Sport is a safe space for many children and young people, with the latest research from the CPSU and Loughborough University showing that 55% of child safeguarding concerns raised were from outside of sport.
Over the last 5 years the CPSU and Loughborough University have carried out safeguarding case data research. The project involves using a standardised tool to collect information from participating National Governing Bodies (NGBs), about concerns reported within their sports.
The latest research has shown that 55%, or 2102, of child safeguarding concerns raised were from outside of sport. This refers to abuse that has taken place in a different context to the sporting environment, but which relates to an individual who is involved in sport.
These statistics suggest that the sporting environment can be a supportive one, and a safe space for children and young people. External safeguarding issues are often being recognised by people working within the sport setting, and many children and young people feel comfortable reporting safeguarding incidents from elsewhere in their life to figures within sport.
A lot of sports organisations have recently worked hard to embed safeguarding at every level, and to increase the visibility of safeguarding. This plays an important role in building a community within sport where children and young people feel able to speak out about issues.
To encourage this further, this year we are promoting Team Huddles as part of our Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport (KYCSIS) campaign. The campaign focuses on building safer sporting communities for children, and asks teams and clubs across the nation to bring their sporting community together. Our KYCSIS awareness raising week is taking place 7 – 11 October 2024. We have lots of resources available to help you plan your Team Huddle.
Our latest podcast, which features young people, the Head of CPSU and the Child Protection Manager from The FA, also talks about the importance of getting the fundamentals and basics of safeguarding right, so that children and young people can have fun and thrive in sport.
Regardless of the progress we are making in our sector, 45% of child safeguarding concerns were reported from within a sporting environment, so there is still a lot more to do.