Safe Sport in Ontario
Badminton Ontario is committed to fostering and providing a safe environment for all its members and participants within the context of badminton. BON believes that all should be able to enjoy the sport of badminton without fear of discrimination, harassment, bullying or abuse. This is applicable to all parties including: athletes, coaches, officials, staff, board members, parents, spectators, volunteers, and medical/support personnel. BON’s intention is to ensure that we are helping provide a fun, enjoyable and safe atmosphere for all.
To help better understand and implement best practices for safe sport across Ontario, BON has developed a framework outlining the key processes in place. This framework includes three main pillars and one support pillar (listed below, respectively).
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- Education
- Prevention
- Response
- Policies
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By following this framework and providing the necessary information to our clubs and members, we can better stop all inappropriate behaviours before they happen and improve the management of any complaints or incidents that may still arise.
All of our policies and core documentation can be found in full detail in our Safe Sport Manual, which can be found by clicking the button below:
Education
Badminton Ontario is committed to providing resources and educational materials to help its members better understand and support safe sport concepts. As an organization, BON wants to ensure that we are educating all our members as much and as clearly as possible to stop as many potential unsafe situations and practices as possible. We believe that through education we can create a difference in our clubs and create a safe environment for everyone involved in badminton in Ontario.
Badminton Ontario believes in an open and fun landscape for all involved in badminton. It is important that we create safe environments that are free of abuse, harassment and bullying in any form, from any individual or group. By clearly establishing where we draw the line, with our zero-tolerance approach, we can encourage an enjoyable badminton experience for all participants.
Resources
Badminton Ontario’s Discrimination and Harassment Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/BON-Policy-to-Address-Discrimination-and-Harassment-March-2017.pdf
Red Cross Bullying – https://www.redcross.ca/how-we-help/violence-bullying-and-abuse-prevention
Badminton Ontario completely opposes the use, possession, and the supply of banned substances at any level of play, not only by athletes, but also by coaches, officials, medical, or other team support personnel, and administrators. As a response to anti-doping measures, Badminton Ontario adopts and adheres to the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP) run by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES). The CADP is a set of rules with respect to the use of prohibited substances and methods in sport that serves to protect the integrity of sport and the rights of clean athletes.
Resources
BWF – I am badminton – https://corporate.bwfbadminton.com/integrity/i-am-badminton/ – program developed by the BWF to support anti-doping and clean, honest sport.
Canadian Anti-Doping Program – https://cces.ca/canadian-anti-doping-program – More in-depth information about the CADP.
Global Drug Reference Online – https://www.globaldro.com/home/index – An online reference to identify if your over-the-counter medications and prescriptions are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list.
Supplements – https://cces.ca/supplements – Important information regarding supplements and their use.
Cannabis in Sport – https://cces.ca/cannabis – Cannabis is a prohibited substance, follow the link to learn more.
Athlete’s Rights and Responsibilities – https://cces.ca/athletes-rights-and-responsibilities – Educate yourself about the rights and responsibilities that athletes have with regards to anti-doping.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) – https://www.wada-ama.org/ – WADA works towards a vision of a world where all athletes compete in a doping-free sporting environment.
True Sport – https://truesportpur.ca/ – A Canadian organization that focuses on encouraging a sport experience that is comprised of fairness, excellence, inclusion, and fun.
An actual or apparent conflict of interest arises when a person is placed in a situation where their personal interest, financial or other, or that of an immediate family member or of a person with whom their exists, or has recently existed an intimate, personal relationship, conflicts, or appears to conflict, with their responsibility to the organization or the interests of the organization. Conflicts of interest can arise in a variety of scenarios, from hiring new staff to team selection. BON strongly suggests that all clubs have procedures in place to avoid situations of conflict of interest. This can be done via a number of methods including establishing in-depth hiring or selection policies and using third parties or external committees to assist in decision-making and mediation.
Badminton Ontario is inclusive and welcomes everyone with open arms. All are welcome to participate in our competitions and activities, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, martial status, family status or disability. Badminton Ontario will continue to foster the growth of badminton and ensure that equity, diversity, and inclusion are key considerations when developing, updating, or delivering Badminton Ontario policies and programs.
Resources
Badminton Ontario’s Gender Equity Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Gender-Equity-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Badminton Ontario’s Gender Inclusion Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Gender-Inclusion-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity – https://ccgsd-ccdgs.org/sports/ – Canadian organization has a sport inclusion program to support diversity in sport.
Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport – https://cces.ca/sex-and-gender-diversity – The CCES has a number of resources that support sexual and gender diversity in sports.
Canadian Olympic Committee – One-Team Program – https://olympic.ca/education/resources/one-team-a-safe-place-to-be/ – A learning activity program that increases knowledge on inclusivity in sport.
Canadian Women & Sport – https://womenandsport.ca/topic/allyship-and-advocacy/ – Programs available on allyship and advocacy.
The Inclusion Club – http://theinclusionclub.com/resources/tic-videos-2/ – Large collection of videos highlighting a variety of forms of inclusion for different people of different backgrounds. Plenty of educational resources available.
Mental & Physical Health
Badminton Ontario supports the need to take care of and help individuals recover their mental and physical health. BON recognizes that both mental and physical health are equally as important and should both be treated with the utmost care. Although it is common for people to seek help with physical health issues, BON recognizes that for some there is still a stigma related to mental health needs. By educating and increasing awareness regarding mental and physical health support, BON hopes to help erase this stigma and ensure all participants are as healthy as can be and are seeking help, no matter what type of health issues they face.
A concussion is a brain injury. It can’t be seen on X-rays, CT scans or MRIs. It may affect the way a person thinks, feels and/or acts. Any blow to the head, neck or face may cause a concussion. A concussion may also be caused by a blow to the body if the force of the blow causes the brain to move around inside the skull. A concussion can happen to anyone, anywhere.
Concussions have several potential symptoms, and it is important to be able to recognize them. They may include headaches, pressure in the head, neck pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, difficulties keeping balance, sensitivity to light or noise, feeling slowed down, feeling like “in a fog”, difficulty concentrating, difficulty remembering, fatigue or low energy, confusion, drowsiness, mood swings, irritability, sadness, nervousness and being anxious.
Visit a doctor or hospital immediately if you have suffered an injury or collision and are having symptoms of a concussion. It is important to be assessed by a medical professional. The professional may assign to you a recovery program to help ensure there is not permanent damage to the brain.
Badminton Ontario’s Concussion Prevention and Management Policy – http://badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/BON-Concussion-Management-and-Return-To-Play-Policy-V1-March-2017-2.pdf
Resources
Government of Ontario – Rowan’s Law – https://www.ontario.ca/page/rowans-law-concussion-safety – Information from the provincial government on concussions, dealing with emergency situations and other concussion resources.
Coaches Association of Canada (CAC) – https://coach.ca/concussion-awareness – Resources, recognitions tools and guidelines for concussion management.
Making Head Way FREE Concussion eLearning course – https://coach.ca/making-head-way-concussion-elearning-series – A free course offered by the CAC that covers all the key information that you should know about concussions. BON highly encourages coaches to complete this course, but BON also encourages administrators, staff, tournaments hosts, parents’ and athletes, to complete this course so that as a community we can better understand, identify and protect against permanent damage from concussions.
Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS) – https://www.fnha.ca/what-we-do/mental-wellness-and-substance-use/residential-schools – The CCMHS has a large collection of mental health support services and resources available as well as a list of many other support organizations across Canada.
Protective Eyewear
All junior players in Ontario must wear protective eyewear meeting the ASTM F803 standard whenever there are more than two players on the same court, at all Badminton Ontario sanctioned events. Badminton Ontario strongly recommends that all players wear protective eyewear meeting the ASTM F803 standard whenever on court. Protective Goggles must be worn over top of prescription glasses to fully protect the eyes.
CMAJ Article on Eye Protection: Traumatic hyphema in a 13-year-old girl: eye protection regulation in badminton is needed. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/27/E778
Article Key Notes:
Badminton is the leading cause of racquet sports–related eye injuries in Canada, and traumatic hyphema is a common complication.
More than half of patients with ocular injuries from badminton never regain full visual acuity.
Ocular injury from badminton can be prevented with the use of eye protectors that meet standard F803 of the American Society for Testing and Materials.
Prevention
Badminton Ontario recognizes the importance of creating prevention strategies to do as much as possible to create a safe badminton environment. By having preventative measures in place, we can build off the Education pillar and create a strong system that helps in stopping unsafe behaviour.
The following topics will each have their own tab: Responsible Coaching Movement, Required Training, Rule of Two, Screening.
Badminton Ontario fully supports the Coaching Association of Canada’s (CAC) safe sport program – and the Responsible Coaching Movement (RCM). The RCM is a call to action for sport organizations, parents, and coaches to enact responsible coaching across Canada – on and off the court.
The RCM is a multi-phase movement that affects all sport organizations and coaches across Canada. It stems from extensive and ongoing consultation with the sport community of Canada that identified some of the systemic issues in sport, the role various parties play, and strategies in addressing these issues.
One of the areas of focus of the RCM is their “three steps to responsible coaching” methodology, which is a call to action for coaches and sport organizations to learn and apply consistent best practices in coaching. These three steps include:
- Background screening
- Adhering to Rule of Two practices
- Ethics training.
Badminton Ontario’s Social Media Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Social-Media-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Badminton Ontario’s Athlete Protection Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Athlete-Protection-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Badminton Ontario’s Screening Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Screening-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Resources
Responsible Coaching Movement – https://coach.ca/responsible-coaching-movement – Full details on the RCM.
- Badminton Ontario has strengthened its requirements for different members of the badminton community to ensure that they have taken appropriate training within the safe sport spectrum. At this time, all members of Badminton Ontario’s board of directors are required to have completed the Respect in Sport for the Workplace e-learning module.
In addition, all coaches that want to purchase a BON Coach Accreditation Card must complete the Respect in Sport for Coaches e-learning module and renew it every three years.
Resources
Respect in Sport – https://badmintoncanada-al.respectgroupinc.com/
Respect in Sport Program – https://badmintoncanada-al.respectgroupinc.com
Coaches, Officials, Draw Desk, Tournament Organizers:
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- Activity Leader: https://badmintoncanada-al.respectgroupinc.com/
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Board of Directors and Staff:
Parent: https://badmintoncanada-parent.respectgroupinc.com/
Keeping Girls in Sport: https://badmintoncanada-kgis.respectgroupinc.com/
The Coaching Association of Canada has developed a standard for open and observable environments called the Rule of Two. This standard is applicable to all sports, and all contexts. It ensures that all interactions and communications are open, observable, and justifiable. Its purpose is to protect participants (especially minors) and coaches in potentially vulnerable situations by ensuring that more than one adult is present. There may be exceptions in emergency situations.
Good practices to implement the Rule of Two:
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- Ensure a coach is never alone and out of sight with a participant without another screened coach or screened adult (parent or volunteer) present.
- Allow the training environment to be open to observation.
- Ensure a participant riding in a coach’s vehicle has another adult present.
- Consider the gender of the participant(s) when selecting the screened coaches and volunteers present.
- Eliminate one-to-one messaging. Ensure that all communications are sent to the group and/or include parents.
Badminton Ontario’s Social Media Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Social-Media-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Resources
Rule of Two – CAC – https://coach.ca/three-steps-responsible-coaching – Full details on the CAC’s Rule of Two, including infographics that can be shared and posted at clubs.
Having proper screening practices in place is critical to the safe sport landscape. At Badminton Ontario, all coaches that look to purchase a BON Coach Accreditation Card must have completed a background check via the Sterling Back Check system and update it every two years. It is encouraged that all affiliated badminton clubs also have screening practices in place to better assess any volunteer or paid coaches, managers or any other people that may be in close contact with vulnerable people.
Badminton Ontario’s Screening Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Screening-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Resources
Sterling Back Check – https://pages.sterlingbackcheck.ca/landing-pages/b/badminton-ontario/ – Follow this link to visit the Sterling Back Check website, and to complete a background check.
Response
When a complaint or conflict arises, Badminton Ontario is committed to addressing the situation with proper procedures to guarantee a fair and just assessment, with disciplinary actions as needed. The safety of our members is of the utmost importance. If BON needs to manage a conflict, BON will follow a clear process for resolution.
To ensure that any issues are handled properly, Badminton Ontario has developed a policy to manage with any disciplinary action. This policy outlines the process for disciplinary actions, identification of who is involved and the process to mediate the situation.
Badminton Ontario’s Discipline and Complaints Policy – https://www.badmintonontario.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BON-Discipline-Complaints-Dispute-Resolution-Policy-Apr-2022.pdf
Badminton Ontario strives to provide the best possible environment for its members. However, should a complaint or incident occurs, BON will follow a structured course of action to resolve the issue.
Should an individual, group, club, or organization have a complaint or an incident to report, there are several people to be contacted, depending on the nature and severity of the incident. These parties may include: a club’s management or board of directors, Badminton Ontario, Badminton Canada, or the authorities. BON recognizes that it is sometimes difficult to raise specific issues to specific individuals or groups, as there may be concerns of repercussions. However, BON fully supports and recommends that anyone who has suffered any form of injustice, harassment, abuse, bullying, discrimination, or any other type of unsafe behaviour to contact one of the recommended parties.
To help create a safe, and confidential space to report complaints and incidents, Badminton Canada has hired a third-party Safe Sport Officer. The independent Safe Sport Officer is a certified workplace harassment investigator.
The Safe Sport Officer’s mandate includes, but is not limited to:
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- Respond to emails and phone calls received by parties about abuse, harassment, bullying and discrimination.
- Contact complainant(s) to learn more about the situation. The Safe Sport Officer makes efforts to respond to all complainants within 24 hours of being advised of the situation.
- Conduct a preliminary review and assess against applicable policies, legal frameworks, and best practices. The results of the preliminary review are highly variable and may include:
- Referring the complainant to the police or child protective authorities.
- Referring the complainant to the club or provincial sport organization.
- Referring the complainant to other procedures, resources or appeals.
- Suggesting other counselling or support to the complainant. Equipping the complainant to deal with the situation directly.
- Supporting the complainant to come forward with a formal complaint.
- Recommending that the national sport organization proceed directly to an investigation and liaising with the assigned investigator as appropriate.
- Exploring informal resolution or other alternative dispute mechanisms.
- Other solutions as deemed necessary.
- Except with prior consent of the complainant, maintain confidentiality regarding the identify of the complainant(s) and the specific details of the complaint, unless otherwise required by law.
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Our Independent Safe Sport Officer is Lisa Maclean and she can be contacted at safesportofficer@safesportagency.ca.
Badminton Ontario’s Whistleblower Policy –
Resources
Commit To Kids – https://commit2kids.ca/pdfs/C2K_StepsForReportingInappropriateConduct_CAC_en.pdf – Infographic on the steps for reporting inappropriate conduct.
There are several support services available across Canada for different issues and struggles. Badminton Ontario has compiled a formal list of services available to those in need of support.
Kids Help Phone – text CONNECT to 686868, call 1-800-668-6868, or visit kidshelpphone.ca for help
Kids Help Phone is a national charity that operates three counselling centers and offers community engagement initiatives through staff and volunteers across Canada. Kids Help Phone is available 24/7 providing a safe space to listen to you, all judgement free and completely confidential. Kids Help Phone currently have services available in English, French and Arabic.
Victim Services in Canada – https://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/serv/vsc-svc.html
Victim services in Canada compiles several different government level support services both federally and provincially.
Crisis Services Canada – text to 45645, call 1-833-456-4566 or visit crisisservicescanada.ca for help
Crisis Services Canada (CSC) is a support service focused on distress, crisis and suicide prevention and support. In recent years, they have been focused on strengthening regional service delivery and ensuring gaps in mental health and suicide prevention and support nationwide are addressed. CSC provides services 24/7 and is available in English and in French.
First Nations & Inuit Hope for Wellness – call 1-855-242-3310 or visit https://www.hopeforwellness.ca/ for help
The Hope for Wellness help line offers immediate help to all Indigenous peoples across Canada. They have support services 24/7. To learn more, click HERE.
First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) – call 1-866-925-4419 for emotional support regarding residential schools
The FNHA is working with communities and provincial and federal partners considering the retraumatizing effects of recent residential school discoveries to identify needs and offer supports and services to address those needs. The FNHA support call line is available 24/7 nationwide.
Trans Lifeline – call 1-877-330-6366 for help
The Trans Lifeline is a grassroots hotline and microgrants non-profit organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people in crisis – for the trans community, by the trans community.
Canadian Centre on Substance Use & Addiction – link to https://www.ccsa.ca/
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use & Addiction (CCSUA) is a non-governmental organization that provides national leadership on substance use and to advance solutions to address alcohol- and other drug-related harms. The CCSUA has a library of information, resources, support, and recovery on anything and everything substance and addiction related.
Policies
Badminton Ontario has created several policies to better help with education, prevention, and response regarding safe sport. These policies have been compiled below.