Safe Sport Newsletter - February 2022

This week, USA Swimming released its Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equity and Eligibility Policy. Details on the policy, which is effective immediately, can be found below.

The beginning of the year is the perfect time to reach out to your USA Swimming Zone Safe Sport Chair to check in! Take the time to establish a relationship with your Zone Chair and see if they have any recommendations for you. 

Remember, each Zone Chair can assist in the training of and dissemination of information to LSC Safe Sport Chairs/Coordinators. It is important to know who your Zone Chair is as they will help guide, support and share information with you throughout the year. 

See below for our current USA Swimming Zone Safe Sport Chairs and their email addresses.

Central Zone | Paul Stauder | paul.stauder@att.net
Eastern Zone | Anne Kaufman | nesafesport@gmail.com
Southern Zone | Mike O'Shaughnessy | oshaughmdc@gmail.com
Western Zone | April Walkley | iessafesport@gmail.com

While many know Riptide as the home of 2020 Olympic medalist Regan Smith, the club has also stood out in its Safe Sport practices and policies that has led it to become a USA Swimming Safe Sport Recognized Club.

Registration is now open for the 2022 USA Swimming Workshop, which takes place April 21-24 in Denver, Colorado. This workshop will have content for coaches, Local Swimming Committee members, athlete and non-athlete members.

Safe Sport is committed to creating a healthy environment that is free from abuse for all members. As we continue with virtual learning opportunities throughout 2021, we will be increasing security measures to keep parents, athletes and coaches safe during trainings. All trainings will require individuals to register ahead of time.

In addition, we have enhanced our Safe Sport Trainings' security measures and will have the following in place:

• Meetings will be locked

• Athlete attendees will only have access to chat with hosts 

• Multiple USA Swimming Safe Sport staff will be on all trainings and will monitor participant video share

• Frequent check-ins with attendees

• Screen share and annotation capabilities will be disabled

• Meetings will require registration and athlete training registrations will be cross-checked with USA Swimming member records

• USA Swimming has enabled the At-Risk Meeting Notifier tool from Zoom. This tool searches the public internet for Zoom meeting information and checks the meeting's security settings. Zoom notifies USA Swimming if a meeting appears to be at high risk for being disrupted. This tool is enabled for all USA Swimming hosted Zoom meetings. 

Safe Sport trainings are held monthly, please view trainings dates through March 2021 below: 

Parent Training:

• Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 8 p.m. EDT (REGISTER HERE)

• Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 8 p.m. EDT (REGISTER HERE)

Athlete Training (ages 12-18):

• Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 8 p.m. EDT (REGISTER HERE)

• Wednesday, March 16 at 8 p.m. EDT (REGISTER HERE)

Coach Training:

• Friday, February 25, 2022 at 3 p.m. EDT (REGISTER HERE)

• Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 3 p.m. EDT (REGISTER HERE)

If you cannot attend these trainings, athletes and parents can independently complete trainings using the USA Swimming LEARN platform. Click the link below for more info on Safe Sport trainings.

Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy
Stay up-to-date on all things related to MAAPP. 

Safe Sport Club Recognition Tips Sheet
Has your club achieved Safe Sport Club Recognition? Use our Tips Sheet to help spread the word. 

Coaching Boys Into Men and Athletes As Leaders Cards
These free, digital cards are available for clubs on USA Swimming's Safe Sport Team Talk page. 

Parent Resource Guide
Although these were sent to every USA Swimming member household, save the digital copy for future reference!

Guide to Child Physical Abuse
Whether you are a coach or volunteer, become familiar with this guide.