Safeguarding software: How to improve your sports organisation’s reporting and case management

Safeguarding is a critical aspect of sports organisations’ responsibilities to ensure the safety and well-being of athletes and participants. Policy, procedure, and training are essential components of safeguarding, but the successful implementation also depends on ongoing risk assessment and reliable reporting mechanisms that instil trust and confidence in athletes and other participants.

Clue is a safeguarding software provider that can help sports organisations improve their reporting and case management. In this article, we explore the importance of safeguarding in sports and how Clue can help.

What is safeguarding, and why is proper safeguarding so important in sports?

Safeguarding is the process of protecting individuals from harm or abuse. In sports, safeguarding is vital because athletes and participants are vulnerable to a wide range of risks, including physical harm, emotional abuse, and exploitation.

Proper safeguarding practices help prevent these risks from occurring, provide a safe environment for all participants, and ensure that appropriate action is taken when necessary. Clue brought together safeguarding experts to discuss the importance of safeguarding in sport and current challenges in a recent webinar.

What can Clue do for safeguarding in sports?

Clue is an intelligence and investigation software provider that offers a secure application for sports organisations to receive, triage, manage and action reports from athletes, officials, spectators, and other individuals. Safeguarding cases can be developed and managed in Clue from the first mention of concern to an outcome, be that prosecution or initiating further training.

Trusted by sports organisations including the International Tennis Integrity Association (ITIA) and RFU, Clue’s sports integrity and safeguarding software provides several key features that can help sports organisations improve their reporting and case management, including:

Trusted reporting: Clue offers a Confidential Reporting solution that allows for anonymous reporting, including the attachment of supporting documentation such as photos and videos. The platform also facilitates data capture through manual input, form entry, and API integration, ensuring that information is structured and immediately searchable for further action.

Early detection: Clue connects data, information, and intelligence to help you identify patterns of systematic behaviour and prevent risks. Using the ‘Golden Nominal’ principle ensures entities exist in your system only once to easily identify links between people, teams, locations, threat types, and event types to surface and explore hotspots, trends, and behaviour patterns. Data reports and visualisations can be exported for knowledge sharing and early intervention.

Secure data sharing: Clue adheres to a recognised intelligence dissemination model for disclosures to relevant bodies. Your system can be linked to multiple sources via API, and tasks can be assigned with tailored notifications. Common themes and behaviours can be identified, and case files and reports can be quickly exported in compliant formats for law enforcement, disciplinary processes, or educational interventions.

Robust case management: Clue helps you adhere to safeguarding and policy standards and maintain data integrity by following accepted and auditable processes. Quickly triage and assign tasks, with progress tracking and alerts, ensures sensitive information is held compliantly, and actions are fully auditable. Customisable permissions and visibility based on roles and concern sensitivity help ensure quick and appropriate incident resolution.

Does Clue write safeguarding policies for sporting organisations?

While Clue is not qualified to provide advice on safeguarding, Clue can help advise sports organisations on writing policies tailored to their specific needs and requirements based on our knowledge of the software. We can help to ensure software use follows local and national laws and regulations, as well as best practice standards in managing safeguarding reports and cases in Clue.

What training is provided? Who is the training for?

Clue provides comprehensive training to sports organisations on how to use its safeguarding software effectively. The training covers topics such as how to report safeguarding concerns, how to triage and assign tasks, how to manage cases, and how to maintain data integrity. The training is suitable for anyone who is responsible for safeguarding in sports organisations, including coaches, managers, administrators, and safeguarding officers.

Why should you choose Clue for safeguarding?

Clue is trusted for managing sports integrity risk by organisations including the ITIA, International Cricket Council, Genius Sports, Esports Integrity Commission, RFU, Biathlon Integrity Unit and many more.

Clue provides a secure and confidential platform for receiving safeguarding concerns, early detection of systematic behaviour, secure data sharing, and robust case management. Clue’s safeguarding software is configurable to meet the specific needs of each sports organisation.

Learn more about Clue for Sports Integrity and Safeguarding and talk to our Head of Sport.