IABA and the NSPCC are celebrating Keeping Your Child Safe in Sport Week, which honours that the part a parent/guardian and carer plays in their child’s sport can have a big impact on their child’s wellbeing and how they feel about sport.
This year’s campaign runs 6-12 October 2025. Sports and parents are being asked to play their part and talk to their children about how they can bring out their best through positive actions and support.
The NSPCC has made a suite of resources available for parents, guardians and carers – it is available here
How to play your part
- Listen to your child – do they play sport for fun, for friendship or because they enjoy the competition? And how do they want you to support them? Some children love loud cheers of encouragement, while others prefer a quieter show of support like a hand signal or a smile.
- Keep sport fun – make children feel good by praising effort and progress as well as performance. Help them cope with difficult situations like team selections and competitions with encouragement and constructive feedback.
- Respect everyone – show what great sportsmanship looks like by cheering on the whole team, and respecting the coach and officials (even if you disagree with their decisions).
- See something, say something – are adults shouting insults, criticising mistakes or challenging official decisions? Raise any issues with your club’s welfare officer or match day official.
What you do and what you say will make a difference to how your child feels, but it also makes a difference to how safe they are in their sport.
Additional Supports
If you are worried about anything that may cause harm to your child’s wellbeing, you can always contact the NSPCC Helpline 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk
You can contact IABA’s National Safeguarding Manager, Stephen Flynn via +353 86 074 8867 or stephen@iaba.ie or Liam Corr (IABA Ulster Safeguarding Manager) liam.corr@iaba.ie tel: 0044-7841-470301.