USA Swimming Safe Sport Newsletter - August, 2020

USA Swimming’s Board of Directors is excited to announce a new incentive to help continue Safe Sport Club Recognition's positive trajectory.

To read more about this incentive, read the article below.

On April 24, 2020 the Board of Directors approved changes to the USA Swimming Corporate Bylaws, two changes directly impact member club administration. To see these changes please click here. To view the meeting minutes please click here.

USA Swimming launched its new website on Monday, June 22. Take some time to get familiar with the new format, specifically the new Safe Sport tabs along the top of the page. Make sure you set a reminder for Trials and other national events!

Visit the Safe Sport homepage at usaswimming.org/safesport, and make sure the Safe Sport links on your website are linked to the correct site and documents!

The Safe Sport Award Nominations deadline has been extended until July 31, 2020. Make sure to recognize someone, or a group of people, who have helped implement Safe Sport’s mission to provide a healthy, positive, and safe environment for athletes throughout this past year. Fill out the easy, one-page form below.

Congratulations to John Ingraham, winner of the 2019 Safe Sport Impact Award!

To read more about John's efforts, and to nominate someone for the 2020 award, click the link below.

Two new Safe Sport activity books are available! This is a great opportunity to have multiple age groups (5-11 years old and 12-18 years old) understand the importance of Safe Sport. Hard copy books will be available to purchase, while the downloadable PDFs can be found below. Stay alert for future updates on this great resource.
 

• 5-11 year old activity book

• 12-18 year old activity book

Safe Sport Tip Sheet
This is a newly created free resource for all teams who have become Safe Sport Club Recognized. This document includes a sample email, social media posts, and a press release which your team can use to spread the word about its amazing accomplishment. Take a look by clicking here!

Meet 360
Meet 360 is an informational resource guide intended to assist meet administrators in creating a healthy and positive environment. To download a copy of this guide, please click here.

Mental Health Podcasts
This podcast from the U.S. Center for Safe Sport engages coaches and parents to check in with their athletes and ensure they are mentally well. It includes tips on how to identify signs and symptoms of a struggling child and how to ensure they get the help they need. Listen now!

Safe Sport trainings are held semi-monthly, August 2020 trainings are:

Parent:

• Wednesday, August 12 at 1:00 p.m. EST

• Wednesday, August 26 at 8:00 p.m. EST

Athlete:

• Thursday, August 13 at 1:00 p.m. EST

• Thursday, August 27 at 8:00 p.m. EST

Coach:

• Friday, August 14 at 1:00 p.m. EST

To help us schedule future trainings, please let us know your availability by filling out our survey here. See below for full description and links for August trainings. 

Keep Us in the Loop

• We want to know what your LSC & teams are doing – send us a picture at safesport@usaswimming.org with a brief description to be featured online or in our next newsletter!

Athlete Protection Training

• USA Swimming recognizes the required training course may not be appropriate for some adult athlete members with cognitive disabilities. For any such adult athlete member, please reference this information for exemptions and accommodations.
  
  Additionally, completing this training may be triggering or re-traumatizing for victims/survivors. Exemptions for this requirement may be made on a case-by-case basis. Requests may be made to USA Swimming at learn@usaswimming.org.

 

Materials

• Safe Sport materials can be bought here, with proceeds going to support the U.S. National Team!

We asked all Safe Sport Chairs what they would like to see from Safe Sport in the next year, above were the top three answers:

Next Quarter's Question:

• Does your team or LSC use social media?

  • Yes, often

  • Yes, but not often

  • No, but we would like to

  • No

Click the button below to submit your response!