They’re too young to bet.
Betting already reaches them.
Under-18 athletes can’t legally bet in Alberta. But betting already reaches them: through ads and influencers, through the sports they follow and talk about, through older teammates, and, as they move up, as the people bets are placed on. AWARE brings betting-risk education to Alberta’s high-school and youth club teams, delivered by university athletes from the same sport, with the coach present.
One session, in your team’s own room.
The Team Session is built for under-18 athletes on Alberta’s high-school and youth club teams, boys and girls. It is about risk, not technique. We never teach betting math or how to bet.
A volleyball player for volleyball teams, a hockey player for hockey teams. Every ambassador is screened, including a vulnerable sector check, and trained before their first session.
A coach, teacher or team staff member is always present. We come only when a school or club invites us, and parents get notice at least 7 days before.
The law, how betting reaches young athletes, integrity, and where help lives. Free to every team, school and club.
Pilot sessions with a small number of teams are planned for spring 2027, with a full launch alongside fall high-school sports in September 2027. University athlete? Become an ambassador →
Alberta has the rules and the player education. We carry them into the team room.
Alberta already funds research, treatment, player education through GameSense, and self-exclusion. We don’t duplicate any of it. We add the piece we found missing: education for the under-18 athletes on Alberta’s teams, and the parents around them:
- The law, plainly: under 18 means no gambling in Alberta, online or in person.
- AGLC’s integrity rule (SRIG s. 4.6.1), taught before athletes turn 18, before they are ever in a position to break it.
- GameSense’s resources for parents, passed to every family we reach.
- Every session points athletes to the help Alberta already provides.
We don’t replace anything Alberta already runs. We carry its rules and supports into the team room, and point every athlete and parent back to them.AWARE Community Foundation
Youth games are off Alberta’s betting menu. Young athletes still meet betting.
Alberta’s standards let regulated sites offer bets only where most participants are 18 or older (AGLC SRIG s. 4.6.5), so high-school and U18 club games are not on the menu. But young athletes are also fans, followers and teammates. And even at university level, most athletes surveyed did not know their sport’s betting rules.
Sources: School Sport Alberta (formerly the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association), published figures. Smith et al., University of Lethbridge / University of Calgary, preliminary findings presented at the Alberta Gambling Research Institute conference, April–May 2026 (20 post-secondary student-athletes). Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey 2025 (Ontario figures; the 2025 online sports-betting question is broader than in earlier years and includes online sports lotteries, pools and fantasy sports). NCAA national study on sports wagering among 18–22 year olds (Opinion Diagnostics, 3,527 respondents, 2023). NCAA research on betting-related harassment, November 2025. The Ontario and US figures are context, not Alberta data. Organizations are named for context only; none has reviewed or endorsed AWARE. Alberta has not run a youth gambling survey since 2005 (Alberta Gambling Research Institute, research plan 2025); a youth baseline study, with parental consent and ethics approval, is planned for the 2027–28 season. Read the full picture →
Four programs. Free to every team.
Built for under-18 athletes, the coaches and athletic directors who lead them, and the families around them. Delivered inside sport, at the invitation of the school or club.
The Team Session
45 to 60 minutes in the team’s own space, with the coach present, delivered by a university athlete from the same sport. The law, how betting reaches young athletes, integrity, and where help lives.
See the session →High-Performance Integrity
An add-on for provincial, high-performance and junior-age teams moving toward levels where games can be bet on: inside information, approaches, who to tell, and handling harassment online.
See the add-on →Coach & AD Briefing
30 minutes, before or after the team session: the rules, spotting warning signs, what to do when an athlete reports something, and where to refer them.
See the briefing →Families
A free printable Family Guide, publishing summer 2027, plus optional parent sessions: talking to teens about betting, warning signs, the law, and where help lives. Never behind an email wall.
See the guide →We don’t need to invent the lesson. We need to bring it to Alberta.
The Responsible Gambling Council’s Beyond the Game is a free, roughly 30-minute, facilitator-led module for Grade 11–12 student-athletes and their coaches. It launched in December 2025 and is currently available in Ontario.
We intend to seek to become the Alberta delivery partner for Beyond the Game, subject to the Responsible Gambling Council’s agreement. We would add sport-matched ambassadors and an Alberta module on the law, integrity rules, harassment awareness and Alberta help.
Industry-funded. Independently governed. Publicly accountable.
Independence is not a value statement here. It is what lets coaches and parents trust a youth program that licensed operators help fund.
Three founding directors, with a co-founder as interim chair; an independent majority is being recruited before any funding agreement is signed.
Funder names, logos and marks never appear in sessions, materials or communications for under-18 athletes, schools or clubs. No ambassador ever appears in operator marketing. We never hide who funds us. Once agreements are signed, every funder is listed on our Accountability page, and any school, club or parent who asks gets a straight answer.
All partner money goes into one pool, with no program credit. No funder influences curriculum, ambassadors, evaluation or research. It will be written into every funding agreement.
Bring it to your team
Coaches, athletic directors, teachers, club administrators and parents. Every session is free to the team, school or club, and happens only at your invitation.
Fund independent youth prevention
Licensed operators can contribute to one pooled fund, recognized as Founding, Supporting or Community Partners in adult-facing materials only. No program credit, no say over what is taught or who teaches it, and no funder branding anywhere near minors.