International Alliance for Youth Sports releases Child Protection Recommendations

The Recommendations provide a blueprint for organizations involved in youth sports programming to assist with the planning and implementation of a practical child abuse prevention policy.

The publication features detailed information on many important aspects of creating and implementing a child protection policy.

“We all have a responsibility to provide every bit of security we can to ensure a safe and healthy environment for the children who participate in our programs,” said Fred Engh, founder and president of the IAYS.

“These Recommendations will help guide organizations in making prudent decisions to help safeguard their young participants from the many ugly forms of abuse that can destroy a youngster’s life.”

The Child Protection Recommendations were developed by the IAYS and its regional representatives around the world. Among those providing valuable input were Mark Mungal, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Alliance for Sport and Physical Education; Clement Chileshe, president of Sport in Action in Zambia and Arturo Sanchez Alvarez, who operates a sports development center in Mexico and is the IAYS Latin America Regional Representative.

The Recommendations provide information on developing an organization’s policies on child abuse prevention, as well as the steps involved in the screening of staff and volunteers, training and supervising them and conducting evaluations. There is also information on the international rights of children and the benefits of sports participation for youngsters. Sample Codes of Ethics for coaches, parents, officials, administrators and participants are provided, as well.

The types of abuse that can be found in youth sports programming, which are covered in the Recommendations, include physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse.

Every step an organization takes to safeguard participants from these various forms of abuse adds another layer of protection around the program. So the more an organization does to protect itself and its participants, the stronger that shield becomes and the less likely an incident will occur.

The IAYS is driven by the belief that sports have great value in the physical, social and moral development of children and it is focused on convincing all child-minded organizations throughout the world that sports play a major role in the overall development of children.