Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Safe Sport Initiatives Lead to Club Recognition Honors for Boise Swim Club
Boise Swim Club, a team of about 85 swimmers, recently earned the distinction of becoming one of USA Swimming’s Safe Sport recognized clubs, an honor given to teams that make the athletes’ safety a priority within their team. For head coach Deb Hill and the rest of the coaching staff, Safe Sport just reinforces the values that they’ve already established as a priority within the team. Hill details her club’s commitment to Safe Sport in this month’s Safe Sport feature.
1. What are three ways your team has implemented Safe Sport policies and procedures for your coaches, parents and athletes?
Back in 2019 when we started this, we had in-person mandatory parent meetings and athlete meetings to introduce families to MAAPP (minor athlete abuse prevention policy). The meetings were pretty successful; one of our parents on the team at the time was also the Safe Sport coordinator for Snake River swimming. This year, because of COVID, we did virtual meetings with parents and athletes. In addition to the meetings, we have MAAPP as part of our registration process, and the families are required to acknowledge that they read and understand that. Third, we have monthly Safe Sport topics that are part of zoom calls. Safe Sport is a part of our curriculum and it’s a priority; safety is one of our core values on our team – respect, integrity, safety, excellence (RISE).
2. How successful do you feel these policies are in protecting your swimmers and building your team’s culture?
I think it’s been instrumental. Since safety is a priority and core value on our team, we talk about it all the time and it’s at the core of what we do. We want our athletes to feel like Boise Swim Club is a safe place for them to come to.
3. What advice would you give other teams in implementing Safe Sport programs into their team operations?
I’d say making sure that you’re communicating. Communicate to the team about Safe Sport; for us, it’s part of our registration, and we do monthly topics, and it’s part of our weekly updates. We make sure it’s getting through to everyone.
A big part of our club is that we’re a leadership and character-driven club. We’re constantly doing leadership and character development topics monthly, along with diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s given us a platform to discuss these topics. This month we talked about locker room safety, and April we’ll be talking about bullying. In February we talked about concussions – we try to come up with interesting topics for the kids.
For more on the Safe Sport Club Recognition Program, click here.
1. What are three ways your team has implemented Safe Sport policies and procedures for your coaches, parents and athletes?
Back in 2019 when we started this, we had in-person mandatory parent meetings and athlete meetings to introduce families to MAAPP (minor athlete abuse prevention policy). The meetings were pretty successful; one of our parents on the team at the time was also the Safe Sport coordinator for Snake River swimming. This year, because of COVID, we did virtual meetings with parents and athletes. In addition to the meetings, we have MAAPP as part of our registration process, and the families are required to acknowledge that they read and understand that. Third, we have monthly Safe Sport topics that are part of zoom calls. Safe Sport is a part of our curriculum and it’s a priority; safety is one of our core values on our team – respect, integrity, safety, excellence (RISE).
2. How successful do you feel these policies are in protecting your swimmers and building your team’s culture?
I think it’s been instrumental. Since safety is a priority and core value on our team, we talk about it all the time and it’s at the core of what we do. We want our athletes to feel like Boise Swim Club is a safe place for them to come to.
3. What advice would you give other teams in implementing Safe Sport programs into their team operations?
I’d say making sure that you’re communicating. Communicate to the team about Safe Sport; for us, it’s part of our registration, and we do monthly topics, and it’s part of our weekly updates. We make sure it’s getting through to everyone.
A big part of our club is that we’re a leadership and character-driven club. We’re constantly doing leadership and character development topics monthly, along with diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s given us a platform to discuss these topics. This month we talked about locker room safety, and April we’ll be talking about bullying. In February we talked about concussions – we try to come up with interesting topics for the kids.
For more on the Safe Sport Club Recognition Program, click here.