N.H.M.J. van Veldhoven (Nicolette)

Sport is a popular leisure activity among young people. In the Netherlands 
approximately 1.9 million young people (aged between 5 and 18 years) practice sports
of which 1.3 million participate in organised sports at a club level. Organised sport
is, therefore, often regarded as the third educational environment — next to home
and school — in which youngsters can physically develop and socially learn and have
fun. This is substantively evident in the physical, mental and social effects of sports
exercise. Thus, sports participation offers excellent opportunities for contributing to personal and social development and life skills. 

However, there is another side to sports: an unsafe side, which can lead to negative outcomes such as depression, exhaustion, eating disorders and anxiety. Within the sports world, there is an obligation to protect athletes from harassment and abuse as it is embedded in the statutory governing documents of sport, including the Olympic Charter and the IOC Code of Ethics. All athletes have a right to engage in ‘safe sport’. 

Transgressive behaviours (emotionally, physically, sexually) in sport have a high prevelence rate: 71.7 % experienced some form of transgressive behavior as a child, in which 48.6% of these events also made an impact (in other words: has been significant at the time it took place).  Severe emotional transgression events occurred in 22% of the youth athletes, severe physical assault  in12.7% and severe sexual assault in 6.9% of the youth athletes.

To turn this around, individuals need to be protected from any opportunity bringing their (physical, sexual and/or psychological) safety at risk by establishing a safe sports climate through safeguarding. Therefore, the vision and mission of our scientific contribution is to establish safeguarding in the DNA of all levels of the sports community. Together, by striving to realise a positive, development oriented and safe sports climate (a so called pedagogical climate), positive experiences in sports will become the norm for everyone. 

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• Creative Technology
• Psychology

• Psychology
• Risk Management

Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.

 

• 202000349 - Theoretical Models of Societal Safety

Ongoing research projects:

"Building European Safe Sports Together" with prof. dr. Nicolette Schipper-van Veldhoven, drs. Marleen Haandrikman ( PhD) and others. Windesheim University of Applied Sciences & European Olympic Academies. Building European Safe Sports Together | Psychology of Conflict, Risk & Safety (utwente.nl)

Organisations

• Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences (BMS)
• Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS), Human Media Interaction (HMI)