SAFE SPORT TRAINING
TRAINING FAQS
WHAT IS SAFESPORT TRAINING?
SafeSport training refers to the “Core SafeSport Training” created and offered by the U.S. Center for SafeSport consisting of three modules: (1) Sexual Misconduct Awareness Education, (2) Mandatory Reporting, and (3) Emotional & Physical Misconduct as well as the “Refresher” courses offered by the U.S. Center for SafeSport to all individuals who have already taken the Core SafeSport Training.
IS MY ORGANIZATION REQUIRED TO OFFER AND PROVIDE TRAINING?
Public Law 115-126, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 (the “SafeSport Act”), requires applicable amateur sports organizations to offer and provide consistent training to adult members in regular contact with minor amateur athletes and, subject to parental consent, to members who are minors, regarding prevention and reporting of child abuse.
In addition, U.S. Soccer’s Athlete and Participant Safety Policy available here requires each Organization Member that is required to comply with the SafeSport Act or otherwise is required to have a risk management program under Bylaw 212 to maintain, as part of that risk management program, an athlete and participant safety program that includes a policy requiring education and training designed to meet the Organization Member’s obligations under the SafeSport Act to (1) Organization Member employees; (2) Participating Adults; and (3) Youth Participants.
The Core SafeSport Training meets U.S. Soccer’s requirement and is expressly designed to meet the SafeSport Act.
MY ORGANIZATION IS REQUIRED TO OFFER AND PROVIDE TRAINING. ARE WE REQUIRED TO USE THE SAFESPORT CORE TRAINING?
A U.S. Soccer Organization Member may provide alternative training to the Core Center for SafeSport Training, but it is strongly encouraged to use the Core Center for SafeSport Training, and any alternative training is at the risk of the Organization Member. If an Organization Member provides alternative training, it shall not refer to such training as “SafeSport” Training. Organization Members may always offer training in addition to SafeSport Training.
MY ORGANIZATION HAS DECIDED TO USE SAFESPORT TRAINING. WHICH COURSE SHOULD BE TAKEN?
The “Core SafeSport Training” meets the requirements of USSF’s Athlete and Participant Safety Policy. It consists of three modules:
— Sexual Misconduct Awareness Education
— Mandatory Reporting, and
— Emotional & Physical Misconduct
Once a Participant has taken all three modules, they have met the “SafeSport Trained” requirement. In the future, they will only need to take the SafeSport Refresher Course available beginning October 1, 2018.
Anyone who has NOT completed the core SafeSport Training requirement (which consists of Sexual Misconduct Awareness Education, Mandatory Reporting, and Emotional & Physical Misconduct) should complete those courses and NOT the Refresher.
WHAT IS THE SAFESPORT “REFRESHER” TRAINING COURSE?
Anyone who HAS completed the Core SafeSport Trained requirement, should complete Refresher 1: Recognizing and Reporting Misconduct. Participants can simply go to https://safesport.org and sign in — the Refresher course will be available to them on their “Learning Dashboard”.
Anyone who has NOT completed the core SafeSport Training requirement (which consists of Sexual Misconduct Awareness Education, Mandatory Reporting, and Emotional & Physical Misconduct) should complete those courses and NOT the Refresher.
NEW USERS VS. RETURNING USERS TO WWW.SAFESPORT.ORG
Throughout 2017 and 2018, USSF provided its members with a custom link to share with their participants/members, who then registered on safesport.org. USSF members can continue to use that link for any new users. If members who have already created an account in the system use the custom link again, they will receive an error message that their email address has already been used. They should sign in instead of creating another account.
Any participant who already has an account should simply go to https://safesport.org and sign in. If they do not remember their password, they should click on the forgot password link and reset their password. If users choose to create a new account instead of signing in to their existing account, they will have to take the core SafeSport Trained requirement again (three 30-minute courses) as opposed to the Refresher (30 minutes).
WHAT HAPPENS ONCE MEMBERS ARE SIGNED IN TO WWW.SAFESPORT.ORG ?
Once participants sign in to safesport.org, they will be able to find the appropriate course (or courses) they need to complete on their “Learning Dashboard”. Participants who have not completed the core SafeSport Trained requirement will NOT be eligible to take the Refresher, while Participants who have completed the core SafeSport Trained requirement will only have the option to complete the Refresher.
I AM A USSF MEMBER OR MEMBER AFFILIATED-CLUB. HOW DO I TRACK WHICH OF MY COACHES HAVE MET THE SAFESPORT TRAINED REQUIREMENT?
USSF is working with the U.S. Center for SafeSport to provide access to appropriate Application Programming Interfaces to its members to support electronic tracking. In the meantime, we encourage you to ask your Participants to email you their “SafeSport Trained” certificate, which they can download from their personalized Learning Dashboard at: https://safesport.org. Importantly, you should only accept the final “SafeSport Trained” certificate or the Refresher certificate and not a certificate from one of the three core modules.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD MY PARTICIPANTS TAKE THE TRAINING?
Effective [DATE], USSF requires and training designed to meet the Organization Member’s obligations under the SafeSport Act to (1) Organization Member employees; (2) Participating Adults; and (3) Youth Participants. Pursuant to USOC and U.S. Center for SafeSport Policy, and as contemplated by the SafeSport Act, Participating Adults are required to complete training concerning child abuse prevention.
To allow USSF’s Organization Members adequate opportunity to ensure policy changes and compliance, policies, procedures and communications to Participating Adults regarding these requirements must be calculated to effect compliance on or before September 1, 2019. These policies must require Participating Adults to complete either 1) the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s Core Center for SafeSport Training (i.e., the Center’s online training or the Center’s approved in-person training); or 2) similar training designed to meet the Organization Member’s obligations under the SafeSport Act upon the earlier of:
— Before regular contact with an amateur athlete who is a minor begins,
— Within the first 45 days of initial membership, or upon beginning a new role subjecting the participating adult to this policy; and
— All continuing Adult Participants no later than September 1, 2019.
An Organization Member may provide alternative training to the Core Center for SafeSport Training, but it is strongly encouraged to use the Core Center for SafeSport Training, and any alternative training is at the risk of the Organization Member. If an Organization Member provides alternative training, it shall not refer to such training as “SafeSport” Training.
WHAT ABOUT MINOR ATHLETES? IS TRAINING AVAILABLE FOR MY SOCCER PLAYERS?
The U.S. Center for SafeSport currently is working on age-appropriate training for players. When this training is available, USSF will communicate its availability via our member newsletters, conference calls, and this web-site. We expect the training to be available before the end of 2019.