The Respect in Sport Program (RIS) is an online certification program designed to protect our youth as well as enhance Calgary Minor Softball of providing a safe and fun environment for all our participants. It is Canada’s leading online bullying, abuse, harassment, and negligence prevention program for parents, coaches, and community leaders. It is offered in two different streams, designed individually for parents and coaches.
Respect In Sport - Parents
A program providing information on parents’ natural influence over a child, the coach or leaders role in an activity, the role parents play in their child’s enjoyment and of a sport or activity, and protecting your child when they are outside of your immediate control. The program also provides parents with tools to evaluate their own behavior by highlighting five key "behavioral traps" frequently exhibited by parents, particularly in competitive sports. It demonstrates negative behaviors and provides ideas of how a situation may be better handled, includes valuable information from subject matter experts delivered in a clear and concise fashion, and asks questions of parents based on scenarios presented. Specific topics included in the program are: five common negative parent behaviors, a child’s development, nutrition and hydration, rest, injuries, as well as interacting with coaches, officials, and other parents.
One parent of every registered child must take the “Respect in Sport” Certification. This is MANDATORY. If you are new to Southfour and haven’t taken this course, it will need to be done.
*If you have taken this in hockey or other sports, the certification can be transferred over to Softball as well. Email southfoursoftballassoc@gmail.com and provide your RIS Certificate #.
RIS Certification is required in all divisions and must be completed no later then April 1st of the current year.
Respect in Sport - Activity Leader/Coach/Officials
Provides in-depth information about bullying, abuse, harassment and neglect. It demonstrates negative behaviours and provides ideas of how a situation may be best handled, including valuable information from subject matter experts delivered in a clear and concise fashion, and asks questions of the leaders based on the scenarios presented. Specific topics include: definitions of bullying, abuse, harassment, neglect and discrimination, cyber-bullying, hazing, use of power, emotions, how to respond, reporting, moral and legal issues, and development.
RIS Certification is required by ALL coaches and managers listed on the player roster. The course MUST be completed prior to April 1st of the current year.
Coach Requirements:
Calgary Minor Softball Association Districts/Organizations must ensure that all teams meet the requirements outlined in the chart below. Any team that does not meet the requirements outlined is not an eligible team and therefore is not able to participate in league play for Calgary Minor Softball until all requirements are met.
*All persons listed on the player roster must be certified in Respect in Sport - Coach Edition (not to be confused with the Parent Module)
- In all divisions, all members of the registered team officials, must have completed the Respect in Sport Coach Edition by April 1 of the current season. Certification will be reviewed on a yearly basis.
- Teams failing to have completed this program will be ineligible for Calgary Minor Softball League Play of any kind.
- For the current season, in all divisions, one parent of every registered player must have completed the Respect in Sport Parent Program.
- Players failing to have a parent certified with the Respect in Sport certification will be ineligible to play until certification has been achieved.
Program Access Instructions:
- If this is your first time registering for a Respect Group Program, select "No User Profile? Register Now" followed by "Register". Complete registration and select "Submit" at the bottom of the page and you will be directed to the payment page. On the payment page, click Pay Now, or Enter a Pre-Registration Code if you have been provided one by your organization. Once the payment has been processed, you will be directed to the Home Page of the program. To re-access the program, return to the same URL indicated above and enter the username and password created during registration.
- If you have an existing Activity Leader certificate, select "Import a Certificate" and follow the prompts
- If you have an existing profile in any other Respect Group program, select "No User Profile? Register Now" and
then "Look-Up"
Respect In Sport Certificate Look Up: https://validation.respectgroupinc.com/