 Coaches’ roles and needs around safeguarding sportJoseph Gurgis, Gretchen Kerr and Ashley Stirling Chapter 24 in Handbook of Sport Coaching Research, 2026, pp 285-297 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: Scholars and practitioners of sport and coaching have increasingly recognized the essential role of coaches in safeguarding athletes from maltreatment, prompting coaching organizations globally to establish frameworks and standards that prioritize ethical conduct, relationship-building, and safe sport. Despite the call for coaches to be leaders of safe sport, an unintended consequence of coaches’ responsibility for safeguarding athletes has been increased public anxiety about false accusations of maltreatment, leading some coaches to distance themselves from athletes. Consequently, coaches may become apprehensive about providing guidance, struggling to discern whether their instructional practices violate safe sport guidelines. In this chapter, we explore the reasons why coaches must prioritize athlete safeguarding, while also necessitating protection themselves. Drawing from Bronfenbrenner's bioecological systems theory, this chapter offers recommendations for implementing interventions across the ecosystems of sport to better safeguard coaches. It concludes by proposing future research directions to advance the understanding and practice of coach safeguarding. Keywords: Coaching; Maltreatment; Safe sport (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23697_24 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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