The SafeSport Summer Playbook:
Your Guide to Promoting Wellness & Safety in Youth Sports & Activities
In the coming weeks, millions of children across the country will be getting ready to head into summer programming. Whether you’re a coach, activity leader, parent, volunteer, or adult who regularly interacts with youth partaking in extracurricular activities, now is the ideal time to take a moment to familiarize yourself with SafeSport’s educational resources so you can be aware of how to prevent and address abuse.
Your Playbook for Promoting Safety
Swim team, summer soccer leagues, and rec center activities. Kids of all ages are getting ready for an exciting summer season full of exploration, education, and experimentation with a new sport, activity, or skill.
Adults leading these seasonal programs have many responsibilities. But perhaps the most important—and sometimes overlooked—is the responsibility to keep children and teens safe.
Understanding the actions you can take to help protect youth participants from abuse and misconduct takes an extra amount of preparedness. SafeSport’s summer safety playbook and free resources can help bring you up to speed on what you need to know to be ready to recognize, prevent, and respond to abuse in your program or your child’s activity.
For Coaches & Activity Leaders
Spotting misconduct or identifying abuse are skills every coach should practice. Below, we’ve compiled helpful resources to support summer league coaches, camp counselors, and activity leaders:
- Before a summer program begins, organizations often provide parents and guardians with their program’s policies to keep participants safe. Go a step further and stay aware of the latest abuse prevention guidelines—check out SafeSport’s Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies, which are designed to put youth safety at the center of every activity.
- Camp counselor or sports league coach, you can learn strategies for preventing abuse. Our Emotional and Physical Abuse and Misconduct Toolkit helps you understand the shape abuse can take in and around sport and other activities.
- Do you know what bullying is and how to respond? Learn what you can do with our Bullying Prevention Handbook for Coaches of Minor Athletes.
- Throughout the season, take breaks to expand your knowledge and learn best practices in abuse prevention education. Consider taking a free SafeSport course or getting both yourself and your fellow colleagues SafeSport® Trained.
- Set your athletes and campers up for success. Learn how to create a positive environment this summer so participants can thrive.
For Parents & Guardians
Asking your child’s organization about their prevention policies or paying attention during practice for signs of harm are two ways you can help prevent abuse. Having the right tools at your fingertips can make all the difference. Use the following information as guidance before sending your kids off to summer camp or summer sports practice:
- Did you know that physical misconduct can come in the form of denying water breaks? Check in with your child or teen to find out if they’re receiving ample water breaks throughout the day to rest, recharge, and feel physically safe.
- Kids often form close relationships with their summer camp counselor or coach. Learning the signs of grooming can help parents understand when a relationship may be crossing the boundary of what’s appropriate.
- Partaking in a summer program means your child will form relationships with new coaches and adults. Run a search of the adults who interact with your kids by checking SafeSport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database, which lists individuals who have been restricted or banned from participation in Olympic and Paralympic sport.
- If your child is gearing up for their first sleepaway camp, be sure to ask these eight questions before dropping them off.
- For the ultimate playbook on how to keep your child safe in every activity, download SafeSport’s Parent and Guardian’s Handbook for Safer Sport.
SafeSport Ready™:
An App to Support You
This summer, while you’re preparing for the start of camp or practice, take a moment to download SafeSport Ready™, a free mobile app that allows you to access abuse prevention resources—like those listed above—wherever you are.
Download the app today and have helpful resources at your fingertips. Whether you’re a coach needing to address hazing or a parent worried that your child’s camp environment may be unsafe, open the app and explore solutions to help guide your next steps.
