Theory and implementation (foreword): This child protection concept serves our club members as a basis for dealing with children and young people in the promotion of young talent, e.g. children’s courses and other club events. This basic concept complements the knowledge of our members who have completed a C-trainer course at the BLSV or DRIV. In addition, some of our members took part in several hours of training on the topic of PSG (prevention of sexualized violence). These training courses were conducted by instructors from DRIV e. V. and in the past by the Office for Children, Youth and Family of the City of Augsburg, Department of Preventive Child and Youth Services. We will revise this basis accordingly if circumstances change (e.g. an indoor location contrary to expectations, new projects, etc.).

You can find more sources on child protection here:
The Federal Child Protection Act (BJR, 2012)
Prevention of sexualized violence in the association (DRIV)

Attitude (manners)
We work together harmoniously across club boundaries and respect each other. Cooperation with other organizations in our community is also characterized by trust and support. This must be preserved. All our coaches/trainers/exercise leaders/assistants have either a C-coach education or similar and/or have been trained by such. The BLSV also teaches basic skills for the prevention of sexualized violence during the C-trainer training (popular sports for children and young people) (source: https://www.blsv.de). All coaches/trainers have a first aid certificate to ensure safety, both in advance by checking for injuries and in the event of a sports injury during the operation or course. At least one main person responsible on site ensures this through regular refresher courses and documentation in the club. The times directly before, after and during the operation/course are characterized by abstaining from alcohol and cigarettes in order to credibly convey the character of the role model function. Outside of the children and youth area, i.e. the children’s courses, those responsible are required to always act in an appropriate manner as they, as club representatives, always act as ambassadors for the cause in a positive sense

Mission statement
We act in accordance with the guiding principles of the German Sports Youth (“… we condemn any form of violence, regardless of whether it is of a physical, psychological or sexualized nature”). Our personal mission statement is short and sweet, we are anti-racist/fascist/sexist. Apart from handling during the courses, we have stipulated that we always provide sufficient drinks and food (fruit, snacks). In our opinion, the protection of the child starts where it is forgotten at home. Sending children to sport without breakfast and thirsty is irresponsible and the first step towards violence through neglect. We automatically ask the parents in advance whether they have any intolerances, allergies, phobias etc. so that we can react and prepare accordingly. We prevent aggressive behavior of individual participants and classic roles that are sometimes played by keeping everyone on the same level for 2/3 of a course. The fun for individuals and the group increases, children/young people are motivated by us to support each other and also to become active in the area of assistance. In this way, fears of contact are reduced. If possible, immediately after the demonstration (“… may I touch you like this?”), 1-2 course participants who appear to be qualified are used as junior assistants or the club coaches show in advance through practical exercises what exactly the assistance looks like in order to clearly avoid misunderstandings.

Culture of mindfulness
Without a clubhouse, a covered sports facility or a weatherproof training hall tailored to our sport, we are unable to offer regular training. That’s why we currently only offer two levels of courses – absolute beginners and advanced skateboarders – for initial contact with the skateboard as well as a refresher course. The skateboard promotes intrinsic learning. Between the points of contact from first contact to refreshment, contacts are most likely to take place in public skate parks. The willingness of parents to drive their children to these sports facilities and to maintain contact with our coaches/club members at short intervals despite the lack of training intervals and to promote a free type of community is decisive in determining whether negative changes can be observed. If there were a “Home of Skateboarding”, we could relatively quickly show the extent to which positive but logically also negative tendencies in social behavior or other anomalies are made visible through observation. Even in our individual sport, a drop in performance is immediately noticeable and evasive behavior is quickly seen through.

Qualification (selection of volunteers)
Employees/club members/assistants/trainers who come into contact with children and young people at events and children’s courses that serve the purpose of promoting young talent have been members of the club or partner organizations for many years. New employees are assigned to courses as assistants in order to check whether they have the prerequisites and the necessary flair for adequate junior staff work, and a corresponding assessment of their character and potential suitability takes place over the course of several events and personal discussions. In principle, it quickly becomes clear whether potential candidates have a family-friendly attitude and are suitable or whether the job is “too strenuous” (also due to their age). After all, we are involved in a very young sport and in this day and age, serious commitments often fall by the wayside for adolescents between the ages of 20 and 27 in order to develop their personalities. In our opinion, protection begins with a declaration of intent to remain with the club for at least two years in order to be a good point of contact for children and young people outside of training. Every trainer/coach/exercise leader who has direct contact with children and young people on behalf of the club must apply for and submit a current extended certificate of good conduct. This process is documented.

Training and information
We discuss trends in positive/negative developments at club meetings, but also in small groups or in the club’s own forum. We think feminist movements that are currently changing the male-dominated sport of skateboarding worldwide are strong. Further training is possible, but often only for individuals due to a lack of time. There are corresponding programs through the BLSV and, in principle, we advertise our clear position on the Bavarian State Sports Association, recognizing its statutes and mindset. The founding club RAZED e. V. was a so-called base club for ISD (Integration through Sport) in 2017; without a permanent training facility, this is no longer possible within the original framework. In recent years, we have made increased use of various programs such as “Sport schafft Heimat” to offer free integration courses. We also communicate this and the benefits to parents through information in newsletters, as well as benefits through educational participation and other subsidy options/reductions for economically disadvantaged families. We also communicate when and which relevant training was completed and what added value we expect this to bring for the promotion of young talent. Information brochures, posters and similar printed materials only make sense for a large company. At present, an introductory talk on site with the course participants and their parents is sufficient for us to present our working method and the people involved in a transparent and trustworthy manner.

Clear rules (protection agreement)
Due to the lack of a covered training facility and therefore the lack of showers, let alone the possibility of regular training, we can ignore most sources of danger. Courses are also never given by a single person, but either take place with two of our coaches, with one person always acting as the main person responsible, or the institution (e.g. day nursery, kindergarten, school, independent youth work organization, youth centre, etc.) provides assistants who are at least silent contacts in the background or provide active support. When working together, we make sure to use language that is suitable for children and young people, while at the same time incorporating the subcultural influences of our individual sport. This starts with the use of English terms (skateboarding originated in the U.S.) and the basic idea that skateboarding is not a competitive sport per se and can therefore be more fun than other sports.

Involve members
In our club, apart from the actual core team (organizers, coaches/assistants/trainers and athletes over 18), no other people have direct and regular contact. However, we are always working to develop ourselves in this sense and to make decisions that influence the program design, for example on the character of a project (inclusion, integration) or event (e.g. child-friendly afternoon program and separation of the evening program with concert). We would like to involve parents more in this process, but unfortunately it has become apparent over the years that we and other clubs are only seen as service providers and that parents rarely if ever get involved. In personal discussions, we naturally take away input, such as trends towards unattractive developments at skate parks in public spaces.

House rules
We currently have neither a weather-protected training facility nor our own club grounds. That’s why we no longer have house rules. Our house rules, which were displayed during the operation of our “BlueBox Rollsportarena” (2011 – 2016), can be found here. For events in third-party premises, we make sure that we read the house rules on site, if they are visibly displayed, or have them presented by the operators. This means that any differences can be discussed immediately.