Which statement best captures how duty of care and safeguarding work together in youth sport?

• A. Duty of care is optional and safeguarding is mandatory.
• B. Safeguarding replaces the need for duty of care in daily supervision.
• C. Duty of care covers general safety; safeguarding addresses abuse and exploitation; both create a safe environment.
• D. Safeguarding applies only after an incident and has no proactive role.

Answer: (C)

Duty of care and safeguarding both aim to keep young athletes safe, and they work best when they’re combined in everyday coaching. Duty of care is the obligation to prevent harm during daily sport activities—making sure equipment is safe, supervising appropriately, using safe drills, and managing risks so accidents don’t happen. Safeguarding focuses on protecting children from abuse, exploitation, and neglect, with clear policies, safer recruitment, and reporting procedures. When you bring these together, you create a safe environment that covers both physical safety and emotional well-being; you prevent harm through proper supervision and risk management, while also having proactive protections and response systems in place for safeguarding concerns. Safeguarding doesn’t replace duty of care; it sits with it and expands it to address safeguarding risks specifically. It’s also proactive, not something you rely on only after an incident.

The other statements don’t fit because duty of care isn’t optional and must be practiced daily; safeguarding isn’t a replacement for duty of care but a complementary, proactive protection; and safeguarding isn’t only about reacting after something goes wrong but about preventing harm in the first place.