Feeling Safe in sport: Young high-performance Athletes perspectives on safe sport
Authors: Gennings, E., Kavanagh, E., Love, R.
Publication Date: 25/06/2026
Publisher: SideProject
Abstract:Safe sport has become a major priority across sport policy, research, and practice. Yet recent scholarship has highlighted important limitations in the field[1]. Much of the existing evidence is shaped by adult perspectives, has lacked conceptual clarity, and has included limited exploration of solution-focused approaches to understanding and evaluating safe sport. This project directly responds these challenges by foregrounding youth (athlete) voice in the safe sport discourse.
The project explored athlete’s lived experience of feeling safe in sport and how safe sporting environments can be fostered and maintained. A total of 160 participants contributed to the study, including 103 young athletes and 57 trusted adults (e.g., coaches, welfare officers, parents, and support staff). Athletes were UK-based, aged 15–18, and competing at national or international level, or progressing along those pathways.
This study breaks new ground in the safe sport field as the first concept mapping study conducted in safe sport research and the first to adopt a Community of Philosophical Enquiry (CoPE) approach. CoPE is a participant-centred methodology that enables young people to shape and direct the research process[2]. Rather than imposing predefined definitions of safe sport, participants were given space to share their views on the topic. As a result, they constructed a model of safe sport grounded in youth athlete lived experience.
This report outlines the seven-dimensional model of safe sport for youth athletes. The model highlights the importance of, (1) Supportive and trustworthy coaching, (2) Physical readiness and resources, (3) Athlete agency, (4) Belonging and social support, (5) Peer support, (6) Psychological factors and (7) Safeguarding structures and processes. Together, these dimensions demonstrate that safe sport is far more than the prevention of harm. Young athletes described safe sport as an experience shaped by relationships, agency, and protection. The project also identified three priority areas for action to strengthen and sustain safe sport environments for young athletes.
By placing young athletes at the centre of safe sport discourse, this study advances understanding of what safe sport means to those who experience it most directly. The findings provide a rights-based and evidence-informed framework for organisations seeking to design policies, interventions, and environments that are not only safer, but genuinely shaped by the voices of young people.
https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/42176/
Source: Manual