The Ann Craft Trust joins UK Coaching in supporting and celebrating great coaches for the role they play in keeping people safe in sport.
Coaches play a crucial role in safeguarding adults in sport. They hold positions of influence and trust, not just with participants, but also with parents, carers, and other family members. This places them in an ideal position to spot the signs of abuse and neglect. They are perfectly placed to take action if something doesn’t feel quite right.
As so many place their trust in coaches, they don’t just have a legal responsibility to keep their athletes safe. They have a moral responsibility too. Regardless of the participant’s age, a coach can foster a culture of care and open communication to help prevent harm.
How Do Coaches Contribute to Safeguarding and Wellbeing?
- Role Models – A coach’s behaviour can significantly impact athletes’ wellbeing, for better or for worse.
- Close Relationships – Because of their position of power and trusts, coaches can develop close relationships with their athletes. Through these relationships, they can get insights into their athletes’ lives both inside and outside of the sport.
- First Responders – Coaches may spot the signs of abuse or neglect long before anyone else. This can make them the first to raise the alarm.
- Duty of Care – Coaches have a legal duty of care to prioritise their athletes’ safety, and to report any concerns. They can enforce the Codes of Conduct, along with the consequences for breaching them.
- Empowerment – A good coach can foster a safe and supportive environment that can empower athletes to speak up, safe in the knowledge that they’ll be listened to.
Coaches’ behaviours can have a positive impact on the athletes they support. However, because they are in a position of power and trust, we also need to be aware that they can have a detrimental effect if that power or trust is misused.
The strength of our coaches relies on a safe selection process, along with ongoing training and development. We should support our coaches to strive for continuous learning so that they can understand and implement safeguarding best practices in their work.
A good coach can change a game; a great coach can change a life.
John Wooden, retired American basketball coach.
For more information about safeguarding adults and the role of the coach, head to the UK Coaching website.
The Ann Craft Trust and UK Coaching
The Ann Craft Trust has worked in partnership with UK Coaching for a number of years. We have blended our knowledge and expertise of safeguarding adults with their knowledge and understanding of the role a coach can play in keeping people safe in sport.
Over the years, we have collaborated on a number of projects to raise awareness of safeguarding adults. Most recently, we have worked together to develop a dedicated eLearning course for coaches. This course includes a core module that covers the key fundamentals of safeguarding adults, along with two further modules that coaches told us they’d find valuable. One module focuses on professional boundaries, the other on coaching adults with care and support needs.
We have also collaborated with UK Coaching to develop a Safeguarding Adults Workshop. We can deliver this either online or in-person, and we specifically designed it to give coaches all the knowledge and confidence they need to effectively safeguard adults in their roles.
Learn more The UK Coaches and Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Workshop for coaches.