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This study draws on Bernstein’s theory and Frame Factor Theory to examine coaches’ perceivedknowledge, awareness, value, and compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rightsof the Child (UNCRC) and the relationship between these factors. A questionnaire was created tomeasure these factors and was shown to provide a satisfactory model fit using ConfirmatoryFactor Analysis. A total of 1234 coaches completed the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics indicatedthat coaches often comply with the UNCRC, have moderate knowledge/awareness of it, andvalue it moderately. Multiple linear regression revealed that knowledge, awareness, and value positivelyaffect compliance. No significant differences were found between coaches of children andyouth. Coaches received limited UNCRC knowledge and support from coach education programs,sports clubs, and National Sports Organizations. The results reveal areas of coachingthat require further development to improve the implementation of children’s rights togetherwith a need for more support and better education within the sports system. Finally, the studyargues for more explanatory research on factors that benefit and hinder the UNCRC’simplementation.

The aim of this study was to contribute to the research field of children’s rights in sports by synthesizing the scientific approaches applied and topics addressed in previous social science research focused on children’s rights per se. A scoping literature review was conducted via database searches (Scopus, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus). The search strategy yielded 44 articles eligible for inclusion. The analysis showed that the articles covered 17 identified topics in total, most frequently abuse. Fewer than half had a direct focus on children’s rights in sports. The research was mostly descriptive, non-theoretical and encompassed few countries, sports and ages. The sample of empirical studies generally encompassed child participants or international policy and regulations. In conclusion, studies with more explanatory and theoretical designs and a clearer, direct focus on children’s rights would be beneficial for enhancing general and theoretical understanding of children’s rights and explaining associated problems.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in Sweden has been ratified (1989), included in sports policy (2009) and become an official Swedish law (2020). Sweden is one of the world's most sporting nations in relation to its geography and population and children's rights should be protected in sports in order to be a safe field of education and socialization for the children. However, several examples of abuse, lack of participation, normalizing injuries and generally events characterized by lack of rightsbased perspective have been reported in Swedish and international research. The purpose of this paper was to shed light on those different kinds of violations of children’s rights in sports. More specifically, this conceptual paper highlighted an uncertainty about how children's rights are viewed by people in sports as well as the fact that a violation of children's rights is often open to interpretation because of the existence of several "grey areas". Furthermore, this paper pointed out that when researchers try to explain why coaches violate children’s rights, they focus on the "winning at all costs" culture, the culture of silence and the player-coach relationship. This leaves out other important reasons such as: 1) sociocultural pressures that coaches undergo, 2) coaches' education and 3) the nature of UNCRC. This paper ends with the author arguing for the reasons of why it is important to investigate those three factors and shaping research questions that will be used for the author's PhD thesis.