Athletes are telling us something the gymnastics community can act on: safety is not only a policy question, it is a question of the values a program rewards.

A 2025 study published in Sport Management Review interviewed 28 Canadian high performance athletes and asked them directly what safe and unsafe sport mean to them. Their answers were sorted into three layers; the behaviours athletes observed, the feelings those behaviours produced, and the values sitting underneath. Notably, athletes often described both safe and unsafe conditions inside the same program, at the same time. That is exactly why culture work is difficult, and why it takes more than a policy document.

GymBC has summarized findings into a resource to share with our members. 

What Athletes Described:

• Safe environments: knowledgeable, self-aware coaches who collaborate with support staff; health and wellness placed ahead of results; inclusive teams built on trust; real access to physiotherapy, mental performance and nutrition support; safety rules enforced consistently.
• The values underneath: caring, credibility, inclusion and respect.
• Unsafe environments: coaches overstepping boundaries and gatekeeping resources; toxic group dynamics; unenforced safety rules; reporting processes athletes feared using.
• The values underneath: authority, autonomy, meritocracy and drive, left unchecked.

What Clubs Can Take From This:

• Watch the power dynamics. In a sport of minors, the Rule of Two, clear athlete-centred boundaries and transparent selection criteria are the safeguards this research points straight at.
• Broaden how you measure success. Long-term athlete development, psychological readiness and injury prevention belong alongside scores and placements.
• Invest in coach education. Credibility and caring are teachable standards — build them into PD, clinics and mandatory safe sport training.
• Make the reporting pathway visible. Athletes need to know a clear, non-retaliatory process exists before they ever need it.
• Expand integrated support. Professional care available outside the direct coach-athlete relationship is one of the strongest predictors athletes named of feeling safe.

The original study is open access and free to read in full: MacIntosh, E., Doherty, A., & Kerwin, S. (2025). Informing a culture shift in high performance sport in Canada: athletes' unsafe and safe sport experiences. Sport Management Review, 28(3), 600–623.