Jan the 23 Corporate
Safe Sport Education Resources for Youth Launched
Jan 23. 2025: 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 www.safesportforyouth.org.
Awareness and education are important in reducing maltreatment and abuse, and a tool targeted to youth specifically will help increase sport safety. This program covers essential topics such as recognizing and reporting abuse, setting boundaries, and promoting healthy relationships within sports communities. Through eight engaging and concise modules geared to teenagers, participants will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate potential risks and protect themselves and others. After viewing all videos in order, participants will receive a certificate of completion via the email used to register.
Youth make up a large base of participants within all three sports. Several safe sport education resources exist for adults, but all three organizations identified the need to tailor the messaging, content, and presentation to better reach youth participants.
The Canadian Olympic Committee’s Return to Sport Funding grants provided funding for the project. The vision is to eventually include education and resources for other aspects of improved youth health and awareness, including mental health, body image, disordered eating, concussion, and bullying to name a few.
The platform also includes the "Athlete’s Voice" where some of the top Canadian athletes in swimming, athletics, and volleyball explained why safe sport is important and what it means to them. The platform features videos of Damian Warner (athletics), Marissa Papaconstantinou (Para Athletics), Finlay Knox (swimming), Javier Acevedo (swimming), Ella Jansen (swimming), and Marie-Alex Bélanger (beach volleyball) talking about the importance of safe sport. The athletes will also be featured in social media promotions for the program.
Former high-performance athletes with extensive experience and knowledge in Safe Sport narrate the videos. Former National Team alpine skier Allison Forsyth, working with ITP Sport, played a key role in the overall content development for this project and provided the narration for the English videos. Beach Volleyball Olympian Guylaine Dumont adapted the text and provided narration for the French-language videos.
We applaud the Canadian Olympic Committee for its support of this initiative, especially as the focus is on youth, helping to ensure that their experience in sport is safe and positive. Education is key to empowering participants to know when and how to speak out about maltreatment, abuse and many other issues that may have an impact on athletes throughout their lives. We look forward to seeing this resource used to enhance the sport experience for youth and their families.
While the videos include images from the three sports that created the program, the content applies to all sports and youth athletes. Athletes from any sport can register and review the videos free of charge at: https://www.safesportforyouth.org
Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676
