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.

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

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

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.