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Numerous international high-profile cases of athlete abuses have led to efforts to advance what has been termed “Safe Sport.” Sport and coaching organisations are urgently designing and implementing policies, procedures, and programmes to advance a culture of safe sport. However, we posit that these endeavours are occurring without a conceptual fra...
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Context 1
... by the data and research in the areas of safe sport and safeguarding, we propose a model that illustrates the current status of the safe sport landscape that reflects a prevention of harm approach (Figure 1). This is followed by an additional figure, which illustrates a values-based approach to safeguarding athletes (Figure 2). ...
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Citations
... Here, we discerned a tone of pride in her speech ("I could never do that" and "not like our program at all"), suggesting that she prioritizes care and emotional labor to support the well-being of athletes and optimize their sport experience as a resistance to other, uncaring, or unsupportive environments (Gearity, 2012). At a time when sport organizations and policy are making significant efforts to foster safe sport environments to protect athletes from maltreatment (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021;MacPherson et al., 2022), scholars have proposed caring approaches to coaching as solutions (Cronin & Armour, 2018;Fisher et al., 2019). Although Sam's account is personally empowering, by valorizing her emotional labor as a personal responsibility rather than as a formal job requirement, she may inadvertently justify her institution's lack of formal recognition and compensation for such labor while benefiting from her emotional labor, as it contributes to the athletes' experiences. ...
Sport organizations heavily depend on traditionally feminine-typed work, such as emotional labor, yet systemic inequalities within these institutions often render such work invisible. Therefore, we conducted semistructured interviews with nine women head coaches at Canadian universities to explore how their construction of emotional labor, at the discursive level, (re)produces and/or challenges broader structures and gendered ideologies in intercollegiate sport organizations. The responses were analyzed sequentially through thematic analysis followed by feminist critical discourse analysis, outlining how women coaches’ discourses of care and of performance in sport render emotional labor, essential yet undervalued, and invisible within organizational structures. While institutions rely on coaches’ emotional labor, coaches received limited reciprocal support and recognition for this work. Findings explicate the gendered power dynamics that render emotional labor invisible within sport institutions while illuminating the difficulties women coaches face. Recommendations for enhancing institutional recognition and support for coaches are provided.
... To do this, explicitly include safe sport in the concept of sporting success, underpin safeguarding measures with an empowering climate and positive reinforcement, regularly ask for athletes' feedback and find ways to both measure and increase mutual care and respect within sport settings. 260 261 Responsible sport must be values based, 262 as well as athlete centred and child centred 263 264 -emphasising their unheard voices. Expanding sport's central concept of 'winning' to include well-being can also emphasise personal growth and life experiences beyond sport. ...
Objective Interpersonal violence (IV) in sport is challenging to define, prevent and remedy due to its subjectivity and complexity. The 2024 International Olympic Committee Consensus on Interpersonal Violence and Safeguarding aimed to synthesise evidence on IV and safeguarding in sport, introduce a new conceptual model of IV in sport and offer more accessible safeguarding guidance to all within the sports ecosystem by merging evidence with insights from Olympic athletes. Methods A 15-member expert panel performed
a scoping review following Joanna Briggs Institute methodologies. A seminal works-driven approach was used to identify relevant grey literature. Four writing groups were established focusing on: definitions/ epidemiology, individual/interpersonal determinants, contextual determinants and solutions. Writing groups developed referenced scientific summaries related to their respective topics, which were discussed by all members at the consensus meeting. Recommendations were then developed by each group, presented as
voting statements and circulated for confidential voting following a Delphi protocol with ≥80% agreement defined a priori as reaching consensus.
Results Of 48 voting statements, 21 reached consensus during first-round voting. Second-round and third-round voting saw 22 statements reach consensus, 5 statements get discontinued and 2 statements receive minority dissension after failing to reach agreement. A total of 43 statements reached consensus, presented as overarching (n=5) and topical (n=33) consensus recommendations, and actionable consensus guidelines (n=5).
Conclusion This evidence review and consensus process elucidated the characterisation and complexity of IV and safeguarding in sport and demonstrates
that a whole-of-system approach is needed to fully comprehend and prevent IV. Sport settings that emphasise mutual care, are athlete centred, promote healthy relationships, embed trauma and violence- informed care principles, integrate diverse perspectives and measure IV prevention and response effectiveness willexemplifysafesport.Asharedresponsibilitybetween all within the sports ecosystem is required to advance effective safeguarding through future research, policy and practice.
... First, it empirically examines recent developments concerning the SafeSport Act and the creation of, and ongoing developments surrounding SafeSport. Consequently, the study provides insight into ongoing issues within the prevention of athlete abuse in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic sport context and builds upon recent studies (e.g., Gurgis et al., 2022;Gurgis & Kerr, 2021;Nite & Nauright, 2020) that have focused on organizational and systemic explanations for preventing athlete abuse in sport. Second, the study extends work by Harris et al. (2021Harris et al. ( , 2023 who sought to articulate and empirically demonstrate the value of polycentrism to better explain the mechanisms by which governance failure occurs in sport. ...
The egregious, global problem of athlete abuse, particularly the physical and mental manipulation and exploitation of young athletes, continues unabated. Within the United States, high profile media cases such as the USA Gymnastics scandal led to the passing of specific legislation which restructured and empowered the U.S. Centre for SafeSport to end athlete abuse. Despite these developments, significant challenges remain, with many stakeholders questioning SafeSport's ability to keep athletes safe. We theorize recent developments through a polycentric governance lens, demonstrating how ongoing events can be explained by poorly conceived structural arrangements and inadequate processes that have led to ineffective co-ordination across the regime. Findings present the challenges with the analysis examining causes and the implications for the future of SafeSport.
... Such social issues are problematic for young athletes, who are directly influenced by their coaches and the decisions made by their sport organisations. Creating safer sport contexts can help enhance inclusion in sport due to respectful acknowledgement of individuals' intersectionality and diverse experiences (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021). To acknowledge social injustices in sport, researchers have proposed that competitive coaches explicitly create sport cultures protecting young athletes' wellbeing and safety (Camiré et al., 2022;Kochanek & Erickson, 2020). ...
... Moving forward, sport stakeholders who champion social justice should work with coaches to build their political efficacy and offer support when resistance is experienced. Implementing inclusive sport policies at the organisational level will not by itself lead to effective changes in sport (e.g., Gurgis & Kerr, 2021;Spurdens & Bloyce, 2022). As suggested in this study, coaches will need tangible support to sustain their critical consciousness. ...
Competitive youth sport coaches who aim to foster inclusive and safer sport often face challenges from their peers, their organisations, and the sociocultural systems in their contexts. A personal learning coach may support coaches’ critical awareness, reflection, and readiness for working towards changing their youth sport contexts. This study details a 15-month collaboration, as Sara acted as a personal learning coach to support Sophie’s critical praxis as they reflected on social issues and experienced shifts in their coaching towards creating more inclusive and safer sport. Grounded in a narrative inquiry methodology, two virtual interviews and 11 virtual meetings occurred. Sara and Sophie also shared reflections through messages and voice notes and one in-person meeting during one of Sophie’s training sessions. Through time-hopping snapshot vignettes, Sophie’s learning journey is presented as they attempt to figure out what to fight for, grow through discomforts and unknowns, and experience progress. Sophie believed that their “mind shifted” towards becoming a “better coach” throughout the collaboration, developing their critical consciousness to change oppressive social conditions in sport. By sharing insights from the collaboration, the study provides vivid examples of the steps coaches and sport stakeholders can take to become more confident in enacting positive change in sport.
... Findings of this nature are indicative of the potential issues of a lack of understanding and awareness of maltreatment from key personnel (e.g., coaches) in sports such as professional football. Thus, in recent times there has been some gradual movement towards exploring the perspective of personnel with an interest in advancing safe sport (32)(33)(34). While this movement has made encouraging advances in understanding the perspective of those in leadership and administrative roles in elite sport, as well as other key personnel such as sport psychology consultants, these studies have not directly explored the perspectives of those directly tasked with safeguarding and welfare (e.g., such as heads of safeguarding/welfare). ...
... In terms of an epistemological stance, the constructivist approach regards the researchers and participants as being active in the co-construction of knowledge as part of its subjectivist/transactional view (40). Moreover, this research approach has been applied within studies of safe sport, as part of a co-dependent process between researchers and participants (32). This was seen as well-matched to this study's approach of developing findings between the participants and researchers through co-design. ...
... By focusing on members of staff who are specifically responsible for safeguarding and welfare, the study extended beyond the perspectives of administrators [e.g. (32),] in order to understand maltreatment further within the context of elite sport. To this end, by drawing on the perspectives of safeguarding and welfare personnel in football, combined with the extant research evidence it was hoped that a more detailed conceptualization of maltreatment could be provided (33). ...
Introduction
This study explored the understanding of maltreatment from the perspective of various personnel working in roles related to safeguarding and welfare in English professional and semi-professional football.
Method
Through a social constructivist position, the present study was able to explore multiple understandings and perceptions of maltreatment in football. Individual semi-structured interviews ( M Duration = 68.00 minutes, SD = 9.05 minutes) were conducted with 19 participants working across league structures ranging from the English Premier League (EPL) to the English Northern Premier League Division One, as well as individuals working with some of the principal organizations in English professional football.
Results
Through reflexive thematic analysis, three general dimensions were highlighted: “current understanding of maltreatment in football,” “constituents of maltreatment,” and “signs and symptoms of maltreatment.” Findings from those working in a safeguarding capacity mirror the research literature around understanding the components of maltreatment but also demonstrate how wrongdoing is nuanced by the football context, in that certain forms of maltreatment are driven by the unique nature of this environment.
Discussion
From an applied perspective, the findings also outline how to distinguish both the more overt and covert signs and symptoms of maltreatment, whilst also highlighting the impact of maltreatment on individuals' mental health and their sense of self. Overall, the findings provide a platform for practitioners and researchers to consider in the design of safeguarding and welfare provision by highlighting the need to raise knowledge and awareness of maltreatment whilst intervening to challenge the prevailing workplace culture within professional football.
... The absence of a formal and independent complaint mechanism was one of the most frequently mentioned barriers to reporting an experience of IV in sport (Bjørnseth & Szabo, 2018;McLaren et al., 2020;Willson et al., 2022). Indeed, researchers and people involved in sport have long been advocating for a standardized and independent complaint mechanism (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021;Kerr et al., 2020;McLaren et al., 2020;Rhind et al., 2014). ...
... The use of IV can be perceived as having instrumental effects, such as motivating an athlete's performance or ensuring interpersonal control (Roberts et al., 2020). As such, sport organizations should provide professional training for their members to better identify and report IV in sport (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021;MacPherson et al., 2022). There should also be tailored educational workshops for those at risk of experiencing IV to enable them to better recognize inappropriate behaviors . ...
... When asked about recommendations, they talk about the need for a confidential and neutral structure where to report their experiences of IV with skilled professionals who offer support through the process (Willson, 2019). Similarly, sport administrators in another study mention that an independent complaint mechanism is essential because sport organizations are not trained or equipped to adequately deal with reports of IV (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021). These findings are coherent with the recent development and implementation of complaint mechanisms for IV in sport, such as the OSIC in Canada (2022aCanada ( , 2022b or Sport Integrity Australia (2023). ...
Past studies have highlighted the lack of independent formal complaint mechanisms as one of the most significant barriers to reporting interpersonal violence (IV) in sport. Some countries have since implemented complaint mechanisms specific to sport settings. Evaluations of similar mechanisms in other sectors could inform the development and implementation of complaint mechanisms for IV in sport. This rapid review included studies inside and outside the sport context to document the characteristics of complaint mechanisms of IV, barriers or limitations related to such mechanisms, and recommendations resulting from their evaluation. Following the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Interim Guidance, six databases were searched for peer-reviewed references in English or French, published between 2012 and 2022, and pertaining to the evaluation of formal reporting mechanisms of IV. The 35 references covered mechanisms mainly targeting IV in general (any type) or sexual violence specifically. Complaint mechanisms varied in scope and as a function of their setting, including work, university, military, and medical. We identified barriers and limitations concerning fear of consequences, lack of knowledge, lack of efficiency, lack of trust, and unsupportive culture. Finally, we documented 18 recommendations to improve complaint mechanisms of IV, spanning four categories: (a) organizational accountability, (b) awareness and accessibility, (c) adapted process, and (d) ongoing evaluation. This rapid review draws recommendations from various research disciplines and types of mechanisms to offer a comprehensive portrait of best practices. The findings show that numerous aspects of complaint mechanisms at multiple levels should be considered when developing and implementing complaint mechanisms of IV.
... Each of these organizations uses a different strategy. The duties and responsibilities of these organizations differ when it comes to safe sport; some, like Play by the Rules, just serve as advocacy bodies and provide information, while others, like U.S. SafeSport, handle allegations of sexual assault (Gurgis, Kerr, 2021). ...
The growing and deepening geopolitical differences suggest a growing threat to international security. People often ask us if there is still a cold war. With the involvement of regional and international forces, crises are becoming more widespread and conflicts are becoming more transnational. This is confirmed by the situation in Ukraine, as well as by the rising tensions and conjecture on a European military confrontation. Even in 2021, with fewer people traveling across EU borders due to the COVID-19 epidemic, migration remains one of the most contentious issues in European politics. In an attempt to slow the spread and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, nations have limited international, transnational, and domestic travel. This has had an impact on migration and human mobility in the European region. Safety in sports is of paramount importance to ensure the well-being and longevity of athletes across various disciplines.
... They aimed to continue to develop closeness as they deemed it fundamental for developing high-functioning tennis players and human beings but feared that certain behaviors that fostered closeness, such as a celebratory hug or convenient lift to school to lighten parental pressures, were no longer acceptable in highperformance sport. These experiences add to recent claims suggesting that the advancement of safe sport across the sport system is currently failing for the following reasons: (a) inconsistent definitions of unsafe behavior, (b) policies focusing primarily on sexual abuse and neglect, (c) educational programs that are perceived as victim-blaming, (d) the delivery of educational programs that are not grounded in theory or empirical evidence, and (e) ineffective monitoring and evaluation of educational programs (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021;Kerr & Kerr, 2020). More specifically, Gaedicke et al. (2021) suggested that the tendency for initiatives to focus primarily on the prevention of sexual abuse has partly contributed to a "moral panic, uncertainty, and fear of unjustified suspicion among coaches" (p. ...
... In Canadian high-performance sport, educational programs and policies are urgently being implemented to eradicate issues of abuse (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021) through the establishment of the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport and the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (Sport Integrity Commissioner, n.d.), as well as the Athlete Representation Project (AthletesCAN, 2020). However, to stimulate a cultural shift from one that "embraces hegemonic masculine narratives, interpersonal violence and controlling coach-athlete relationships" (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021, p. 1) to one that promotes positive values and human rights, coaches should also be provided with specific guidelines on how to build close, trusting relationships with their players while maintaining their safety. ...
... As several high-profile coaches and sport professionals have misused trust with athletes (e.g., Larry Nassar in the United States, cf. Kerr et al., 2019), educational programs and policies are urgently being implemented to advance a culture of safe sport (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021). However, to create a safe sport culture in Canadian high-performance sport that promotes positive values, human rights, and a "climate of voice" (Edmondson, 2018, p. 492), coaches must be provided with clearly defined safe and unsafe coaching behaviors, as well as consequences for breaching policies. ...
The purpose of this study was to understand why and how experienced tennis coaches developed quality relationships with their high-performance adolescent athletes that prioritized athletes’ needs and well-being. Five highly regarded Canadian tennis coaches of internationally ranked adolescent players engaged in two semistructured interviews and three story completion tasks. The data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings outlined that coaches unanimously believed establishing a close, trusting relationship with their adolescent athletes was fundamental to creating a caring environment in which empathy for athletes’ athletic, academic, and personal demands could be demonstrated. Coaches also described the difficulties of navigating these close relationships in a climate that is under severe scrutiny because of athlete maltreatment allegations. Examples of coaching behaviors that fostered closeness and maintained athlete safety included demonstrating care towards athletes’ social, emotional, academic, and athletic challenges, encouraging dialogue in which athletes expressed their wants and needs, and involving parents to help maintain transparency regarding the establishment of closeness. Uniquely, this study provides practical suggestions for how coaches can nurture closeness while promoting safe environments that prioritize athletes’ welfare.
... Leadership within OHSMS involves having the awareness and competence to address unsafe behaviors as they occur (Alli, 2008). However, within elite sport, coaches and other staff within leadership positions have described confusion on best practices to follow when promoting safety (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021) and may act with athletes' best interest in mind, yet employ harmful methods perceived by athletes as psychologically abusive (Stirling, 2013). Providing opportunities for leaders to cultivate the interpersonal skills and promote safe environments is one pathway to build a safety culture (Clarke, 2006). ...
Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) promote healthy workplace environments through regulating hazards and health promotion activities. Abuse within elite sports is one hazard that threatens the health and safety of elite adult athletes. Despite the widespread existence of evidence-informed guidelines to safeguard youth athletes, few safeguards have been developed for elite adult athletes, despite sport being their primary occupation. Through a critical realist lens, we used a thematic meta-synthesis to search, appraise and synthesize 20 articles conducted with elite adult athletes who have experienced abuse. We present three themes to highlight: (a) how abuse types (sexual, psychology, physical, and financial) are fluid and expand over time, (b) the contextual factors that influence abuse (individual, relational, structural, cultural), and (c) temporal impacts of abuse throughout athletes' early, late, and post-sport careers. The present work is discussed in relation to perceived advancement of OHSMS and safe sport through protecting athletes from the hazards present within their occupational environments.
... Studies using a variety of methodologies have reported significant rates of sexual, physical, and emotional maltreatment of young athletes (Johnson, Hannah & Novak, 2020) in various countries whilst there have been a substantial number of abuse scandals revealed internationally in sports within the years, which have pressured sports leaders to develop and enforce safeguards (Nite & Nauright, 2020). As a response, various policies, recommendations and educational programs (e.g., International Olympic Committee (IOC), 2019; Safe Sport International, 2019; Play by the Rules, 2020) have been issued by national and international bodies to safeguard all those involved and advance a culture of safe sport-one free from abuse and harassment (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021). But considering the research evidence indicating that violence in sports is serious and extensive (Alexander et al., 2011;Starr, 2015;Brackenridge, 2015;Willson et al., 2022), it appears that the existing policies might not have not had the desired impact, or have even failed. ...
... With this in mind, this qualitative study was designed to collect in-depth data from sports administrators in five European countries on what has proven effective and why in managing harassment and abuse and to explore how to address the existing and emerging needs of advancing safe sports. Given the leadership positions sports administrators hold, understanding their perspectives may be helpful in informing a framework to guide the development and implementation of safe sports strategies (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021). Sports administrators are thus at the core of the problem and perhaps the "solution" also belongs to them. ...
... More specifically, besides aiming solely to prevent harm, sports strategies must promote a culture of sport that is inclusive, accessible, welcoming and safe for all participants. In other words, aim for the promotion of values-based sport (Gurgis & Kerr, 2021). According to Gurgis and Kerr (2021) there are limitations of safe sport education that focuses solely on the prevention and reduction of harm and thus there is great value in positioning safe sport education to promote the positive values of healthy, fair and safe sports experiences. ...
The current study explored sports administrators’ perspectives
on the management of harassment and abuse in sports and
assembled them into issues that raise awareness and understanding
of the factors that impinge on the promotion of healthy
sports environments. Transcription, description, and analysis of
standardized focus group discussions (FGD) involving key stakeholders
and policymakers in five European countries using standardized
questioning routes were carried out. The results pointed
towards a lack of education and dissemination of relevant information,
an absence of specific to sports legislation, an inexistent
Code of Ethics, and the absence of mechanisms, for reporting
perpetrators and supporting victims. The current recruitment
strategies of sports personnel were also identified as obstacles
that impinge the promotion of safe sports. The consistency of
the findings across five European countries suggests that we
have identified some key dimensions which impose the prevention
of harassment and abuse in sports. which may consequently
also help in understanding policy implementation failure.
