Balancing Challenge and Support in High Performance Sport

Safe Sport is not a box to be ticked. It is a culture, and culture is shaped through the hard questions that matter most.

Our latest Safe Sport workshop brought together 50 coaches, high performance managers, and practitioners from Singapore's National Sports Associations to examine why safeguarding matters, what risk factors look like in their environments, and how they can better support the athletes in their care.

Two key risk factors consistently surfaced: fear of speaking up due to perceived consequences, and cultures of tolerance that normalise concerning behaviour over time.

This reflects broader evidence in sport. Research by Hurst, Kavussanu & Stirling (2025) highlights that elite athletes report lower perceptions of psychological safety compared to recreational athletes, making them less likely to disclose experiences of interpersonal violence. This gap is not just theoretical — it is lived, and it is one the sport system must collectively address.

A key shift in thinking emerged during the workshop:

"The reassurance that Safe Sport is not about training weak athletes."

Through the challenge–support model by Fletcher and Sarkar, participants examined how high performance and athlete wellbeing are not opposing forces. Athletes can be pushed to excel while still being supported in environments that prioritise trust, respect, and psychological safety.

Participants reflected on what it would take to move closer to a truly facilitative culture:

"Thinking more intentionally about where my programme fits in the model."

"We have a responsibility to create and build a safe environment for everyone involved in our sport."

What stood out most was not just awareness, but ownership — a shared recognition that Safe Sport is built through everyday decisions, behaviours, and the norms we choose to uphold.