Reducing Malreatment In Canada

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Sport intends to provide human activity involving exertion and skill with the addition of competition and social participation (cleaning house for sport). Yet there are times when sport becomes tainted with a form of maltreatment. Maltreatment is defined as “volitional acts that. have the potential to result in physical injuries and/or psychological harm” which can arise in numerous ways on the sporting scene (Edwards, 2024, p.174). To combat and limit maltreatment in Canada, the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) developed a 90-minute free online training programme to educate coaches involved in sports about maltreatment. “As of April 1, 2020, all Canadian-funded sports organizations are mandated to have coaches trained in safe sport” (CAC, …show more content…

The main goal of this training is to hope that people begin to change the narrative from sport-free abuse to optimizing sports experience; as abuse-free should already be the standard and not the main goal to reach in sports (Willson, 2024c). It is a good initiative for all Canadian athletes and coaches everywhere as the program “gives others the knowledge and skills to create positive environments by recognizing, addressing and preventing maltreatment in sport (at times that they may not have been previously knowledgeable about)” (CAC, 2024). Coaches have the responsibility and authority to protect their athletes from “sexual, physical, and emotional abuse” (Sport, 2024). It is their responsibility to provide a safe space mentally, physically, socially, etc (Willson, 2024a ). Safe sports training provides many benefits to the learner, in the course some of its main strengths include relational safety, emphasis on optimizing sport and the numerous resources available to minorities within the sporting …show more content…

By going through that process (again), coaches can gain additional training and test their knowledge and skills (Högstedt et al., 2021). No one remembers everything and information is always being updated, which is why recertification is important. In conclusion, the program was made for coaches to inform them on ways to prevent maltreatment from occurring in the sporting space, and it did exactly that. The majority of coaches want to see their athletes thrive and succeed on and off the field, and it takes the coaches to train and care for them to the best of their ability. There are some coaches who should not be coaches in the first place as they continue to neglect and mistreat their athletes simply because they are the ones in power. Whatever the case may be, having systems in place to train, inform and protect all parties is important since sporting events are very vulnerable places. In a pThough in Canada, there is main stress on the obligation to report when there is a minor involved, there is hope that in coming years there will be the same urgency and pressure to report when adults are

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