SAFE SPORT POLICY

Our franchise owners/ operators have a duty of care in carrying out their leagues, tournaments and sports programs

Club owners/ operators are to do whatever is possible and reasonable within their control to protect the welfare of young people and ensure they are not exposed to risk in any aspect of sports delivery including but not limited to:

• allocate resources for developing, promoting and implementing sport safety initiatives (i.e. replacement of club safety equipment, injury prevention/first aid training for club personnel)
• appoint a sport safety coordinator position during play in leagues, tournaments and sport programs
• ensure that sport safety is a regular agenda item franchisee staff/ volunteer meetings
• ensure that there is adequate public liability and player insurance in place prior to play
• encourage senior athletes, coaches, officials and parents to be sport safety role models and to be aware of their roles and responsibilities in everyone’s safety
• promote sport safe strategies through the website, posters, newsletters, brochures and over the public address system at competition
• encourage players and officials to wear suitable clothing and footwear at all times
• include warm up, stretching and cool down activities for all training and game competitions
• maintain playing surface areas and check before any training or competition for obstructions or potential dangers
• ensure all sporting equipment is well maintained and in good working order
• consider the reasons for and appropriateness of any rules that prevent the implementation of sport safety strategies
• owner/ operators are to reference the Safe Sport Checklist and Sport Operation Standards documents prior to delivering their leagues, tournament and sports programs

FACILITY & EQUIPMENT

Risk management procedures must be used to identify and control any risk of injury or illness related to the playing environment.  Facilities, sporting equipment and protective equipment should meet the standard requirements for safety of the particular sport.

The dimensions of playing areas and equipment must be suitable for the participants’ size and physical ability so that young people:

• experience fun and feel safe when they play
• are less likely to be injured

Protective equipment is also important in injury prevention. Items such as protective eyewear, helmets, pads and mouth guards should be worn when necessary and properly fitted, worn at all times and regularly maintained

FLUIDS & HYDRATION

Fluid balance is important at any time but needs more attention in some weather conditions. Young people do not instinctively drink enough to replace fluid lost during activity.

Young people must be reminded to drink before, during and after training and competition.

TRAINING & COMPETITION

Over-training and over-competing can result in serious outcomes such as injury, illness, negative psychological effects and burnout. 

Prevention requires planning a training schedule that controls the amount of stress placed on the young person by:

• gradually increasing training loads
• planning adequate recovery and variety
• carefully monitoring the effect of training
• reducing workloads when warning signs emerge

Young people must be carefully monitored because in comparison to adults, they do not have:

• good sensitivity to warning signs and symptoms (e.g. fatigue, muscle soreness, headaches, mood changes)
• the opportunity or skills to interact with the people who could alter their training and recovery program (e.g. coaches, sports science and medicine specialists)

Monitoring to prevent negative outcomes requires an individual approach.  In general, the younger and less experienced the young person:

• the less intense, less frequent and shorter the duration of training/practice and competition
• the more rest time is required within and between sessions

Another issue affecting young people when training and competing include returning to sport after absences (e.g. injury, illness or extended holiday)

Strategies for Training and Competition

Club owners/ operators or their representatives should prepare young people for our sports through quality, safe training methods with a focus on fun and enjoyment.  To do this, they should

• educate volunteers, staff, coaches, players on safe training and competition practices
• set guidelines for workloads for training or competition in accordance with the principles of long term athlete development (i.e. age appropriate, progression in development) as well as limiting overloads, use variations in drills or break training into groups/ stations, acknowledge individual differences, adjust play and team lines makeup to level of competition
• ensure their volunteers, coaches, officials or conveners monitor for early warning signs of body stress and when a case arises, investigate cause and make changes until resolved
• make available and encourage the use of simple tools to prevent negative outcomes (e.g. athlete training logs, charts to plan training schedules, feedback mechanisms for athletes to tell coaches how they’re coping)
• formally discourage unsafe practices (i.e. training camps with significantly increased workloads, lack of warm up and cool down regimes)

INFECTIOUS ILLNESS

The risk of contracting illness such as hepatitis, skin infections and upper respiratory tract infections or harmful viruses (Coronavirus) increases under some sports conditions.

The risk of infection increases when young people:

• live and train in close contact with others increasing cross-infection
• train in environments where germs breed (e.g. change rooms)
• share contaminated items (e.g. drink bottles)
• are exposed to new environments when travelling to compete
• damage the skin allowing transfer of germs
• come in contact with other people’s blood

Strategies for Infectious Diseases

Club owner/ operators or their representatives should prepare volunteers, coaches, officials and players to learn more about and properly conduct themselves in dealing with infectious diseases such as:

• reduce risk of infection by warning young people not to share personal items (e.g. drink bottles, towels)
• educating them on how to properly deal with incidents involving blood
• provide them with update information on practices related to any infectious diseases they may encounter or be aware of that exists in their community, leagues, tournaments of sports programs
• familiarize themselves with good practices and protocol implementation that would mitigate any risks from infectious disease

MEDICAL CONDITIONS
Some young people have chronic medical conditions which affect their participation in sport. Particular care needs to be taken in the case of long-term conditions such as:

• Asthma
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy
• Heart or lung disease
• Hepatitis
• HIV
• Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Owners/ operators and their representatives must be aware of each child’s specific needs and know how to prevent and deal with problems.  

Parents/guardians should complete a Medical History Form dealing with any special needs and implications for sports participation.

Owners/ operators and/or their representatives who are on site should have current first aid qualifications and be provide updated information on practices related to medical conditions such as asthma and ADHD.

EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

Planning what to do when an emergency occurs is an essential part of risk management. Owners/ operators and their representatives must be conversant with procedures and able to deal with emergencies so young people are well cared for.

Owners/ operators representatives should have current first aid qualifications and seek a medical opinion when:

• the health of a participant is questionable
• recovery from illness/injury is uncertain
• a participant is injured during training/ competition

When medical advice cannot be obtained, the owner/ operator and their representative should not allow the young person to participate.

A first aid kit must be available at training and competition venues. Rescue equipment should also be accessible within a gym facility.

Emergencies should be formally reported, documented and discussed.  If needed or determined, changes should be made to procedures from shortcomings in the processes or lack of training on the franchisee or their representative.

Strategies for Dealing with Emergencies

To be most effective and efficient in dealing with emergency situations, franchisee and their representatives should have

• records available with details on how to contact parents/guardians of young people
• written procedures for medical emergencies, in particular a procedure that would:
  • assign an on site Safety Person (preferably someone with knowledge of first aid or first response training (i.e. parent, coach that is nurse, paramedic, fire fighter etc.)
  • define a clear process of communicating to the owner/ operator representative that professional medical assistance is needed (i.e. hand gesture such as the Safety Person tapping on their head to instruct the owner/ operator of their representative to call 911)
  • ensure the owner/ operator and their representative know the actual civic address of the gym facility and can clearly instruct 911 on how to arrive at the closest entrance to the gym facility
  • provide the 911 operator a phone number of the person at the entrance who will be waiting for professional medical emergency personnel to arrive
• first aid training
• first aid kit and rescue equipment suitable for the sport
• forms to capture emergency details (and mobile software to capture photos if necessary)

Best practice by owner/ operators and their representatives means minimizing risk to young people. This requires ongoing education and training for staff, coaches and officials who work with young people, monitoring risk management procedures, be aware of regional or provincial emergency providers and any training they offer, using the tools, resources and policy/ standards guidelines provided by Premier Sports Leagues, continuously being aware of potential safety hazards/ conditions  and being vigilant in their quest to provide a safe environment of play by monitoring existing practices and improving procedures to reduce harmful risks.

The goal is to make everyone involved within our leagues, tournaments and sports programs ‘safety conscious’.