Promoting CS4L in your Community
Being an CS4L Advocate
If you believe physical activity and sport is important for children and youth, you can help to promote LTAD by talking about it in your community. You can talk to your child’s school, your local recreation centre, local sports associations, and government officials and let them know that you think physical activity should be encouraged with logical programming that follows an LTAD philosophy. This includes providing programs for both able-bodied athletes and those with a disability.
Relating to Coaches, Officials, & Other Parents
You can also promote CS4L through your relationships with coaches, officials, and other parents. Here are some issues to be aware of and suggestions to resolve them:
Cheating – If you encounter a coach who encourages cheating, you need to inform the coach that teaching children to cheat is not acceptable, and you should let the other parents know that this has happened. If the coach refuses to change, or denies the allegation, the parents should go to the activity or sport’s local governing body and request action. If no action is taken, you may have to remove your child from the activity or seek a program elsewhere.
Verbal abuse – If your child’s coach, a rival coach, or parent targets your child or others with verbal abuse, you need to take action. With rival coaches and parents, you should report incidents of verbal abuse to the activity’s organizing body, being careful to identify the person or persons and the date, time, and place of the incident to the best of your knowledge. If the source of verbal abuse is your child’s coach or team parent, you should approach them directly and tell them that verbal abuse is not an acceptable coaching or spectator behaviour. Again, if the behaviour persists, you may have to remove your child from the activity.
Sexual abuse – Unfortunately, many sporting environments provide increased opportunities for sexual abuse by adults involved in sport. Locker rooms, change room showers, competition trips, and tournaments often provide potential abusers with additional access to obedient young athletes who may have difficulty saying “no” to unwelcome advances. Be wary of situations that may be inappropriate, such as your child training alone or visiting a coach’s house unattended. Try to ensure that a second adult is present and that any individual coaching is witnessed by other athletes or adults.