Tennis Alberta actively supports and promotes safe environments for our participants, coaches, officials, volunteers, and supporters. As part of our commitment to sport safety, we’re announcing upcoming education requirements for parents of junior competitive players.
In partnership with Tennis Canada, Tennis Alberta is piloting required Sport Safety Education Training for parents of junior competitors in the U12 age group and below. Parents of athletes in these groups will be required to complete the Respect in Sport for Parents course.
What are the requirements?
Beginning May 1, 2025, all participants in U12 tournaments at the 2-Star sanction level and above, as well as all Rising Stars (U9/U10) participants, will be required to have at least one parent or guardian complete the Respect in Sport for Parents course. The course must be completed prior to the event’s registration deadline.
About Respect in Sport for Parents
One of the most common reasons coaches, managers, officials, and athletes of all ages cite for leaving sports is unacceptable behaviour from parents. The Respect in Sport Parent Program will help define a standard of behaviour for all parents and create a more rewarding, safe, and respectful environment for everyone involved. Parents want to do a great job supporting their kids. Respect in Sport provides parents with the tools to create and maintain Safe Sport environments.
Program elements include:
- Setting Realistic Expectations
- Handling Winning and Losing
- Balance, Not Burnout
- Concussion and Injury Management
- Misplaced Enthusiasm
- Establishing Positive Relationships With All Sport Stakeholders
- Losing Perspective
- Creating Safe Sport Environments Through Better Understanding of Bullying, Abuse, Harassment, and Discrimination (BAHD)
Learn more about the course by visiting the Respect in Sport website.
How to complete the Respect in Sport for Parents course
- Navigate to http://tpacanadaparent.respectgroupinc.com/
- Select your preferred language
- If this is your first time registering for a Respect Group Program, select “New to this program? Click here to register now,” then select “New User.”.
- Note: If you have an existing Parent Program certificate, select “Already Certified? Import a Certificate” and follow the prompts
- Note: If you have completed other Respect in Sport Programming before, after clicking “New to this program? Click here to register now,” select “Existing User”
- Complete registration and add your child under the Child Management section, which is required to receive credit for the program
- Select “Submit” at the bottom of the page and you will be directed to the payment page
- On the payment page, click Pay Now
- 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 in the “Login Here” section
Note: We encourage you to download or take a screenshot of your completion certificate at the end of the course for your records.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I have already completed the course?
If you have already completed the course administered by another sport, you may use the “Already certified? Import your certificate” function (after navigating to this link: http://tpacanadaparent.respectgroupinc.com/) to share your completion with Tennis Alberta / Tennis Canada. You may also send Tennis Alberta your completion certificate at info@tennisalberta.com.
What if I have completed a similar course?
If you have completed a similar course, Tennis Alberta may accept this as an equivalency. Currently, we accept the following courses as equivalencies:
- Respect in Sport for Activity Leaders
- Coaches Association of Canada Safe Sport Course
- Commit to Kids
If you have completed any of these courses, please send proof of completion to info@tennisalberta.com. You may also inquire at this address about any other similar courses. Tennis Alberta reserves the right to reject an equivalency request.
What happens if I don’t complete the course?
If you have not completed the course, Tennis Alberta may remove your child from the event they have registered for. We are committed to working with our junior parent community to ensure requirements are met, so best efforts will be made to contact those needing to complete the course prior to the registration deadline.
What about other age groups?
While our 2025 outdoor-season pilot requirements only extend to parents of the U12 age group and below, we intend to extend the requirements to parents of other age groups in the future. New age group requirements will be announced in Tennis Alberta’s communication channels in advance.
We encourage all parents to take the course and commit to promoting a safe and respectful environment in our programs and competitions. The course link is available to parents of all age groups.
