Tackling abuse in Canadian sports is high on the list of faculty members at the University of Toronto Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE). From conducting groundbreaking research into the prevalence of abuse among elite athletes to affecting policy changes and advocating for a culture shift in sports, KPE scholars have been at the forefront of the movement for safe sport in Canada.
Recently, Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of KPE, Professor Emeritus Bruce Kidd, U of T’s ombudsman, Professor Emeritus Peter Donnelly, sessional instructor Marcus Mazzucco, senior research associate Ellen MacPherson and doctoral student Erin Willson, president of AthletesCAN, each contributed a chapter to a book on safe sport, edited by Brock University sport management professor Julie Stevens.
The open-access, digital book is called Safe Sport: Critical Issues and Practices and launched on April 19. It provides critical insight from researchers, sport leaders and policy-makers on the possibilities and limitations of the safe sport movement in Canada.
“Understanding safe sport from the athlete’s perspective is vital as we continue working through safe sport issues in Canada,” said Willson, who worked with Georgina Truman from AthletesCAN, the independent association of Canada’s national team athletes, on a chapter identifying the many ways in which athlete advocacy has led to change in sport, especially in the recent years.
Kidd and Donnelly contributed chapters on the history of safe and inclusive sport and the changes that have taken place in sport governance.
“People have always struggled to make sports safer and more inclusive, despite resistance,” said Kidd. “The current Canadian campaign for safe sport must be understood in its historical context.”
“It’s important to be able to determine the organizational chart under which athlete abuse may occur or be prevented,” said Donnelly. “Raising questions about sport governance in a sport organization helps us determine whether it is responsible, accountable and transparent.”
Mazzucco collaborated with Hilary Findlay, retired associate professor of sport management at Brock, to contribute chapters on legal considerations and safe sport, including the concept of jurisdiction and how it relates to sport bodies adopting and implementing the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS).
MacPherson and Ian Moss, CEO of Gymnastics Canada, wrote a chapter about the progressive steps Gymnastics Canada is taking to advance safe sport, including adoption of the UCCMS and educational initiatives to promote culture change.
And, Kerr wrote about the key factors that led to the development of the UCCMS, including research evidence and athletes’ voices, and identified next steps in realizing UCCMS.
“While the UCCMS identifies prohibited conduct, it represents only a first step in the safe sport journey,” said Kerr. “The next steps include the need for independent complaint and adjudication mechanisms, and extending the notion of safe sport beyond the prevention of harms to include optimization of the sport experience.”
In addition to researchers from the University of Toronto and Brock University, contributors to the free digital book also include researchers from Ontario Tech University, as well as sport leaders from a number of organizations, including AthletesCAN, the Coaching Association of Canada, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and Gymnastics Canada. The wide-ranging content is complemented by practical case studies and textbook-style learning features.
“This ensures the content can be applied by sport leaders, policy-makers and researchers to enhance sport in Canada,” said Stevens in a press release issued by Brock University. “The book is also great for students. These future leaders must understand the multiple dimensions of creating and maintaining a safe sport system for lasting change.”
Safe Sport: Critical Issues and Practices was made possible with funding by the Government of Ontario and through eCampusOntario’s support of the Virtual Learning Strategy.