The Philippine Sports Commission will be hosting a Safe Sport Workshop for National Sports Associations on April 19 and 20, 2024.
This is an initiative of Commissioner Olivia “Bong” Coo, PSC’s oversight for coaches and athletes welfare.
The workshop aims to support the IOC’s mission: “to place athletes at the heart of the Olympic Movement, wherein the IOC has been committed to developing programmes and initiatives to ensure that every athlete can train and compete in a safe sporting environment – one that is fair, equitable and free from all forms of harassment and abuse (Safe Sport, n.d.)[1].”
Invites have been sent out to all the National Sports Associations, including the sports under the Philippine Paralympic Committee, to send a member of their board of trustees or official, a coach, and an athlete to participate in the Safe Sport Workshop. About 40 NSAs have registered to date.
This project would provide guidance to NSAs to start their journey in developing their safeguarding system. Through PSC’s collaboration with the NSAs, risks to safety and potential harm and abuse will be reduced, and responding to concerns will be more effective and efficient, for the benefit of the Philippine sports communities.
“It’s about time we took the training and education to another level,” said Coo, “after all, safeguarding is everyone’s business. The PSC recognised and identified the urgent need to educate the sports community on safeguarding and hopefully jumpstart the policy making for each NSA that attends.”
The workshop aims for all the participating NSAs to be aware of and appreciate the importance of the establishment of a safeguarding system within their respective organization, and commit to developing their corresponding safeguarding system within their sport.