National sport collaboration provides specialized training to empower coaches and protect children and youth
Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the Coaching Association of Canada team up to enhance the Responsible Coaching Movement
For Immediate Release
Winnipeg, MB: The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (Canadian Centre) are proud to announce that they are working together to keep kids safe in sport.
The CAC launched the Responsible Coaching Movement in 2015 to ensure the personal safety of all young athletes and coaches involved in sport in Canada. By adding the Canadian Centre’s Commit to Kids for Coaches online training, which addresses boundaries, sexual misconduct, and reporting, coaches will be have access to information that will help them enhance athlete safety, further strengthening the movement.
“As leaders in sport, it is our responsibility to ensure we are creating safe spaces for athletes, especially minors,” says Lorraine Lafrenière, Chief Executive Officer of the CAC. “It is our goal to support coaches in the excellent work that they do by providing them with lifelong learning opportunities, which support safe and healthy sport environments.”
The Canadian Centre’s online training, Commit to Kids for Coaches, provides practical information that gives coaches a standard of measure for maintaining professional boundaries with youth athletes, as well as information about how child sexual abuse happens and how to report inappropriate behaviour and possible misconduct.
“Understanding what constitutes boundary-breaking behaviour between coaches and young athletes can be confusing – it isn’t black and white,” says Noni Classen, Director of Education for the Canadian Centre. “With this online training, we hope to inform and empower coaches and provide them with resources to help them do their jobs.”
The online training, Commit to Kids for Coaches – Boundaries, Sexual Misconduct, and Reporting, is available for $12 at protectchildren.ca/coach. After successfully completing the 2.5 hour training, participants will receive two professional development points towards their maintenance of certification as part of the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP).