In March 2026 the Future of Sport in Canada Commission released its final report after nearly two years studying the Canadian sport system. Its conclusion was stark: maltreatment is “widespread, systemic and persistent across all levels of sport in this country.”
The warning signs had emerged well before the final report. In 2025, as the Commission gathered feedback on its preliminary findings, the Sarnia-Lambton Children’s Aid Society (SLCAS) and its community partners were already taking action.
Together with Athletes Empowered, SLCAS launched Keep Me Safe — a pilot program offering free education to the adults involved in a child’s athletic journey. The training helps coaches, healthcare practitioners, educators, parents and caregivers recognize signs of maltreatment and understand how to respond.
“Sports can be such an enriching part of a child’s life, but its power dynamics can also make young people vulnerable to abuse,” said SLCAS Executive Director Dawn Flegel. “Keep Me Safe is about equipping front-line adults to recognize how maltreatment can manifest in sport, intervene when they see it and help prevent it from happening in the first place.”
Recognizing and preventing maltreatment in sport
To date, Keep Me Safe has trained more than 300 participants from Sarnia-Lambton’s athletic, medical, academic and social service sectors. Collectively, those participants support more than 43,000 children and youth each year.
The sessions have ranged from one-hour lunch-and-learns with small groups to academic lectures attended by as many as 150 students. Each is designed to give participants practical knowledge they can carry into their work with children and youth.
One participant said the training challenged them to think differently about behaviours that can become accepted as part of sport culture.
“The Keep Me Safe session opened my eyes to the culture of sport and the unwritten rules we often accept without question,” the participant shared in an anonymized survey. “I walked away with practical tools, language and examples to help keep kids safer while still enjoying the benefits of community sport.”
The participant added that the real-life stories shared during the session helped parents, coaches and caregivers better understand their own role in creating a safe and positive environment for young athletes.
Growing demand across the community
Following the positive response to the Sarnia-Lambton pilot, Keep Me Safe will expand into Oxford County in the coming year.
The initial rollout has also led to requests for Keep Me Safe training from organizations across Sarnia-Lambton. Big Brothers Big Sisters has asked for the training to become a mandatory part of its onboarding process for new employees and volunteers, while other community partners have requested that the curriculum be expanded into regional high schools.
For SLCAS and Athletes Empowered, the growing interest reinforces the need for continued education across the systems and organizations that surround young athletes.
It also reflects the role children’s aid societies can play beyond responding to harm after it occurs. By sharing child welfare expertise and working alongside partners in sport, healthcare, education and social services, SLCAS is helping more adults recognize concerns earlier and take action to keep children safe.
As communities across Canada consider how to respond to the Commission’s findings, Keep Me Safe offers one local example of what prevention can look like: informed adults, stronger partnerships and a shared commitment to ensuring children and youth can participate in sport without fear of abuse.
