FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Collingwood, ON (June 27th, 2018) — Recent high profile events within Alpine Canada, other Canadian Sport organizations, Gymnastics USA and many other sport organizations around the world has put the issue of athlete safety in the headlines. Alpine Ontario Alpin (AOA) is committed to doing its part to ensure the very best protection for our athletes. Along with Alpine Canada, AOA will be embarking on a training platform widely utilized by the sport community in Canada, and endorsed by the Coaching Association of Canada, called Respect in Sport.
Respect in Sport has trained over 1 million Canadians. The Respect in Sport on-line training platform provides coaches, officials and sport leaders with a 2.5 hour prevention and education program, addressing the issues of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination. This inter-active on-line training will provide AOA coaches with valuable information which will assist them in their coaching role, while helping to ensure the safety of the athletes in our care.
AOA will be requiring all coaches employed by AOA; including the Ontario Ski Team coaches, SOD Ski Team coaches and all age group Consultants (U14, U16, U19) to complete the Respect in Sport on-line certification. In addition to this core group of coaches, any support staff, or coaches participating in AOA trips or projects (U16 Nationals, CanAms, Whistler Cup, etc.) will also be required to complete this training in addition to their current requirements.
Lastly, AOA is strongly urging all member clubs to consider having their coaches, and anyone who has child athletes in their care, to complete the Respect in Sport on-line certification training. If your Club would like to learn more about the program and access pre-registration codes on behalf of their coaches please contact Mark Allen at Respect in Sport. mallen@respectinsport.com or by calling 705-300-2120.
To learn more about this training please access the link here
https://alpine-canada-activityleader.respectgroupinc.com/
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About Respect in Sport
Respect Group was incorporated on April 5th, 2004 by co-founders, Sheldon Kennedy and Wayne McNeil, to pursue their common passion: the prevention of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination (BAHD). Offering certification programs for Community/Sport Organizations (Respect in Sport), Schools and the Workplace, Respect Group has certified over 1,000,000 Canadians. www.respectinsport.com
For more information please email: info@respectgroupinc.com
About Alpine Ontario Alpin (AOA)
AOA is the provincial governing body for the sport of alpine ski racing in Ontario. Alpine Ontario’s newly refined mission is to provide leadership and structure for high quality, sustainable and affordable programming and to communicate the competitive, recreational and lifestyle benefits of ski racing to the community. AOA represents four divisions, 44 member clubs and over 30,000 active athletes, coaches and officials (volunteers). AOA coordinates several successful programs across the province and continues to foster the development of “state of the art” ski-racing programs from the grass roots level to the elite level.
For more information contact:
Kristin Ellis
Communications Manager
Alpine Ontario Alpin (AOA)
705-444-5111 x132
communications@alpineontario.local