Caribbean Guardians: A New Voice for Safe Sport Across the Region

AS THE GLOBAL sporting community marked World Safe Sport Day, a new regional initiative is emerging with a clear purpose: to strengthen the voice of safeguarding across Caribbean sport and ensure that the protection, well-being and dignity of athletes remain at the centre of sport.

Caribbean Guardians is a regional safeguarding advocacy initiative established to bring together individuals committed to advancing safer sporting environments throughout the Caribbean.The initiative recognises that safeguarding cannot be the responsibility of one organisation, one sport or one country. It requires collaboration, education, advocacy and, most importantly, people who are prepared to stand up, speak out and play their part.

The Caribbean has a unique sporting environment. Sports are connected to our communities, schools and national identity, but the close-knit nature of Caribbean sport can also create particular safeguarding challenges.Young athletes often place significant trust in coaches, administrators, officials and other adults in positions of authority. Caribbean Guardians seeks to help ensure that this trust is respected and that every athlete has the right to participate in sports, free from abuse, harassment, violence, discrimination and exploitation.

At the heart of the Caribbean Guardians approach is advocacy. This means helping to keep safeguarding on the sporting agenda, encouraging organisations to strengthen their safeguarding systems, promoting education and professional development, amplifying athletes’ voices and encouraging greater collaboration between sporting organisations, safeguarding professionals, educators, social workers, health professionals and other stakeholders.

The initiative is also about changing the culture surrounding safeguarding. Too often, safeguarding is viewed primarily as a response to incidents. Caribbean Guardians promotes a more proactive approach, one that focuses on prevention, education, early intervention, athletes’ well-being and creating sporting environments where concerns can be raised safely and responsibly.

The leadership of Caribbean Guardians reflects this regional commitment.The executive includes Gary St. Rose of Trinidad and Tobago as president, Kia Prince of St.Vincent and the Grenadines as first Vice President, Merere Gonzales of Trinidad and Tobago as second Vice President, and Crystal Walters of Jamaica as third Vice President. Together, they represent a growing regional commitment to ensuring that safeguarding becomes an integral part of sporting development.

Caribbean Guardians also recognises that safe sports and athletes’ well-being are inseparable. Protecting athletes is not simply about preventing harm; it is also about creating environments in which athletes feel valued, respected, supported and empowered.This requires sporting organisations to look beyond competition and consider the whole athlete.

On World Safe Sport Day, Caribbean Guardians therefore issued a simple but powerful call to the Caribbean sporting community: Stand Up. Speak Out. PlayYour Part.

Stand Up when you see practices that place athletes at risk.

Speak Out when something does not feel right and ensure that athletes have safe avenues to raise concerns.

PlayYour Part by becoming educated about safeguarding, supporting safeguarding initiatives and taking responsibility for creating safer sporting environments.

The establishment of Caribbean Guardians represents an important step towards developing a stronger regional safeguarding movement.

Its ambition is not to replace the work of national associations, clubs, safeguarding departments or existing organisations, but to connect, advocate, amplify and support the collective work already taking place across the Caribbean.

World Safe Sport Day provides an opportunity to reflect on how far Caribbean sport has come, but also on the work that remains.

Every child deserves to be safe.

Every athlete deserves to be respected.

Every voice deserves to be heard. And every person involved in sport has a role to play.

Caribbean Guardians is ready to play its part.

Kia A. Z. Prince First Vice President Caribbean Guardians