News

Posted: 07 August 2026

On 8 August, Scottish Rowing is proud to support Safe Sport Day 2026.

This year’s theme, “Safeguarding should protect every child involved in sport”, is a timely reminder that safe sport is not just about the athletes on the water. It is about every child and young person who helps make rowing happen, including young rowers, coxes, coaches, volunteers, helpers, officials, leaders and supporters.

Every child involved in rowing has the right to feel safe, respected, included and heard. That should be true in every club, every crew, every training session, every event and every conversation.

For Scottish Rowing, Safe Sport Day matters because it speaks to something bigger than policies and procedures. Those things are important, but they only work when they are backed up by culture, leadership and everyday behaviour.

We know that trust is built through what people experience, not just what organisations say.

Over the past year, we have continued to strengthen our approach to wellbeing, protection, governance and risk. That work includes reviewing how concerns are managed, supporting clubs and volunteers, developing safer systems, and making sure that safeguarding is treated as a core part of how rowing is governed and delivered. Some of that work happens quietly in the background, but it matters.

Safe Sport Day gives us a moment to say clearly what we believe:

• safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility
• children and young people should be listened to, not just spoken about
• concerns should be raised early and handled properly
• clubs and volunteers should feel supported, not left to manage difficult issues alone
• safe sport should be built into decisions, events, programmes and leadership, not added afterwards

In a Scottish sporting context, best practice is clear. Children and young people have rights, including the right to rest, leisure and play, and the right to be heard. Sport can help realise those rights when it is delivered by people and organisations who put children’s wellbeing first.

sportscotland and Children First’s Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport work is built around that principle, with standards designed to help sports organisations create positive, safer environments for children and young people.

The wider UK Safe Sport work has also made an important point: sport needs to keep shifting from reacting to harm after it happens, to preventing harm through better leadership, safer systems and stronger culture. That is a challenge for every governing body, including us.

Safe Sport International’s call to action for 2026 is simple: “Stand up. Speak out. Play your part.” That is a message we support. It is also a challenge we take seriously.

So today, we are asking everyone in the Scottish rowing community to play their part.

If you are a coach, think about the culture you create.

If you are a club leader, make sure your safeguarding arrangements are visible, understood and used.

If you are a parent or carer, talk to your child about what safe sport should feel like.

If you are a volunteer or official, know how to raise a concern and do it early.

If you are a young person in rowing, your voice matters. You have the right to be safe, to be listened to, and to enjoy your sport.

Scottish Rowing will keep working with clubs, volunteers, partners and young people to make rowing safer, more inclusive and more accountable. We will not get everything right all the time, but we are committed to listening, learning and improving.

Safe sport is not a single day. It is the standard we should expect every day.

Stand up. Speak out. Play your part.