School sport should be a place where students feel safe to participate, compete, learn, make mistakes, build friendships and represent their schools and communities with pride. At NT School Sports, creating that environment does not happen by accident. It takes policies, people, education and accountability, and it takes all of us working together.
Our Safe Sport commitment is to provide a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for every student, coach, volunteer and official. That includes protecting participants from abuse, discrimination, harassment and maltreatment, while creating positive experiences where young people can thrive. Our new Safe School Sport. Stronger Together. graphic is designed to make some of those safeguards easier for students, parents, schools and volunteers to understand.
What does Safe School Sport look like?
There are several important pieces working together.
Screening and background checks help ensure that adults working with students are appropriately screened based on their role, responsibilities and access to vulnerable participants.
The Rule of Two helps create open and observable interactions. To the maximum extent possible, a student should not be alone one-on-one with an unrelated Person in Authority.
Codes of Conduct establish expectations for how we treat one another. Respectful behaviour is not optional. Bullying, harassment, discrimination and maltreatment have no place in school sport.
Training and education help coaches, volunteers, officials and others understand both their responsibilities and how they can contribute to positive experiences for students.
Athlete protection extends beyond what happens during competition. Communication, travel, overnight stays, changing areas, photography and video, physical contact and one-on-one interactions all require appropriate boundaries and expectations.
And importantly, reporting and response mechanisms need to exist when something does not feel right. NT School Sports provides pathways for concerns to be raised and reviewed under our Sport Integrity Policy, including referral to an Independent Third Party or formal investigation when appropriate. NT School Sports
Parents Should Feel Comfortable Asking Questions
One of the most important messages in our new resource is directed to parents and guardians:
Ask questions.
- Who is responsible for my child?
- Have the adults working with students been appropriately screened?
- What is the Rule of Two?
- How should coaches communicate with my child?
- What are the expectations during travel and overnight stays?
- What happens in locker rooms and changing areas?
- How do I report something that does not feel right?
- Who can my child talk to if they have a concern?
Those are not difficult or inconvenient questions. They are important questions, and families should feel comfortable asking them.
Fair Play Starts With Me. Safe Sport Starts With All of Us.
Safe Sport is also about the culture we create together.
NT School Sports has been working to make respect, kindness, inclusion and fair play visible throughout our events. Our Fair Play Pin recognizes moments of character, including helping others, showing respect in competition, demonstrating honesty and representing a school or community with pride.
The same principle applies to Safe Sport. Students have a role. Coaches have a role. Officials, volunteers, schools and parents all have a role. We respect each other. We play fair. We speak up. We look out for one another. Because when everyone understands the safeguards, knows what questions to ask and feels comfortable speaking up, we create stronger environments for young people across the Northwest Territories.
Safe School Sport. Stronger Together.
