‘Where’ Are the Children in Safeguarding Policies of Sport? An Analysis of National and International Discourses in Policy Documentation

Abstract

Within sport governance, there is increasing recognition of the significance of policy in protecting athlete welfare. However, there has been a distinct lack of research evaluating the messages conveyed in policy text. This research evaluated safeguarding policies of sport governing bodies nationally and internationally to understand how the concept of ‘safeguarding’ and child protection are constructed, the location of ‘children’ in text and the implications this has for practice. The study analysed safeguarding policies of Sports Receiving Funding from Sport England—National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and Global equivalents of these organisations—International/Global/World Governing Bodies. The study analysed data using Foucauldian discourse analysis to evaluate meanings conveyed through language as constitutive. Findings demonstrated World Governing Bodies attended to elite athlete equality with NGBs focusing on shared responsibilities of all involved in child sport environments. This is considered from perspectives of legal requirement and moral imperative. ‘Children’ in policy were identified as a group to be represented by adults with limited attention to their own agency. A shift towards acknowledgement of children's rights with good practice requires attention to holistic development of the child. Policy included accessible reporting mechanisms although lacked guidance on managing power relations in reporting processes.