In an effort to protect the children in the sport from harm, thereby taking care of its most valuable commodity, the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) has adopted a policy of ensuring that all of its club-level coaches are certified in safeguarding.
To be selected as national team coaches, it is now mandatory for local coaches in athletics to undergo the safeguarding training course on World Athletics website. The 90-minute course is open to all and it is a basic awareness training course explaining why safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
World Athletics has developed the course, primarily for the protection of young athletes involved in Kids Athletics worldwide. Here in The Bahamas, the Kids Athletics program is one of the largest activity based outlets for young children. BAAA President Drumeco Archer said it's imperative that the federation does its part in the protection of those young children, including the creation of a code of conduct.
"As a federation that attracts perhaps the largest number of children from a cross section of society, kids from at-risk communities, the BAAA is the first member federation to adopt a mandatory child safeguarding set of protocols to ensure, as foreseeable as it can, to protect children," said Archer. "World Athletics has made this one of its mandates - to promote child safeguarding policies - and we in the federation support it wholeheartedly. The federation has always historically provided a safe space for young kids who aspire to be great athletes, and this initiative serves to further create awareness within the track and field community.
"Safeguarding touches and concerns all of us, as children everywhere in the world are exposed to adverse environments. This extends beyond the protection of child abuse but also addresses the issues of bullying, inappropriate physical contact, suggestive language, extending special gifts to athletes in isolation and segregating athletes away from their peers in private environments. Safeguarding is about creating safe environments for everyone to be able to compete, train and enjoy athletics, so as to develop, flourish and grow both as athletes and individuals."
The 90-minute course is open to all and can be found on World Athletics website. Here in The Bahamas, Archer said it will be mandatory for all club coaches in order to be considered for national team travel and duty. He's also encouraging parents to take the course, along with children, so that they could become aware of what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. The course is free of charge, and there will be a certificate presented upon completion.
"This is absolutely one of many requirements that qualifies one to be a coach on national team travel, more specifically for junior national teams," said Archer. "This is a mandate that comes from World Athletics. It will be required of the coaching staff of all clubs. They must complete this certification by end of October so that reporting could be handed to NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association) and World Athletics. This is one of several initiatives that the federation intends to undertake as it relates to the protection of our kids. We also intend to work more closely with the Department of Social Services as well as the police force and guidance counselors. They are all a part of the network to ensure that we do all that we can to protect our young impressionable athletes."
Archer said the BAAA intends to conduct background checks to ensure that coaches and clubs are up to speed on safeguarding certification.
"This is important so that parents, and their children, could become more aware of the environment that is out there and to know and of the recourse that is available to them," said Archer. "We will create an independent integrity unit where athletes, parents and coaches are able to report via email, and in person, incidents that might give cause for legal action. It is a matter that we are taking very seriously and one that is indeed necessary for the protection of our children."
World Athletics has stated that each of its member federations should be aware of the World Athletics Safeguarding Policy, which is to protect children from abuse, harassment and exploitation, in a proactive manner. It states that everyone should be able to recognize concerning, problematic or inappropriate behavior so as to report it, meaning that boundaries will be maintained rather than eroded. World Athletics also states that training is a key aspect of safeguarding, and that everyone involved should understand what safeguarding is about, is able to recognize abuse and knows how to report concerns and who to report them to.
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