During the last couple of months we shifted to a next phase in the Safe Sport Allies project. In a previous step we completed the knowledge documents (factsheet with country comparison, literature review and factsheet with survivors’ suggestions) regarding bystander programs in and outside sport. The obtained knowledge enabled and guided us to start developing the intervention script and materials, and the measurement toolkit which will be used to investigate the effectiveness of the intervention.
Currently, we are finalizing all the scripts, materials, and measurements. Our bystander intervention focuses on four actors (who all can be seen as bystanders) from local sport clubs in Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands: (1) young athletes (12-14 year old), (2) coaches, (3) the club management, and (4) parents of young athletes. When a sport club is participating in the study, each of these actors will be provided with a tailor-made training. For example, young athletes can participate in a face to face training (60 to 90 minutes), whereas coaches can participate in a face to face training (or online if required because of the pandemic; +- 135 minutes) and 3 online boostersessions. The complete intervention is approved by the Societal and Social Ethics Committee of the University of Leuven.
In the upcoming phase, we will be piloting the intervention for young athletes and coaches. This will allow us to make, if needed, necessary changes to the final intervention (i.e. scripts, materials, measurements) of these two actors. We aim to start with the actual field work (Work Package 4) from February 2022 onwards.