Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport
Claim This Podcastby SCORE Sport Think Tank
Podcast Overview
<h3>Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport is a podcast that explores safeguarding in sport — what it means, how it is understood, and how it is applied in practice.</h3><p><br></p><p>Safeguarding has become a priority across sport, shaped by increased investment, research, and high-profile failures. Yet despite this attention, safeguarding remains complex, contested, and often misunderstood.</p><br><p>This podcast takes a step back.</p><br><p>Across more than ten episodes, <strong>Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport</strong> examines safeguarding in sport one concept at a time. The series questions definitions, challenges assumptions, and explores how safeguarding frameworks, policies, and practices affect athletes, organisations, and sport systems in the real world. The podcast focuses on <strong>deeper understanding</strong> — asking what effective, ethical, and meaningful safeguarding and athlete welfare truly look like.</p><br><p><strong>This podcast is for: </strong></p><p>• People working in sport (governance, policy, welfare, coaching).</p><p>• Athletes and participants at all levels.</p><p>• Researchers, students, and practitioners.</p><p>• Anyone seeking a clearer and more critical understanding of safeguarding in sport.</p><br><p><strong>Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport</strong> is a podcast series by <strong>SCORE Sport Think Tank</strong>, an independent association based in Switzerland, bringing together sport thinkers to support the sports community in developing impactful and relevant solutions.</p><br><p><strong>Trigger warning</strong> - This podcast includes references to interpersonal violence, including personal accounts of abuse, harassment, and harm experienced by children and adults. Some listeners may find this distressing. Please take care while listening, pause or step away if needed, and consider accessing appropriate support if these topics affect you.</p><br><p><strong>Credits: </strong></p><p>• Ideation and hosting: SCORE Sport Think Tank. </p><p>• Sound, music, and post-production: Ryan Lobigs. </p><p>• Visual identity: Natalia Plaza Sánchez. </p><br><p>Any questions or comments? <a href="https://forms.gle/45x2uAUjdNcmBk4XA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Get in touch</a> </p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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Publishing Since
3/26/2026
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Recent Episodes
June 4, 2026
From Global Standards to Local Safeguarding Practice
<p>Safeguarding in sport is shaped by international standards — yet meaningful change happens at the local level.</p><br><p>In this episode, we examine how safeguarding policies and frameworks are implemented in practice, exploring why translating international standards into safe sport environments remains a significant challenge. The discussion considers how safeguarding expectations reach clubs, coaches, and communities, and why policies that appear effective on paper often struggle to influence everyday behaviour.</p><br><p>A central theme is the relationship between global frameworks and local realities. The episode explores why safeguarding measures must be adapted to cultural and social contexts rather than simply translated and transferred across settings. Using examples from Southern Europe, the conversation highlights how understandings of safety and acceptable behaviour vary across communities, requiring locally relevant approaches while maintaining international standards.</p><br><p>The discussion also examines barriers to implementation, including low levels of trust in institutions, top-down decision-making, and communication gaps between policymakers and grassroots sport. It highlights the importance of co-designing safeguarding measures with athletes, coaches, parents, and communities, and warns against “safe washing” — compliance-driven approaches where policies exist on paper but fail to influence practice.</p><br><p>This episode features Dr Stiliani “Ani” Chroni and Dr Maria Papaefstathiou, experts in safeguarding implementation, athlete welfare, child protection, and violence prevention in sport.</p><br><p>The episode was recorded in January 2026.</p><br><p>Further readings recommended by the guest in this episode:</p><p>• “IOC Consensus Statement: Interpersonal violence and safeguarding in sport" by Tuakli-Wosornu, Y. A., et al. (2024). British Journal of Sports Medicine.</p><p>• “FEPSAC position statement on safeguarding athletes in sport.Khomutova" by A., Chroni, S., Kavanagh, E., Ruffault, A., Miles, A., Moesch, K., Fontanesi, L., Nery, M., & Vertommen, T. (2025). Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 80.</p><p>• "Spoilsports: Understanding and Preventing Sexual Exploitation in Sport" by Celia H. Brackenridge (2021) Routledge.</p><p>• “The sexual abuse of boys in organized male sports” by Hartill M. (2008) Men and Masculinities, 12.</p><p>• “The Routledge handbook of athlete welfare”by Lang, M. (Ed.). (2020) London: Routledge.</p><p>• “Why I didn’t say anything: The Sheldon Kennedy story.Kennedy" by S., & Grainger, J. (2006). Toronto, ON: Insomniac Press.</p><p>• “Safeguarding childhood: Early intervention and surveillance in a late modern society”by Parton, N. (2005). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan (now Red Globe Press).</p><p>____</p><br><p><strong>Trigger warning</strong> - This podcast includes references to interpersonal violence, including personal accounts of abuse, harassment, and harm experienced by children and adults. Some listeners may find this distressing. Please take care while listening, pause or step away if needed, and consider accessing appropriate support if these topics affect you.</p><br><p><strong>Credits</strong></p><ul><li>Ideation and hosting: SCORE Sport Think Tank</li><li>Sound, music, and post-production: Ryan Lobigs</li><li>Visual identity: Natalia Plaza Sánchez</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Any questions or comments? <a href="https://forms.gle/45x2uAUjdNcmBk4XA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Get in touch</strong></a><strong> and follow us on </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/score-sport-think-tank/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>LinkedIn</strong></a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
March 28, 2026
Power, Dependency, and Harm in Elite Sport
<p>Safeguarding failures in elite sport are rarely accidental — they are produced by systems built on power, reward, and dependency.</p><br><p>In this episode, we examine the specific safeguarding risks faced by elite athletes, exploring how pursuit of excellence, early specialisation, and hierarchical coach–athlete relationships can create conditions in which abuse is enabled and normalised. The discussion considers how vulnerability begins long before elite success, often from childhood, as athletes enter reward-based systems that demand compliance in exchange for opportunity.</p><br><p>A central focus is the normalisation of harm within elite environments. The episode explores how emotional, psychological, sexual, and digital violence can become embedded in sporting cultures, leading athletes to tolerate abuse as part of performance. Parallels are drawn with coercive control and domestic violence, highlighting how fear of exclusion and loss of identity can trap athletes within harmful systems.</p><br><p>The conversation also examines how digital platforms facilitate grooming and abuse beyond institutional oversight, and why current safeguarding education frequently fails to reflect the lived realities of elite athletes. Instead, it argues for safeguarding approaches that prioritise agency, credible reporting pathways, and human-centred roles embedded within sport systems.</p><br><p>This episode features Katherine Starr, two-time Olympian and legal theorist, whose work bridges lived experience and legal analysis to expose systemic abuse and redefine athlete protection.</p><br><p>This episode was recorded in August 2025.</p><br><p>Further readings recommended by the guest in this episode:</p><p>• "Rescue Me". Katherine Starr (2022)</p><p>• "Spoilsports: Understanding and Preventing Sexual Exploitation in Sport" by Celia H. Brackenridge. Routledge (2001).</p><p>____</p><br><p><strong>Trigger warning</strong> - This podcast includes references to interpersonal violence, including personal accounts of abuse, harassment, and harm experienced by children and adults. Some listeners may find this distressing. Please take care while listening, pause or step away if needed, and consider accessing appropriate support if these topics affect you.</p><br><p><strong>Credits</strong></p><ul><li>Ideation and hosting: SCORE Sport Think Tank</li><li>Sound, music, and post-production: Ryan Lobigs</li><li>Visual identity: Natalia Plaza Sánchez</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Any questions or comments? <a href="https://forms.gle/45x2uAUjdNcmBk4XA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Get in touch</strong></a><strong> and follow us on </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/score-sport-think-tank/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>LinkedIn</strong></a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
March 28, 2026
Online Abuse and Safeguarding in Sport
<p>Safeguarding in sport increasingly extends beyond physical spaces — yet online abuse remains poorly regulated and inconsistently addressed.</p><br><p>In this episode, we examine online abuse as a form of interpersonal violence in sport, exploring how digital environments have become inseparable from athletes’ professional, social, and psychological lives. The discussion unpacks what constitutes online abuse, from harassment and hate speech to doxing, public shaming, and technology-facilitated violence, and how these behaviours can result in real-world harm.</p><br><p>A central focus is the false divide between “online” and “offline” harm. The episode explores how constant exposure to hostile digital content affects athlete welfare, performance, mental health, and physical safety, and why the normalisation of abuse within sporting cultures poses long-term risks. It also examines gaps in existing legal and regulatory frameworks, highlighting the absence of a coherent international approach and the tension between safeguarding obligations and freedom of expression.</p><br><p>The conversation considers current responses — including reactive moderation tools and major event-based interventions — and questions whether these measures address root causes. Instead, it argues for proactive safeguarding strategies that explicitly include digital spaces within prevention, reporting, and accountability systems.</p><br><p>This episode features Emma Kavanagh, sport psychologist and researcher specialising in interpersonal violence and online abuse in sport, and Kim Barker, legal scholar and expert on online violence and digital regulation.</p><br><p>The episode was recorded in August 2025.</p><br><p>Further readings recommended by the guest in this episode: </p><p>• Sinclair, G., & Lynn, T., (eds) The Game Beyond the Screen: A Primer on Online Abuse in Sports. (Springer, 2026).</p><p>____</p><br><p><strong>Trigger warning</strong> - This podcast includes references to interpersonal violence, including personal accounts of abuse, harassment, and harm experienced by children and adults. Some listeners may find this distressing. Please take care while listening, pause or step away if needed, and consider accessing appropriate support if these topics affect you.</p><br><p><strong>Credits</strong></p><ul><li>Ideation and hosting: SCORE Sport Think Tank</li><li>Sound, music, and post-production: Ryan Lobigs</li><li>Visual identity: Natalia Plaza Sánchez</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Any questions or comments? <a href="https://forms.gle/45x2uAUjdNcmBk4XA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Get in touch</strong></a><strong> and follow us on </strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/score-sport-think-tank/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>LinkedIn</strong></a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
11 total episodes available
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- What is Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport?
<h3>Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport is a podcast that explores safeguarding in sport — what it means, how it is understood, and how it is applied in practice.</h3><p><br></p><p>Safeguarding has become a priority across sport, shaped by increased investment, research, and high-profile failures. Yet despite this attention, safeguarding remains complex, contested, and often misunderstood.</p><br><p>This podcast takes a step back.</p><br><p>Across more than ten episodes, <strong>Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport</strong> examines safeguarding in sport one concept at a time. The series questions definitions, challenges assumptions, and explores how safeguarding frameworks, policies, and practices affect athletes, organisations, and sport systems in the real world. The podcast focuses on <strong>deeper understanding</strong> — asking what effective, ethical, and meaningful safeguarding and athlete welfare truly look like.</p><br><p><strong>This podcast is for: </strong></p><p>• People working in sport (governance, policy, welfare, coaching).</p><p>• Athletes and participants at all levels.</p><p>• Researchers, students, and practitioners.</p><p>• Anyone seeking a clearer and more critical understanding of safeguarding in sport.</p><br><p><strong>Deconstructing Safeguarding in Sport</strong> is a podcast series by <strong>SCORE Sport Think Tank</strong>, an independent association based in Switzerland, bringing together sport thinkers to support the sports community in developing impactful and relevant solutions.</p><br><p><strong>Trigger warning</strong> - This podcast includes references to interpersonal violence, including personal accounts of abuse, harassment, and harm experienced by children and adults. Some listeners may find this distressing. Please take care while listening, pause or step away if needed, and consider accessing appropriate support if these topics affect you.</p><br><p><strong>Credits: </strong></p><p>• Ideation and hosting: SCORE Sport Think Tank. </p><p>• Sound, music, and post-production: Ryan Lobigs. </p><p>• Visual identity: Natalia Plaza Sánchez. </p><br><p>Any questions or comments? <a href="https://forms.gle/45x2uAUjdNcmBk4XA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Get in touch</a> </p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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