Child safety in hockey abroad: host families and who to contact

Why this is its own question

A club offer usually describes the team, the role and sometimes the money. It rarely says who looks after a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old in the evening, who answers the phone at night or who decides if the child needs a doctor. Those answers are part of the offer. Ask for them in writing before paying or booking travel, and keep the replies together with the offer itself. The 15-point offer checklist covers the contract; this page covers the child.

1. Name the responsible adult

Ask for one named adult who is responsible for the player day to day, and a named deputy. Record:

• full name, role (coach, house parent, host parent, boarding staff) and employer;
• phone and email, and which languages the person speaks;
• who can take medical decisions when parents cannot be reached, and what written authority the parents must provide;
• who the child can talk to apart from the coach, and how to reach that person.

It helps if the person who decides selection and ice time is not the only adult the child can turn to. That is an EHA recommendation, not a rule of any federation.

2. If the child will live with a host family

Ask the club how families are chosen and who approves them. Hockey Canada's national billeting package is a useful benchmark. It sets out criminal-record and vulnerable-sector screening for all household members aged 19 and over, an in-home interview, reference checks, orientation, ongoing supervision, a private bedroom for the player (shared only with a teammate, never with other household members), an obligation for the family to uphold school attendance and an anti-hazing appendix. It is a Canadian framework and individual leagues and teams apply it themselves. A European club may work differently, so ask whether it takes equivalent steps instead of assuming it does.

• Who selected the family, and was every adult in the home screened? What does local law allow the club to check?
• Has someone from the club visited the home and met the family?
• Will the child have a private room, or share only with a teammate?
• What are the house rules: meals, curfew, phone, visitors, transport to school and the rink?
• Does the family receive payment, from whom and under what agreement?
• What happens if the placement does not work? Can the child change family without losing the roster place?

3. If the child will live in a boarding house or dormitory

• Who supervises in the evening and at night, and what are their qualifications and hours?
• Does the player share a room, and with whom (same age group or older players)?
• Who monitors school attendance and homework?
• Who handles discipline and complaints, and is there a person outside the hockey staff?
• Is there medical support on site or a named clinic?

What national frameworks exist, and what they do not prove

The fact-checks behind EHA's junior pages found safeguarding frameworks in several countries, but no federation-wide housing or billeting model in Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Slovakia or Germany. Housing is a club-level matter there, so the questions above matter.

• Canada. Beyond the billeting package, the CHL runs the Respect Hockey Culture Center, an independent third-party reporting platform launched in October 2023 for reports of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination.
• USA. The NCDC's own Player Safety Policies page states that USPHL adheres to USA Hockey's SafeSport Program and names policies on locker rooms, travel and electronic communications. When it was checked the page appeared not fully current, so treat it as the league's statement, not a guarantee.
• Germany. The DEB publishes a Safe Sport toolkit that helps clubs write their own child-protection concept. It is guidance for clubs to implement, not one binding policy. Housing is arranged by clubs: some run boarding houses, and some recruit host families.
• Switzerland. Swiss Sport Integrity (established 2022) is the independent national ethics and reporting body, and it covers minor athletes and their guardians. The SIHF states that it adheres to it and that coaches and supervisory staff have a mandatory reporting duty. The SIHF training-contract template lists housing or a host family as an individually negotiated item.
• Finland. The Finnish Olympic Committee runs a national safe-sport framework (“Et ole yksin”). How the Finnish federation applies it at club level could not be confirmed from a primary source.
• Sweden. The Swedish Sports Confederation (RF) publishes its “Trygg idrott” material. No universal housing model was found.
• Czechia. The national ethics code requires each sport federation to appoint a federation-level safeguarding officer. Whether the Czech hockey federation has published its own child-safeguarding policy could not be confirmed.

A published framework shows that a reporting route exists. It does not show that a given club follows it.

Red flags

• the club will not name the responsible adult or give the type and location of the housing before travel;
• “housing will be arranged on arrival”, or the host is a friend of the coach with no screening;
• the coach is also the landlord or controls the child's money and documents;
• limits on calls home, or messages discouraging the child from telling parents about problems;
• no written plan for school attendance;
• pressure to send the child before the documents, insurance and transfer are confirmed.

Who to contact when something goes wrong

1. The named responsible adult and the club's welfare contact. Ask for the welfare or safeguarding contact before departure, if the club has one.
2. The league or federation reporting route, where one exists. Examples are the CHL's Respect Hockey Culture Center, Swiss Sport Integrity and the DEB's Safe Sport contact. Find the right one for the country before the season, not during a crisis.
3. Emergency services. In the EU 112 works from any phone. In Canada and the USA the number is 911. For a child at risk, call the local police or the child-protection authority. The child's embassy or consulate can help with documents and contact in a serious case.
4. EHA. Write to us. We can help you work out the right channel and what to document. We are not an investigating body and cannot replace the authorities.

Keep screenshots, messages and dates. Do not wait for the end of the season to act on a safety concern.

Related

For the full junior decision see the parent guide and the route comparison. For paperwork see the documents guide. To plan the family budget use the season cost calculator.

FAQ