Cycling is for everyone. It can be a child’s first ride around the neighbourhood, a weekend on the trails, a community bike rodeo, a road race, a mountain bike championship, or the beginning of a journey toward high-performance competition. Cycling builds confidence, develops skills, connects people and communities, and can become something we enjoy for a lifetime.
For those experiences to be positive, they also need to be safe. Cycling NWT is committed to creating safe, respectful, inclusive, and welcoming cycling environments for everyone across the Northwest Territories. Whether someone is an athlete, coach, official, volunteer, parent, Board member, or simply joining one of our activities for the first time, everyone has a role in creating that environment.
Safe Sport Is Everyone’s Responsibility
Safe Sport is about much more than responding when something goes wrong. It is about creating a culture where people treat one another with respect, where expectations are clear, where people in positions of trust are appropriately screened and educated, and where participants know that they can ask questions or speak up when something does not feel right.
Cycling NWT’s safeguards include screening and training based on an individual’s role, standards of behaviour through our Code of Conduct and Ethics, protections for minors and vulnerable participants, concussion protocols, and processes for reporting and responding to concerns. Cycling NWT has also adopted the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport as part of its conduct standards.
Ask Questions. It’s Okay.
One of the simplest ways we can contribute to safer sport is by asking questions.
Parents, guardians, athletes and participants should feel comfortable asking:
- Who is responsible for my child?
- Have the adults working with participants been appropriately screened?
- What is the Rule of Two?
- How do coaches communicate with athletes?
- What are the expectations during travel and overnight stays?
- What happens in changing areas or during team gatherings?
- How do I report something that doesn’t feel right?
- Who can my child talk to if they have a concern?
Good sport environments should welcome these conversations.
Speak Up
If you experience or witness behaviour that makes you feel unsafe, uncomfortable, disrespected, or concerned for someone else, we encourage you to speak up. Concerns can be raised with a coach, event leader, volunteer, Board member, or another trusted person. Cycling NWT also provides a Safe Sport reporting pathway, and reports are handled according to the organization’s Sport Integrity and Complaints Policy. Retaliation against someone for raising a concern in good faith is prohibited.
Positive Experiences. Lifelong Participation.
Safe Sport is ultimately about the experience we create for one another. When people feel safe and supported, they are more willing to try something new, challenge themselves, make mistakes, learn, return for another ride, and develop a lifelong relationship with physical activity and sport. That is particularly important as cycling continues to grow across the Northwest Territories. We want people to remember not only how fast they rode or where they finished, but how they felt when they were part of our cycling community.
We respect each other. We play fair. We speak up. We look out for one another. Because Safe Sport does not start with a policy. Safe Sport starts with all of us.