Saturday, April 30, 2022
Iowa Swimming LSC Focuses on Safe Sport Training to Advocate for Child Safety
Safe Sport Chair and Registration Chair Jen Matthews from Iowa Swimming Local Swimming Committee (LSC) has developed quite a reputation for helping the club teams in her state complete their Safe Sport Recognition Program (SSRP) training. Iowa Swimming was one of the first LSCs to reach the 75% completion mark for its teams in 2021, which is an incredible feat to accomplish within an LSC.
The Safe Sport Recognition Program helps USA Swimming member clubs commit to creating a healthy and positive environment free from abuse for all its members. Safe Sport Recognized clubs will earn a badge to display on their website and will be designated as “Safe Sport recognized” in USA Swimming’s Find-a-Team online search tool. In order to get started, club administrators just need to log into the Club Portal to begin the process.
Matthews, formerly the Iowa Swimming LSC’s registrar, took over the Safe Sport Chair position just over two years ago. She immediately began tackling several hurdles to help the clubs complete their training. Matthews increased emails sent out to the teams explaining the importance of SSRP and the incentives of the program. She then logged into their club portal to view her Safe Sport team checklist and figure out what training they still needed to complete, and she even put together working groups to help walk team administrators through the process.
The working groups consisted of two assignments per week for four weeks. Matthews created a curriculum for the clubs to follow in small sessions. The training was broken down into sections including “Website and Mission,” “Education,” “Policy,” and “Certifications and Maintenance” to make it easier for clubs to finish.
“With this method it worked really well and clubs were able to get a lot done,” she said.
Each week, the clubs were emailed their weekly "assignment" and details for how to complete it. They were also provided all necessary required and recommended USA Swimming policies (ready for customizing for their clubs), and documents necessary to complete the week's work.
During Week 1, the group familiarized themselves with the SSRP Checklist, and completed tasks associated with the club website, mission and vision statement, and setting up their Safe Sport page correctly. In Week 2, the group focused solely on getting their teams’ athlete and parent Safe Sport Trainings completed - either on their own, or using USA Swimming's scheduled online Zoom trainings.
Week 3 was devoted to customizing the required and recommended policy documents for the club as well as where to post them. Week 4 was all about membership and certification to make sure all coaches and club non-athletes were correctly registered and certified, and how to use the non-athlete and athlete reports in the club portal to track this.
Matthews stated, “This method proved successful for us, and seemed to make it less overwhelming for our club Safe Sport Contacts to complete SSRP for their clubs.”
She continued, “Working together with fellow clubs, and having someone lead them through a schedule of specific tasks each week helped to make completing SSRP feel more manageable for everyone.”
Matthews mentioned that the SSRP challenges she faced consisted of working with newer clubs, leadership disorganization, seasonal teams and college teams. Yet, she has done her due diligence to follow up with each team weekly and even daily when necessary to help them with the training.
“Jen has done such a good job at following up and making sure to ask how she can help rather than just checking on them asking whether they have finished,” Bobby Kelley, IASI General Chair said.
Now that many of the teams have completed their SSRP, they are much more aware of what their tools and resources are regarding reporting, Matthews stated. Although clubs still have issues that come up, they now know how to respond when presented with a possible abuse situation.
Teams that have completed their training can also set up Safe Sport tables at championship meets, are able to receive Safe Sport gear from the incentive program and obtain activity books along with helpful tips for parents.
For more information on how to register your club in the Safe Sport Recognition Program, go to: https://www.usaswimming.org/ssrp.
The Safe Sport Recognition Program helps USA Swimming member clubs commit to creating a healthy and positive environment free from abuse for all its members. Safe Sport Recognized clubs will earn a badge to display on their website and will be designated as “Safe Sport recognized” in USA Swimming’s Find-a-Team online search tool. In order to get started, club administrators just need to log into the Club Portal to begin the process.
Matthews, formerly the Iowa Swimming LSC’s registrar, took over the Safe Sport Chair position just over two years ago. She immediately began tackling several hurdles to help the clubs complete their training. Matthews increased emails sent out to the teams explaining the importance of SSRP and the incentives of the program. She then logged into their club portal to view her Safe Sport team checklist and figure out what training they still needed to complete, and she even put together working groups to help walk team administrators through the process.
The working groups consisted of two assignments per week for four weeks. Matthews created a curriculum for the clubs to follow in small sessions. The training was broken down into sections including “Website and Mission,” “Education,” “Policy,” and “Certifications and Maintenance” to make it easier for clubs to finish.
“With this method it worked really well and clubs were able to get a lot done,” she said.
Each week, the clubs were emailed their weekly "assignment" and details for how to complete it. They were also provided all necessary required and recommended USA Swimming policies (ready for customizing for their clubs), and documents necessary to complete the week's work.
During Week 1, the group familiarized themselves with the SSRP Checklist, and completed tasks associated with the club website, mission and vision statement, and setting up their Safe Sport page correctly. In Week 2, the group focused solely on getting their teams’ athlete and parent Safe Sport Trainings completed - either on their own, or using USA Swimming's scheduled online Zoom trainings.
Week 3 was devoted to customizing the required and recommended policy documents for the club as well as where to post them. Week 4 was all about membership and certification to make sure all coaches and club non-athletes were correctly registered and certified, and how to use the non-athlete and athlete reports in the club portal to track this.
Matthews stated, “This method proved successful for us, and seemed to make it less overwhelming for our club Safe Sport Contacts to complete SSRP for their clubs.”
She continued, “Working together with fellow clubs, and having someone lead them through a schedule of specific tasks each week helped to make completing SSRP feel more manageable for everyone.”
Matthews mentioned that the SSRP challenges she faced consisted of working with newer clubs, leadership disorganization, seasonal teams and college teams. Yet, she has done her due diligence to follow up with each team weekly and even daily when necessary to help them with the training.
“Jen has done such a good job at following up and making sure to ask how she can help rather than just checking on them asking whether they have finished,” Bobby Kelley, IASI General Chair said.
Now that many of the teams have completed their SSRP, they are much more aware of what their tools and resources are regarding reporting, Matthews stated. Although clubs still have issues that come up, they now know how to respond when presented with a possible abuse situation.
Teams that have completed their training can also set up Safe Sport tables at championship meets, are able to receive Safe Sport gear from the incentive program and obtain activity books along with helpful tips for parents.
For more information on how to register your club in the Safe Sport Recognition Program, go to: https://www.usaswimming.org/ssrp.