The Erasmus+ Sport Cooperation Partnership project 'Safeguarding European Tennis — Building a Safer Future (SAFE TENNIS)' was officially launched on 16 February 2026 in Oslo, Norway. The kick-off meeting brought together 12 representatives from six partner organisations across seven countries, marking the beginning of a two-year initiative to strengthen safeguarding governance, policy, and capacity-building in European tennis.
Why SAFE TENNIS Matters
While safeguarding is increasingly recognised as a priority across the sport sector, its systematic implementation in tennis remains significantly underdeveloped. The SAFE TENNIS project responds to this gap by building evidence-based safeguarding structures that protect the most vulnerable stakeholders — children and young athletes — while supporting federations, coaches, tournament organisers, and administrators in creating safer sporting environments.
Kick-Off Meeting Highlights
Hosted by Collective Innovation AS at its headquarters in Oslo, the meeting established the operational framework for the project and aligned all partners on objectives, methodology, and timelines.
A key highlight was the theoretical presentation delivered by Cem Tinaz from The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), which established the academic foundation for the project. The presentation defined the concept of a "safe sport environment," distinguished between safeguarding and child protection, and mapped the risk landscape across individual, organisational, and systemic levels — setting a shared conceptual framework for the entire consortium.
The consortium reviewed the four-pillar project roadmap:
- WP1 — Project Management & Coordination (Lead: Collective Innovation AS): Establishing governance structures, communication channels, and quality assurance mechanisms for the full project duration.
- WP2 — Research & Needs Analysis (Lead: THUAS): A rigorous multi-method research programme including literature review across multiple sports, surveys targeting 200–400 young players aged 12–18 across four countries, and in-depth interviews with federation leaders and governance professionals — all conducted in native languages to ensure cultural sensitivity and data quality.
- WP3 — Safeguarding Training Manual Development: Creation of an interactive, evidence-based training manual incorporating case studies, practical guidelines, and strategic safeguarding interventions, complemented by online training modules and a stakeholder pilot phase.
- WP4 — Training Participant Selection & Implementation (Lead: Turkish Tennis Federation): Coordinating the identification and selection of training participants across diverse stakeholder groups — including coaches, referees, tournament organisers, and administrators — to maximise reach and impact.
The Consortium
The SAFE TENNIS consortium brings together a diverse and complementary partnership:
• Collective Innovation AS (Norway) — Project Coordinator
• The Hague University of Applied Sciences — THUAS (Netherlands) — Research Lead
• Turkish Tennis Federation (Türkiye)
• Lithuanian Tennis Union (Lithuania)
• Hungarian Tennis Federation (Hungary)
• Romanian Tennis Federation (Romania)
The project also benefits from the strategic involvement of Tennis Europe, the regional governing body for tennis, whose participation at the kick-off meeting underlines the sector-wide relevance of the initiative.
Next Steps
With the kick-off successfully completed, the consortium now moves into the research phase (WP2), with survey design and ethical clearance procedures already underway. Regular consortium meetings — both in-person and virtual — will ensure continuous alignment and quality throughout the project's two-year duration. Further updates will be published here in due course.