Book Title: Safe Sport: Critical Issues and Practices, Second Edition

This second edition book addresses a critical sport sector issue – safe sport.

Organizations within all levels and across all streams of the sport system, both within and beyond Canada, are currently facing crises in relation to safe experiences. It is imperative that comprehensive, open-access safe sport information is available to all stakeholders be they learners, instructors and researchers within academia, or those ‘in-the-field’ such as volunteers, administrators, and professionals within public, nonprofit, and commercial sectors.

Comprised of 23 chapters from 27 contributors across academic, professional, and community realms, the edited book offers insightful commentary that addresses athlete, governance, human rights, legal, coaching, officiating, organizational, equity-seeking, culture-change, and safeguarding perspectives.

Through a stance that combines research and practice, these themes are integrated with case studies, in-the-news exemplars, application exercises, and interactive multi-media, to support learners and instructors across a wide-range of disciplines, programs, and courses, as well as applied environments.

This edited book applies various viewpoints to address the harassment and abuse of athletes and other sport participants. Most importantly, the chapters acknowledge that the long-term negative ramifications of a failure to ensure safe sport for athletes at all levels of the Canadian sport system is a significant issue that requires discussion and action. Moving forward, sport leaders must make decisions to ensure the athlete is top-of-mind.

This collective commentary presents a wide-ranging account of where we currently stand in this safe sport movement, and thought-provoking recommendations about the steps necessary if we wish to put the words of the Universal Code of Conduct to Address and Prevent Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) into action. This resource outlines ways to counter current values of the existing sport structure, to commit to safe sport values, and to enact these values.

One resounding theme the authors have communicated in their own unique way is that safe sport requires effort from a variety of stakeholders at every level of the sport system. In other words, the safe sport movement requires commitment from athletes and participants of all ages and abilities, coaches, officials, professionals, administrators and governing bodies, volunteers, legal experts, parents and guardians, advocates, and more.

Together, we can make safe sport possible.