Managing Safeguarding in Sport

About the course

This course equips those responsible for safeguarding in sporting organisations with the practical knowledge, tools, and confidence to build, implement, and sustain effective safeguarding systems.

Grounded in the International Safeguards for Children in Sport and drawing on frameworks used across South Africa, Africa, and internationally, the course moves beyond theory into practice. Participants will audit their own organisation's safeguarding maturity, build a real implementation plan, conduct an event risk assessment, and design communication, training, and resource mobilisation strategies — producing a set of practical tools they can put to immediate use.

Delivered through online learning materials (videos and readings), weekly synchronous sessions, and blended in-person elements, the course combines structured content with facilitated discussion and peer learning.

This course is designed for:

• Safeguarding leads (persons in organisations tasked with leading implementation of Safeguarding).
• Safeguarding officers;
• Coaches and team officials with child protection responsibilities;
• Volunteers and programme staff working directly with children and vulnerable adults in sport.

No prior safeguarding qualification is required. Participants should ideally be currently affiliated with, or closely involved in, a sporting organisation, as each module builds directly on real organisational practice.

Course content

The course is structured across six modules, each building on the last:

1. Understanding Safeguarding in Sport - safeguarding principles, forms of abuse and harm, and their impact on individuals, teams, and the wider sporting environment.
2. Creating a Safe Environment in Sport - the safeguarding landscape in South Africa, Africa, and beyond, and a structured audit of your own organisation's safeguarding practices against the International Safeguards.
3. Developing a Safeguarding Implementation Plan - translating audit findings into a prioritised, SMART-objective action plan with clear responsibilities and timelines.
4. Managing Safeguarding Concerns - the roles of safeguarding officers and leads, organisational policy and procedure, and how to conduct a safeguarding risk assessment for a real event.
5. Operationalising Safeguarding and Sustaining a Culture of Safeguarding - embedding safeguarding into everyday systems, safe recruitment, and building a communications and training plan.
6. Mobilising Resources and Building Support - stakeholder engagement, partnerships, and low-cost strategies to sustain safeguarding initiatives.

Each module includes short video lectures, curated readings, a quiz, and a weekly synchronous session for facilitated discussion and peer exchange.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Define key safeguarding concepts and identify different forms of abuse and harm in sport, and explain their impact.
2. Conduct a structured safeguarding audit of a sporting organisation using the International Safeguards for Children in Sport.
3. Develop a practical, prioritised safeguarding implementation plan with SMART objectives, timelines, and assigned responsibilities.
4. Describe the responsibilities of safeguarding officers and leads, and conduct a safeguarding risk assessment for a sporting event.
5. Design strategies to embed safeguarding into organisational culture, including communication and training plans.
6. Develop a resource mobilisation and partnership-building plan to sustain safeguarding initiatives.

Registration

Register online with the course provider who will provide you with the enrolment details.

More Information

Read more: Managing Safeguarding in Sport
Email: safesport@uct.ac.za
Phone: +27 (0)21 650 1712

 

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