In the face of a historic crisis in hockey and youth sports in general across the country, the Canadian government recently responded with a new set of initiatives designed to promote safe sport. The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, accompanied by sport leaders and athlete representatives, recently shared the good news.
accountability framework
To start, the government is making long overdue changes to its Sports Funding and Accountability Framework to introduce new safety requirements and standards for any organization or initiative in sports that it funds. While it may seem like a bit of an oversight in their funding model, this new level of accountability should help make a significant cultural impact. After all, the Canadian Government is the single largest investor in amateur sports to the tune of $66 million annually.
athlete advisory committee
A new Sport Canada Athlete Advisory Committee, another long overdue measure, increases the representation of athletes with Sport Canada to obtain the perspective and advice of people actually involved in the system. On the surface, this measure makes sense. But consider this: do any of these athletes and coaches have a solution grounded in science? While well-intentioned, these adults participate in a status quo that enables abuse, sexism, bullying, and racism.
sport integrity commission
The third major measure, the creation of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commission (OSIC), provides an independent mechanism to challenge the culture of silence and to provide a clear and reliable way to report abuse and mistreatment. With a four million dollar annual investment in this new office alone, the goal here is to help more people experiencing abuse to speak out.
what's missing?
While every Canadian should take heart in the efforts of our government to reform sports, it seems like these efforts represent just the start. Our government must address the crisis in Canadian youth sports due to do the prevalence of abuse, racism, sexism, and bullying. Frameworks, committees, and commissioners are great, but they can't change the culture of youth sports on a day-to-day level.
3/p to the rescue
By design, the Player Performance Platform takes on the crisis in youth sports, acting as a new source of neuroscience-based principles, strategies, and interventions for both players and coaches to adopt with confidence. Unlike any other program in the world, 3/P's brain-first approach to educating athletes and coaches promises to change the culture of youth sports by offering an alternative to badly outdated attitudes and practices .
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