In the Swedish Sports Confederation's Guidelines for Children's and Youth Sports, it is stated that everyone in sports should work to create safe and inclusive sports environments for children and youth. In our contemporary society, these guidelines may have become even more important. Therefore, the theme for SVEBI's annual Sports Science Conference 2024, recently held at ¹û¶³´«Ã½, was "Children and Youth in Safe Sports Environments."
The guidelines are based on five main tracks: safety, participation, joy, versatility, and health. This is particularly relevant in the school subject of physical education and health, as it involves inspiring and motivating young people on their way into adulthood.
The conference featured four renowned keynote speakers in the field. The first speaker on the first day was Stiliani Chroni, Professor of Sports Psychology and Coaching at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. Her lecture highlighted the issues surrounding safe sports environments for children and youth by stating that, according to the World Health Organization, one in two children in all countries has experienced psychological, physical, or sexual violence in the past year, often in sports environments. Professor Chroni emphasized the need to open our eyes to this and address the problem in schools, sports clubs, homes, and so on to bring about change. Tomas Peterson, Senior Professor at the Department of Sports Science at Malmö University, followed and presented the anthology "Society Sports and Sports Society: Swedish Humanistic and Social Science Sports Research Over Fifty Years" together with doctoral students Lovisa Broms and Filip Andersson and four co-authors – Anna Sätre, Marie Larneby, Susanna Johansson, and Joakim Åkesson.
Busy Days with a Full Program
The second day began with keynote speaker Mikael Quennerstedt, Professor at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), discussing physical activity and the importance of asking salutogenic, i.e., health-promoting, questions.
The second keynote speaker of the day was Cliff Mallett, Doctor of Sports Psychology, Olympic and World Championship medalist, and athletics coach. His topic, "Finding the 'Sweet Spot': Coaches, Parents, and Players as Partners," emphasized the collaboration needed to prevent and create safe sports environments for children and youth.
Both days also included parallel sessions within the conference theme and panel discussions to highlight how research can reach out and be implemented in practice, with representatives from sports clubs and researchers in the field participating.
"There are many perspectives within this area," says Gabriella Torell-Palmquist, project manager for this year's SVEBI at ¹û¶³´«Ã½. Children need to move more in a safe environment, whether it is in sports, school, or during leisure time. How can we introduce sports and physical activity already in preschool age? How can we create safe sports movements for children and youth and establish a good club life, which also involves voluntary work by parents? This also brings in the leadership perspective when it comes to how we protect children from various types of abuse, prevent and stop bullying, and so on."
Read the anthology "Society Sports and Sports Society: Swedish Humanistic and Social Science Sports Research Over Fifty Years."
SVEBI (Swedish Association for Behavioural and Social Research in Sport), founded in 1975, is an interest organization for research and education in sports.
