Responsible Coaching Movement

Skate Canada - Saskatchewan has taken the pledge and is now a proud Champion of Responsible Coaching Movement.  By making this pledge, our sport organization is committing to implement supportive polcies and processes that adhere to the Responsible Coaching Movement (RCM) to ensure the saftely and protection of our athletes and coaches, and to provide our coaches with the tools and training necessary to model ethical behaviour.

The Responsible Coaching Movement (RCM) is a multi-phase system-wide movement, coordinated by the Coaching Association of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport that has the potential to affect all sport organizations and coaches. The first Phase of the RCM focuses on three key areas:

• Rule of Two

The Rule of Two serves to protect minor athletes in potentially vulnerable situations by ensuring that more than one adult is present. Vulnerable situations can include closed doors meetings, travel, and training environments.

• Background Screening

Background screening involves using a number of different tools to ensure coaches meet the necessary security requirements to coach athletes. These tools include comprehensive job postings, criminal record checks, interviews, and reference checks.

• Respect and Ethics Training

Increasing coaches’ ethical conduct and behaviour toward athletes requires that coaches be trained to understand what it means to act ethically. This training would include the NCCP Make Ethical Decisions module within the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP), as well as training in abuse and harassment prevention, such as Respect in Sport, before and during their coaching career.

Over the next three years, with the support of the Coaching Association of Canada, Skate Canada - Saskatchewan will be reviewing its current policies and procedures to ensure they align with the recommendations and guidelines of the RCM. Working closely with our coaches and clubs, we will identify realistic ways and means to promote the Responsible Coaching Movement across our sport to enhance the safety of our athletes and ethical conduct of our coaches.