Canada Soccer has launched an awareness campaign in support of its ongoing updates to ensure safe sport for all who play the game. The campaign highlights the updated requirements of membership that all soccer clubs in Canada will be required to achieve ahead of the start of the 2023 playing season. The campaign promotes the requirements of the Quality Soccer Provider level of Canada Soccer’s Club Licensing Program, which ensures elements of its Safe Sport Roster implemented in 2019.
“We’re pleased to introduce this new campaign in support of the safe sport initiatives that are embedded within our Club Licensing Program,” said Earl Cochrane, Canada Soccer General Secretary. “These efforts are a part of changes to ensure that all who participate are provided an experience that prioritizes safety and fun.”
As part of the campaign, Canada Soccer is introducing a limited time discount on all online Grassroots Coaching Courses, which will be reduced from $20 (Active Start, Fundamentals) and $30 (Learn to Train, Soccer for Life) to $15 per course. The discount will be in effect until 1 July 2023.
In addition, Canada Soccer is pleased to formally announce the “Modified” Safe Sport Roster. In recognizing that the risk associated with all coaching environments are not equal and in consultation with the Provincial and Territorial Member Associations, the Modified Safe Sport Roster specifically targets coaches in low-risk environments and provides reduced expectations based on the coaching environment. This ensures that all coaches can achieve the minimum standard of training and education and that all players have a safe environment in which to participate, regardless of age, stage, or level.
For the specific requirements and 2023 minimum coach education standards guided by the Safe Sport Roster and Modified Safe Sport Roster.
The campaign features a 60-second public service announcement detailing the updated requirements of membership. The Standards for Quality Soccer that all soccer clubs must meet ahead of 2023 underpin the Quality Soccer Provider level of the Youth Club Licensing Program. As a progressive standards-based program, each club that receives a club licence from Canada Soccer will meet the requirements of each successive level of the program. Thus, all sanctioned clubs in the country will be Quality Soccer Providers moving forward.
Canada Soccer’s standards for Quality Soccer were designed to ensure youth development environments are safe, fun, accessible, inclusive, welcoming, and developmentally appropriate. The Standards for Quality Soccer form the base of the progressive Canada Soccer Club Licensing Program and will become mandatory. These changes support Canada Soccer’s Safe Sport Roster introduced in 2019, a program designed to set up stage-specific coach education with the relevant level a person is coaching.
“What we have seen since the Safe Sport Roster was unanimously adopted by all members in 2019 is a collaborative effort, in spite of the challenges of a global pandemic, to move forward with planned changes to follow the recommendations of experts such as Sheldon Kennedy to address gaps in our safe sport policies,” said Jason deVos, Director of Development at Canada Soccer. “By enshrining coach registration, education, and the best principles of Respect in Sport training in the operations of clubs across the country, soccer will continue to prioritize providing a safe, secure, and fun experience for all its participants.”
