Athlete Safety - US Sailing

U.S. CENTER FOR SAFESPORT

The U.S. Center for SafeSport is a national independent non-profit organization. The Center believes that all athletes deserve to participate in sports free from any form of emotional, physical and sexual misconduct.

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How to Report Misconduct

Report To The US Center For SafeSport

The US Center for SafeSport has exclusive jurisdiction to investigate and resolve allegations of sexual misconduct.

Known or suspected incidents of child abuse, including sexual abuse, must be reported to the US Center for SafeSport. Please note that you are also required to report such incidents to the appropriate law enforcement agency: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/responding/reporting/how/.
Known or suspected incidents of sexual misconduct – regardless of whether the victim is a minor – must be reported to the US Center for SafeSport.

Report Here

Report To US Sailing or your Local Sailing Organization

Who is the U.S. Center for SafeSport?

Who is Required to Take SafeSport Training?

Mandatory Reporting

Take SafeSport Training

Abuse Prevention Policies

Athlete Safety Resources

(Athlete Safety Toolkit)

Who is the U.S. Center for SafeSport?

Established in 2017, the U.S. Center for SafeSport is the independent and exclusive authority directed by Congress to prevent and respond to all forms of abuse and misconduct within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. The Center is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

The Center receives, investigates, and responds to reports of abuse and misconduct from individuals affiliated with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USPOPC) and its National Governing Bodies (NGBs). The Center ensures that the USPOC and NGBs properly apply policies and procedures to govern abuse prevention and maintains a database of individuals sanctioned from participation in their sport.

Throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Movement, the Center trains athletes, parents, coaches, volunteers, and organizations at all levels on best practices and principles for preventing abuse in sport settings. In doing so, the Center advances its mission of making athlete well-being the center of our nation's sports culture through abuse prevention, education, and accountability.

US Sailing incorporates The Center’s Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Program (“MAAPP”) which is a comprehensive program of abuse prevention, including:

SafeSport Training
Abuse Prevention Policies
Mandatory reporting requirements for adults

These measures are informed by experts in the field of child safety and are among the strongest safeguards found in youth-serving organizations.

As a member of the USOPC, US Sailing supports the Center’s mission to create a healthy, supportive environment for all participants by providing education, resources, and training to all of our individual and organizational members.

Who is Required to Take SafeSport Training?

Education is a key component of any abuse and misconduct prevention strategy. US Sailing encourages all members to complete the Center’s SafeSport Trained course. US Sailing requires adult members who have been authorized, appointed, or approved to have regular contact with or authority over minor sailing participants to take SafeSport Training. In addition, in accordance with the Center’s Education and Training Policy, US Sailing requires SafeSport Training for adults who are approved by organizational members to have regular contact with or authority over minor sailing participants. Those individuals required to complete SafeSport Training must take the full “SafeSport Trained” course once every four years and a “Refresher” course in each of the intervening years. Once you complete the online course, your SafeSport Training will be logged on to your membership record in the US Sailing database.
SafeSport training is a free online course that provides education on:

Sexual Misconduct Awareness
Emotional and Physical Misconduct
Mandatory Reporting (Understanding Your Responsibilities)

By being better educated and more aware of the various types of misconduct and how to recognize them, each of us can make our sport safer and help end abuse in sport.

Mandatory Reporting

The following adults are considered mandatory reporters under federal law:

Any member, employee, or volunteer of US Sailing or a US Sailing organizational member
Any other individuals who have been authorized, approved or appointed by US Sailing or a US Sailing organizational member to have regular contact with minor sailing participants

Any adult who falls within these categories who reasonably suspects that a minor sailing participant has suffered an incident of child abuse, including sexual abuse, must immediately make a report of the suspected behavior to both (1) local law enforcement and (2) the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

The Center accepts all reports of sexual abuse and child abuse within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. Report here, if you have reasonable suspicion of sexual misconduct or harassment, child abuse (including child sexual abuse), or intimate relationships involving an imbalance of power.

Take SafeSport Training

Existing User Login

You will be redirected to the U.S. Center for SafeSport Training homepage. Click Login in the upper right corner of the page.

Special Note For First Time Users of SafeSport’s New Absorb Training Platform: The U.S. Center for SafeSport transitioned to a new training platform hosted by Absorb in April 2021 and your previous SafeSport Training records have been migrated to the new Absorb training platform. To activate your new account, enter the email address you have previously used for SafeSport Training, and click Forgot Password. This will send a password reset notification to your SafeSport Training email address. Follow the instructions to create a new, secure password and log into the training site.

Once logged into your SafeSport Dashboard, select the My Courses tab to view your outstanding SafeSport Training requirements and course completion history.

New User Registration

New SafeSport users will be redirected to the U.S. Center for SafeSport Training dashboard and prompted to create a personal SafeSport Training account. During registration, US Sailing members must provide their US Sailing Member ID in the Membership ID box. All users, including those who are not US Sailing members, must list US Sailing as the required Sport Organization.

Once logged into your SafeSport Training Dashboard, scroll down to your Catalog and enroll in the SafeSport Trained – NGB1 course. The course will populate in your My Courses tab and you can begin the curriculum.

Abuse Prevention Policies

Establishing clear boundaries reduces the risk of physical, sexual, and emotional misconduct as well as opportunities for bullying, harassment, and hazing. Studies show that the majority of child sexual abuse is perpetrated in isolated, one-on-one situations. By reducing such interaction between children and adults, programs reduce the risk of child sexual abuse. However, one-on-one time with trusted adults is also healthy and valuable for a child.

Accordingly, the Center has established specific policies concerning one-on-one interactions to balance protecting minor sailing participants while allowing for these beneficial relationships.

For more information about the Center’s Abuse Prevention Policies, please see US Sailing’s SafeSport Handbook.

Athlete Safety Handbook

U.S. CENTER FOR SAFESPORT

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U.S. Center for SafeSport Updates

Free Trainings on Key SafeSport Policies: The MAAPP

Do you know SafeSport’s MAAPP policies? Get trained! As a participant of or a parent within our sport governing body, you should be aware of and understand the U.S. Center for SafeSport’s Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP). The MAAPP policies are key to ending abuse—and they apply to activities in and around our sport.

To give you an overview and answer your questions, the U.S. Center for SafeSport throughout 2021 is providing free live MAAPP trainings—tailored specifically for your role as either an athlete, parent, coach, or administrator.

You can register for these virtual trainings here.

Numerous trainings will take place each month, so check back periodically for calendar updates.

Thank you for helping your organization play an integral role in ending abuse in sport.

MAAPP Training Flyer

Watch the RoadMAAPP

These short animations produced by the U.S. Center for SafeSport introduce the most important standards and concepts from the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP), divided among six easy-to-understand episodes.

MAAPP aims to help young athletes feel safe, supported, and strengthened—by limiting one-on-one interactions between adults and children, requiring abuse prevention training for certain adults, and promoting environments in which misconduct is less likely to occur.

This animated series introduces the purpose of the MAAPP, as well as key definitions and requirements NGB members must adhere to.

For more information about the Center’s efforts to end abuse in sport, visit uscenterforsafesport.org.

View the Series here.

Safe Sport Transitions to New Learning System (4/2/21)

In partnership with the U.S. Center for SafeSport (The Center), US Sailing is transitioning to a new learning management system platform to host the SafeSport Training courses. Beginning on April 7, 2021 all US Sailing members will have access to the new SafeSport Training course platform – hosted by Absorb – which will feature an improved user interface and other upgrades.

US Sailing has worked with The Center over the past several months to ensure a smooth transition to the new platform for our members. If you already have a SafeSport account, your SafeSport Training records will be migrated to the new platform prior to April 7 to enable an easy transition for our membership.

Once the transition is complete, US Sailing members will be able to login to the new platform at safesporttrained.org to access the SafeSport Trained Core course, all Refresher courses, and other Center course offerings.

On April 7, The Center will send all current SafeSport users a password reset link which will enable access to the new platform using your new password. Alternatively, users can go directly to safesporttrained.org. Click Login in the upper right corner of the page, enter the email address you have previously used for SafeSport, and click Forgot Password. This will send a password reset notification to your email address. Follow the instructions to create a new, secure password and log into the training site.

Please Note: The Center is unable to migrate records that have partial progress in a course. Members who have started a course, but have not completed it by the transition date of April 7, 2021 will have their progress reset to the beginning.

For assistance in logging into Absorb or creating a new account, please contact The Center’s help desk at 1-720-676-6417.

Thank you for your continued support of US Sailing and commitment to the well-being of our youth and community members. For any questions about US Sailing’s Athlete Safety program, please contact Justin Sterk at 401-342-7938 or justinsterk@ussailing.org.