these activities does not guarantee positive outcomes. Adults and clubs involved in the sport need to set good examples and behaviours that will lead to positive sport environments. 

Sport and physical activity promote social and core values that are key to a child’s development.

Adults must always be an example of good behaviour so that these values can be learned through sport.

Thanks to sport and physical activity children will:

• Improve their health and physical skills
• Learn cooperation and self-control
• Deal with success and failure
• Acquire coping mechanisms and leadership skills
• Develop autonomous decision-making and risk-taking
• Minimize feelings of isolation
• Increase self-confidence
• Gain feelings of acceptance and respect 

When participation in physical activities “fun” acts as the main motivator for children. 

Fun increases: 

• Joyful experiences 
• Participation in physical activity

Coaches, especially those working with children and young people have a fantastic opportunity to influence and improve the lives of those they coach.

In this course, “Good Practices in Youth Sport for Coaches”, we are going to explore some ideas around what makes for positive developmental sport experiences for children and young people.

This course is an adaptation of part of the campaign “Child Sexual Abuse Stays Offside”, aimed at the prevention and detection of sexual abuse of children and adolescents in sports. The original campaign was promoted and financed by the Consejo Superior de Deportes (Spanish High Council for Sport), together with the Fundación Deporte Joven, a Spanish Foundation that helps improve the lives of children and youth through sports, and the collaboration of the UNICEF Spanish Committee.

The technical revision of the products of this Campaign was courtesy of experts in the Council of Europe and the non-profit organisation “Oro, Plata y Bronce” [Gold, Silver and Bronze]. In addition, our Campaign is supported by the “Start to Talk” initiative of the Council of Europe.

This course is aimed at all adults in the child athlete’s entourage: family members, coaches, healthcare professionals (including physical and massage therapists), management and administration staff, support staff (secretaries, cleaners, maintenance technicians, catering, transport…) and any spectator of training or sports events.

Although the “Child Sexual Abuse Stays Offside” campaign was specifically aimed at preventing child sexual abuse in sport, the i-Protect consortium believes this guidance can help in reducing the risks of children suffering different types of maltreatment in sport. 

In this course, “How to create a safe coaching environment for children in sport,” we explore some ideas concerning how sport can be safe for children and young people, and how a coach can contribute to this.

As a coach, you have a lot of power; both ‘positional’ power, and ‘expert’ power. Accordingly, there is a large power difference in the relationship between you and the children you are coaching. The young athletes are not only dependent on you, they usually also have complete trust in you. It is therefore important to be aware that if this power is misused, it can lead to exploitative relationships that can have a detrimental impact on the children’s future development.

The learning objectives of this course are:

• To understand what safe sport means for a coach
• To understand what child abuse is from the perspective of a coach
• To understand how coaches can safeguard and protect children in sport
• To explore what coaches can do to stay safe

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