
Child Safeguarding in Sport Through a Systems Thinking Lens
Child safeguarding is a fundamental obligation of sporting organisations at every level of the sport system e.g. clubs, leagues, state and national bodies, and global
Leverage Point Consulting
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“This project is about moving beyond symptoms to understand the complex systems that enable doping in sport”
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This book showcases how Human Factors and Ergonomics are being applied to improve performance, safety, and system design in sport. With insights from leading researchers and practitioners, it explores real-world applications across a range of sports, offering a valuable resource for academics, practitioners, and sports organisations alike.

Child safeguarding is a fundamental obligation of sporting organisations at every level of the sport system e.g. clubs, leagues, state and national bodies, and global

This article was first published in The Conversation on October 22, 2025 11.22am AEDT Ange Postecoglou’s sackings may say more about the Premier League’s attention

The role of Global Sports Organisations (GSO’s) is to protect the integrity of the multi-billion-dollar sports industry through governance and regulation. For example, GSO’s provide
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with Scott now for a number of years on projects that are both focussed on academic research and creating impact within a sporting organisation. He brings great insight to the table in relation to both knowledge and methods around system approaches. His experience and awareness of the context and operation of sporting organisations enable him to translate his understanding and techniques very effectively. This is key to successfully delivering impactful projects. His flexible working style, positive personality and drive to complete tasks on time makes him a great work colleague and one who can deliver high quality outputs to time.”
Professor Barry Drust
Director of The Graduate School of Sport and Professional Practice
University of Birmingham
“I have had the pleasure of engaging with Scott as a funding agency for three projects financed by WADA. Each project was delivered on time and in a very professional manner with no fuss. The research itself was extremely insightful and informative for the work of anti-doping. The idea of doping as a complex wicked problem has been understood and highlighted for a number of years, the research of Scott and his colleagues has illuminated this space in a way that makes understanding such a complex issue accessible. By conceptualising anti-doping through a systems thinking approach, it has given anti-doping practitioners and policy-makers a new lens in which to think about preventing doping beyond the traditional paradigm. At WADA, we have used his concepts and models to communicate complicated messages at global conferences.
As well as helping to understand the system at the higher level, Scott’s research has also provided insight into the constituent parts of this overarching problem, namely things like understanding unintentional doping and its risk factors, including supplement use. This allows for a more atomic comprehension of the behaviours that athletes might engage in that can lead to doping violations, which in turn can directly inform how anti-doping agencies educate athletes beyond abstract warnings.
Scott is a very collegial person to work with on a personal level, and I look forward to working with him again in the future. “
Tony Cunningham
Head of Research and Policy, Education
World Anti-Doping Agency
“Working with Scott has been immensely useful. His approach to examining system issues has improved my thinking and reasoning and helped me find solutions I couldn’t previously see. Whilst his work helped me address specific questions, the techniques are generalizable to many issues and have benefitted me far beyond the areas I initially wanted to examine.”