Safeguarding in Sport

Safeguarding in Athletics

When you are a regular and dedicated running athlete, finding a coach is a sensible way to frame your approach to reaching your goals.

Coaching as a practice has existed since the times of the Ancient Greeks who trained the first Olympians. Fast forward to the twentieth century when the physiology and philosophy of coaching became a formal part of sports and in the 1980s the British Amateur Athletic Board began formalising training into the blend of sport science, psychology, teaching , and ethics that complete the coaching certification you see in practice today.

In athletics it is strongly encouraged that all coaches complete full training, DBS checks and safeguarding training.

Working with athletes is a privileged and unique experience. Being coached can bring the edge to the athlete with objectivity but also personalised training and it can be a wonderful dynamic that creates results but also lifelong memories.

This article firstly recognises the thousands of amazing people who work and volunteer as coaches and the athletes they work with.

However here it sets out to shine a light on the darker aspects of athletics.

This is to ensure the uncommon but real cases do not go unaddressed, and in this way we can support athletes and the many great coaches to help people shine and to overcome a damaging subculture.

Sometimes people can take advantage of the opportunity and relationships within our sport and while this affects the minority, it affects lives and the pure enjoyment and purpose of sport. Because this still happens in our sport there is a need for all athletes, coaches and those involved in sport to be able to speak out and get help.

What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding is defined as a proactive approach to protecting people from harm in whatever environment they are in.

In the context of sport it specifically applies to maintaining a safe, supportive environment where everyone can participate free from fear, discrimination or mistreatment.

Type of abuse in sport

Types of abuse include emotional, physical, sexual and financial and some athletes might be at risk of self-directed harm in sport.

Emotional abuse

A coach tells a young athlete they looked slimmer last season. That day, she’s a little slower in training and the coach shouts at her that the effort was poor.

This is emotional abuse.

The young athlete is growing and developing normally as they need to, to become an adult performing with all the strength and power that comes with musculoskeletal development (for which we need not just bone and sinew but healthy body fat too). That one sentence can turn into a restrictive sentencing for the self conscious young athlete who might restrict how they fuel, harming their health physically and mentally. Shouting at an athlete (or vice versa at a coach) is never okay. It simply demonstrates anger and a lack of understanding at best but it can also be highly intimidating and controlling. More persistent comments can inflict more harm.

Physical abuse

An athlete is training harder than ever but going slower. Coach sets a higher training load because the athlete is ‘not fit’ enough. And tells them to ‘toughen up.’ After training, coach offers a massage even though they’re not a sports therapist and the athlete would usually be going home.

This exemplifies two types of physical abuse.

The coach-athlete relationship needs to rely on more than Strava stats.

The good coach will bring intuition to know when to have you rest, how to periodise training and how to avoid overtraining.

Caution should be raised by a coach who pushes for more and trains the tired athlete into underrecovery or injury. This is a type of physical abuse because it’s causing physical and physiological harm. Telling the athlete to ‘toughen up’ is simply normalisation of harm.

Physical abuse is also unwanted touching and this be classed as actual bodily harm as well as sexual abuse. Coaches should not seek 1:1 time with athletes, especially the younger athlete and instigating usual practice of having groups stay together on camps or at events can help maintain boundaries.

Sexual harassment and abuse

Coach asks the athlete about their weekend plans and asks to meet up one evening because they like their company. They offer to room with the athlete at a competition when a coach wouldn’t normally stay

If your coach asks how work, education and life are going it’s to assess how much load there is on your shoulders off the track too.

However, in this relationship the athlete must never be asked inappropriate questions or asked to share more than they are comfortable with about their private lives. Coaches and athletes can be working partners and friends and some coaches will want to know what motivates you on a more personal level, but the relationship should never be blurred in terms of a personal or sexual relationship. Of course there are example of athletes who are in relationships and are coach-athlete but this should never be engendered by the power dynamic of the coach-athlete relationship or by inappropriate comments or advantage taken of the vulnerable athlete.

Financial abuse

A coach asks an athlete to take on a kit contract they’ve negotiated and isn’t clear about how that might benefit the coach themselves. After a race, they say that they paid the prize money the athlete won into a new account they created for them.

A coach will often have a contract with an athlete that involves payment for coaching services and this might include an agreed percentage of winnings from races. This agreement should be made at the start of a coaching partnership and should be clear in its terms and conditions.

However, creating additional income from the athlete, managing their finances without explicit agreement or asking payment for services not rendered constitutes financial abuse.

Self-directed harm

This might manifest as detrimental overtraining or eating disorder. The athlete here needs help and whilst this might not be caused by the coach at all, a good coach needs to help the athlete see the harm and prioritise their welfare over performance. In such cases it’s important for the coach to contact a safeguarding lead or parent for younger athletes, and step away from coaching in such cases where complicity with continued training might lead to harm.

Abuse of the coach athlete dynamic

Even good coaching has a power dynamic. The coach has authority and the trust of the athletes and there is often dependency.

Because there is usually more experience on the side of the coach, and because the coach may be able to impact the athlete’s progression as well as their often being an age difference for the young athlete, there is a power imbalance weighted toward the coach.

This imbalance can still be OK where there is mutual respect but the vulnerability of the athlete at any age or stage of training should be recognised and for that reason boundaries in the coach-athlete relationship should not be blurred. It is rarer for the coach to be at risk but also not impossible

How to create a culture of safety in sport

For Athletes

Athletes should be aware that they can report any concern at all to the Welfare Officer at their club and a safeguarding lead within their national governing body - see below for details

Since 2021, Kyniska advocacy has been established as an athlete-led safe sport organisation and already it’s helped athletes to enhance safety for themselves and others.

Athletes who have experienced abuse need support. Formal counselling or therapy can have an important place in processing the associated trauma that has been experienced, to enable the person to regain their wellbeing.

For Coaches

Coaches have duty of care to establish and maintain safe boundaries. This is included within the UKA coaching frameworks and coaches in difficulty can also contact their safeguarding leads if they are concerned about an athlete, another coach or themselves.

Coaches can be educated in power-aware practices, helping them to recognise the influence they hold and how to always use it responsibly.

For Clubs

It would be healthy for Welfare Officers of clubs to talk about safeguarding proactively with athletes so that athletes always know their rights and are empowered to speak up.

Speaking up can be tremendously hard to do, but not doing so can have a devastating impact on the person involved and can put others at risk of harm too.

If you want to support someone

If you know someone who has been subject to abuse in sport, make sure you check in on them but remember that the right time to talk might be hard to find. Leave the door open, signpost them to agencies mentioned above but don’t force a conversation and respect their privacy.

In summary, safeguarding is all our responsibility. It can be hard to speak up but safeguarding team and advocacy groups are there to help. And by making this happen we protect ourselves and our fellow athletes

Links:

Safeguarding at UK Athletics: safeguarding@uka.org.uk

Kyniska Advocacy: support@kyniskaadvocacy.com