Sport Safety & Coaching Community of Practice

Original report written by: Culver, D., Duarte, T., Rourke, S., Turner, C. (2023).

Summary

The report describes a pilot project intended to provide a quality sport development experience for coaches wanting to pursue a more in-depth understanding of Sport Safety. Interested coaches were required to commit to a six-month process beginning with the completion of two eLearning modules followed by monthly community of practice (CoP) sessions diving deeper into the content.

It presents a summary of all CoP content and learning activities. The data collected documents the value created by the interactions for participating coaches. More specifically how coaches stepped in women’s shoes, and they reframed fear into hope. Practical recommendations are offered to set up the safe environments required for coaches to voice their opinions and experiences, collectively reflect, and reframe their perspectives.

In past reports done by the CAC, coaches listed many challenges adhering to safe sport policies, a continuing lack of tools to address difficult conversations with their athletes, and a willingness to improve the system thus highlighting the need for additional training on these topics. Coaches have also expressed that training could increase awareness by hearing real life stories and experiences from people on the ground to better understand what is happening in sport. This CoP pilot project demonstrated numerous types of value for coaches and the use of untraditional learning methods. The research team recommends the development of a model for sport partners and coaches to use CoPs as a tool for coach development surrounding timely topics affecting the broader sport landscape.

To request the full report, please send an email to research@coach.ca.