• Rules of sports and activities
• Modified rules for children
• Matching of opponents, eg growth and development, skill level
• Use of protective equipment
• Safe grounds, equipment and facilities

Rules of Sports and Activities

• Rules overtly lay out the acceptable and unacceptable conducts of gameplay.
• Rules and regulations in sports prevent behaviours that could bring about physical damage as well as mental complications (anxiety, lack of confidence) and help in consistent flow of game.
• Rules also ensure fair play takes place by both teams as well as promote safety measures for all participants.
• The set rules are generally enforced by the referee or umpire.

Modified Rules for Children

• For under 18 sports, rules need to be amended to meet with gameplay modes of children.
• Amendments and modifications are brought about to ensure child safety and meet special needs (e.g. height – children won’t be able to shoot as high as adults so the netball ring is lowered in netball) as well as give children a similar experience of what the sport is going to be like in later stages.

Matching of Opponents (e.g. Growth and Development, Skill Level)

• For children, variations in terms of weight, height and age could create a hierarchy where the older children might have an advantage in terms of physical strength as compared to a minor.
• To avoid risk of injury, especially in contact sports, size, weight, age, gender, skill and strength should be considered and both teams should have matching player profiles to even the level of competition.

Use of Protective Equipment

• Prevents organs from direct impact of a blow and prevents large scale injury.
• Examples include:
  • Mouthguards
  • Helmets
  • Shin pads
• Protective equipments should fit the player properly, not be obstructive to airflow and be made of comfortable material that allow movement.
• Protective equipment should fit properly, comfortable, allow movement, protect the athlete and allow air flow.

Safe Grounds, Equipment and Facilities

• Before gameplay, the authority should thoroughly scan facilities and venues to ensure all safety protocols have been followed and guidelines have been met.
• The goal of a pre-match monitoring is to ensure no athlete suffers injuries due to using a sub par equipment or playing in an unsafe arena.
• Some steps in the safety checklist include:
  • Surface check – shouldn’t be too rough, shouldn’t be too smooth
  • The playing field should be clear of rubbish, which could contain hazardous substances (physical and chemical). For example, plastic bottles partially field with drinks, chards of glass etc.
  • Lighting should be adequate
  • Infrastructural check