Resources Available for Advancing Safety in Sport

In every town and neighborhood across the nation, sports play an important part in the lives of millions of children. As principals, superintendents, athletic directors, and other adults in the lives of high school athletes, you know this better than most.

At the most fundamental level, every young athlete deserves the right to play safely. Every young athlete should be able to access the benefits of sport – from physical and mental health to life skills like the importance of doing your best and being a good teammate.

While this is the case for most, unfortunately, it is not the case for all.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport (the Center) is working to shift sport culture to ensure athletes are better protected. Like you, we know the ways in which sports have long-lasting benefits. A nationwide survey conducted earlier this year by the Center found that 72 percent of athletes strongly agreed that their athletic experience has had a positive impact on their life.

At the same time, 78 percent of athletes surveyed shared that they had experienced behaviors related to emotional harm and neglect during their sports involvement, and 11 percent of athletes indicated that they had experienced unwanted sexual contact or sexually explicit behaviors during their sports involvement. This is unacceptable.

As the Center works to prevent sexual, physical and emotional abuse in sports through education, proactive policies and accountability, it is important for us to connect to those with a stake in athlete safety and share lessons learned. The resources below can complement the online education course Protecting Students from Abuse on the NFHS Learning Center (www.nfhslearn.com), which is a collaborative effort between the NFHS and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, as well as NFHS campaigns like #WeSeeYou and #BenchBadBehavior. We know that shifting sport culture is going to take all of us.

About the Center
The U.S. Center for SafeSport emerged in response to high-profile cases of sexual abuse of minor athletes within Olympic and Paralympic sport in the mid-2010s. The Center has jurisdiction over participants across the Olympic and Paralympic movement from elite athletes training to compete for gold, to young children on neighborhood practice fields.

As the first national sport safeguarding body of its kind in the world, the Center has learned lessons and honed best practices as we’ve charted this new territory. Even in sport environments where the Center does not have jurisdiction – like high school settings – our resources, tools and practices can help support the safety and well-being of athletes.

Following are the Center’s Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies, guidance on how to respond to abuse disclosures, and information about our Centralized Disciplinary Database that lists adults who are currently barred from participating in sports within the Olympic and Paralympic movement. We hope these resources can reinforce and augment existing safety efforts at all levels of sport.

Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies to Consider
Establishing proactive prevention policies is one of the first (and easiest) steps in protecting minor athletes. If guidelines and norms are established and followed to limit certain interactions that pose significant risks and prohibit behaviors that are inappropriate, incidents of abuse and misconduct can be mitigated.

The Center has developed specific policy guidance. While many of these policies – known as the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP) – are mandatory for sports within the Olympic and Paralympic movement, they are helpful to consider in all sport settings, including high school athletic programs.

• One-on-one interactions between adults and minors must be observable and interruptible.

• No one should be recording or photographing in locker/changing rooms, and adults should never change clothes in front of minors or behave in a way that exposes themselves.

• Electronic communication between adults and minors should be open and transparent, and should be professional in nature. This could mean that communication includes the parent/guardian or other adults. Further, only electronic platforms that can be open and transparent should be used.

• An adult should not travel with a child alone unless there is written parental/guardian consent (which can be withdrawn at any time).

• An adult should not share a room or otherwise sleep in the same room with a minor unless there is written consent provided by the parent/guardian prior to the lodging arrangement.

• Adults should not give personal gifts to minors unless they are distributed equally to a group of minors and/or are educational.

• Adults should not share or post photos or videos of minors unless proper consent has been obtained from the minor and the minor’s parent/guardian.

Many of your schools and athletic programs may have policies like these in effect already, but it never hurts to revisit, enhance and educate staff, volunteers and parents. The complete set of MAAPP policies can be found here.

Mandatory Reporting is Not Enough: Guidance on How to Respond to Abuse Disclosures
Most, if not all, of us are mandatory reporters. While we are legally required to make reports of actual or suspected child abuse, our obligations go beyond that. How we respond matters, and can go a long way in helping to either mitigate or compound trauma. First, being prepared if emotional or physical abuse or misconduct is disclosed is crucial to responding effectively. These considerations should be top-of-mind when developing a response protocol:

• Knowledge – Be well-versed in organizational and legal requirements; know what behavior to look for, expectations on how to respond, and where to report.

• Preparation – Discuss acceptable and unacceptable behavior with athletes.

• Time – Respond quickly to prevent behaviors from escalating and harm from continuing.

• Consistency – Respond consistently to misconduct, because responding to some situations but not others erodes athlete confidence in the process and fosters further inappropriate behavior.

• Appropriateness – Consider the age and developmental level of those involved; acceptable behaviors, and appropriate responses to those behaviors, may vary.

Second, be prepared in terms of how you respond. It can be hard to know what to say when someone tells you they have experienced misconduct or abuse. But one thing is for certain: they trust you with this important information. Responding to disclosures with care and compassion – and the proper language – can set the tone for an effective response:

• Listen with empathy: Let them tell you at their own pace and give you the details they want to share. Make sure your facial expressions and body language are open and nonjudgmental.

• Be supportive: Thank them for telling you and trusting you. Let them know that it was probably hard to talk about, but you are glad they did.

• Know your role: Unless you are a trained counselor or investigator, do not ask questions to find out more details. Do not try to assess whether information is true. Do not make promises about what will happen or what others will do.

• Remind them you are here to help and that there are others who can help as well.

• Tell them what you will do next: Let them know you are a mandatory reporter of child abuse, who you will make an official report to, and who else you will need to tell. In cases where the child does not want the incident reported, it is still important to be clear with them about what you must do next. Follow necessary policies about notifying parents.

Due Diligence: Database of Restricted or Banned Individuals The Center maintains a Centralized Disciplinary Database (CDD) – a first-of-its-kind resource to keep the public informed when adults connected with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Movement have been restricted or banned from participation in sport.

The CDD is an additional tool that can be helpful in vetting volunteers and coaches. It is updated in real time and lists adults who are currently under restrictions and sanctions. The database is searchable by name, city and sport. Additionally, as part of our growing library of resources, we have a mobile app, SafeSport Ready, that enables access to search the CDD when you are on the go.

Catalyzing Culture Change Together
With more than half of school-age children participating in sports, school administrators, athletic directors and coaches are immensely important in supporting the care and protection of our nation’s young athletes.

Wherever there are young athletes, there is a need to ensure their safety and well-being are prioritized. You can help shape sport culture for this generation and the next by arming yourself with knowledge and being prepared to recognize, prevent and respond to misconduct and abuse.