The Coaches’ Perspective on their Roles and Duties in the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Elite Sports

Introduction & Objectives
This presentation reconstructs the coaches’ perspective on their roles and
duties in the prevention of violence in sport and evaluates their self-perception
in this process. It can be assumed that the perceptions of coaches on this topic
oscillate between assuming responsibility for the protection of athletes’

wellbeing and the simultaneous pressure to focus on performance in sport.

Methods
A total of 17 interviews with coaches from different sports in high performing

settings were conducted and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis.

Findings
The coaches reconstruct a number of duties with regard to safeguarding on an
institutional and personal level. They follow rules imposed by sport
organisations and try to protect themselves against false allegations. They also
refer to the high pressure of the elite sport system in producing successes

while their own position depends on success.

Discussion
The coaches' statements emphasise that they are at times unable to meet the
expectations of their role in terms of athlete protection as their main task is
performance enhancement. From their perspective, an important aspect is
education and awareness raising in order to enable coaches to act in line with

society's expectations of them.

Conclusion
It can be concluded that the education of coaches needs to improve to enhance
the knowledge and confidence of coaches for safeguarding practices in sport.
But more importantly, the values in the elite sport system need to change and
focus, next to performance, on athletes’ wellbeing.