Circles of Safety Online Training Platform | The Fundamentals of Prevention in Youth Sports

Thank you for taking the first step of child sexual abuse prevention in youth sports by looking into this issue and learning more about how you can keep youth safe in your sports community. The topic of child sexual abuse, even in the context of prevention, still may be uncomfortable for many people — and this is no different in the area of youth sports.

Stop It Now!’s Circles of Safety: Fundamentals of Prevention in Youth Sports curriculum guides adults working in youth sports through the primary concepts of child sexual abuse prevention within athletic environments. By the end of our course, you will:

  • Gain the foundational information of our main Circles of Safety Training Courses within the context of youth sports, offering specific advice to scenarios related to that environment.
  • Learn sexual abuse prevention planning strategies and skills that enable youth sports safety.
  • Recognize the differences between concerning adults’ behaviors versus children’s behaviors.
  • Feel empowered to confidently respond after identifying concerning behavior to keep kids in your family and community safe.
  • Take action to prevent child sexual abuse both on and off the field

Enrolling in our Youth Sports curriculum also gives you access to our Online Training Platform dashboard: your own private learning hub where you can access the curriculum, find other child sexual abuse prevention courses, and explore resources related specifically to preventing sexual abuse and sexual harassment in sports. Resources include:

  • Youth and adult helplines to ask questions directly to an expert consultant
  • Printable guidebooks and tip sheets, facts and statistics about youth sports safety and sexual abuse in sports, and links to other trusted training platforms like the U.S. Center for SafeSport training.

Learn the foundational building blocks of prevention knowledge including the definition of child sexual abuse, the prevalence of sexual abuse in sports, and key prevention concepts like how to:

  • Confidently keep children safe from sexual, physical, and verbal abuse by coaches, adults, and other youth athletes.
  • Accurately identify risk factors for child sexual abuse, especially in sports environments.
  • Gently respond to concerning sexual behaviors by adults or youth in sports with competence and care.
  • Be proactive in your efforts to keep children safe from sexual abuse in your family and community.

Safety planning is a major part of putting prevention into practice. Keep kids learning, growing, and playing safely in youth sport environments by:

  • Defining safety planning and integrating key prevention concepts into your safety planning process.
  • Advocating for the key policies and procedures needed to ensure safe environments
  • Responding with confidence when adults or youth violate these policies

Deepening your knowledge of prevention, this module prepares you to recognize warning signs in adults' concerning sexual behaviors and to proactively respond to keep children safe. You will:

  • Recognize a healthy relationship between a coach or another adult figure and an athlete.
  • Identify when relationships between adults and athletes show warning signs of concerning sexual behaviors.
  • Identify abusive behaviors, as well as how to confidently engage in difficult conversations when responding and reporting.

While Module 3 taught you about abusive adult figures Module 4 is designed to prepare you to recognize warning signs of child sexual abuse by children and teens.

You will learn to:

  • Recognize concerning and abusive youth sexual behaviors
  • Describe how to respond appropriately to protect all children involved