A concept mapping study of young high-performance athletes' perspectives on safe sport.

Abstract

Safe sport research has been critiqued for privileging adult-centric perspectives and focusing predominantly on harm prevention, with limited attention to young athletes’ own understandings of the construct. This study sought to amplify youth voice through novel participatory methodologies to develop a solution-focused model of safe sport for youth athletes and identify priorities for the sporting entourage. Drawing on a multiphase and multi-method research design, young athletes (n = 103) and adults (n = 57) were engaged in creative methodologies that deliberately disrupted the power dynamics within the research process, as they were active contributors in asking questions, generating, and structuring data. Findings resulted in a seven-dimensional model of safe sport for youth athletes encompassing: (1) supportive and trustworthy coaching; (2) psychological factors relating to affect, behaviours, and cognition; (3) physical readiness and access to appropriate health and training resources; (4) belonging and social support within the broader sporting environment; (5) peer support; (6) conditions that enable athlete agency, including opportunities to make choices and be heard; and (7) safeguarding structures and processes. These dimensions reflect a positively framed conceptualisation of safe sport, emphasising the presence of enabling conditions rather than solely the absence of harm. Consequently, the model offers a practical and conceptually grounded framework to guide intervention development, policy design, and future practice and research, including the evaluation of safe sport experiences.