There are a lot of reasons to play field hockey. A life-long activity, people often play field hockey to have fun and spend time with friends. Field Hockey also encourages a healthy lifestyle and builds self-confidence. Athletes who play any sport learn goal-setting, teamwork and time management skills. Athletes are less likely to use cigarettes, drugs and alcohol; they have higher graduation rates and are more likely to attend college.
The safety of field hockey participants is of paramount importance to [CLUB]. This includes not only on-field safety, but also off-field safety in any part of [CLUB]’S programs. Unfortunately, sports can also be a high-risk environment for misconduct, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. [CLUB] is committed to protect its participants from sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and other types of misconduct such as bullying, harassment, and hazing that can be harmful to youth field hockey players.
In partnership with the United States Olympic Committee and USA Field Hockey, [CLUB] has made a commitment to protecting a fun, safe and educational environment for our athletes. The pages of this handbook provide a general overview of procedures and guidelines for [CLUB]’s staff members, volunteers, athletes and their families. The following policies have been adopted and will be strictly enforced.
Athlete Protection Policies / 2Education and Awareness Training / 2
Screening and Background Check Program / 4
Prevention Policies
Locker Rooms and Changing Areas / 5
Local and Overnight Travel / 5
Electronic Communications and Social Media / 5
Reporting Procedures / 6
Monitoring and Oversight / 7
Appendix I: Misconduct Report Form
Appendix II: Locker Room and Changing Area Policy
Appendix III: Local and Overnight Travel Policy
Appendix IV: Electronic Communications and Social Media Policy
Appendix V: Applicant Screening Policy
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ATHLETE PROTECTION POLICIES
[CLUB] is committed to creating a safe and positive environment for its participants’ physical, emotional, and social development and to ensuring that it promotes an environment free from abuse and misconduct. As part of this program, our club has adopted the USA Field Hockey Safe Sport Athlete Protection Policies. The policies protect against the following types of abuse and misconduct.
Sexual Abuse
Physical Abuse
Emotional Abuse
Bullying
Harassment
Hazing
[CLUB] has ZERO TOLERANCE for abuse or misconduct in all club activities—on and off the pitch.
The USA Field Hockey Athlete Protection Policies have been posted [INSERT LOCATION] and can be found on usafieldhockey.com or in your USA Field Hockey member account. It is imperative that all coaches, officials, volunteers, staff, and parents are fully versed in the policies.
EDUCATION AND AWARENESS TRAINING
[CLUB] cares for our athletes and desires to protect them from abusive behavior of any kind while participating in club activities. Being a Safe Sport Certified Club, [CLUB] has committed to educating and training our volunteers, staff, administrators, board members and select individuals on information necessary to more effectively monitor our organization, minimize the opportunities for physical and sexual abuse and other types of misconduct, and respond to concerns.
[CLUB], along with USA Field Hockey, has adopted the United States Olympic Committee’s Safe Sport training materials, which include a series of free online training videos in the following subjects. The training videos are approximately 90 minutes long in total.
Lesson 1: The Coach-Athlete Relationship
Lesson 2: Bullying & Harassment
Lesson 3: Hazing
Lesson 4: Emotional Misconduct
Lesson 5: Physical Misconduct
Lesson 6: Sexual Misconduct
Lesson 7: Sexual Abuse
Lesson 8: Grooming
Lesson 9: Minimizing High-Risk Opportunities
Lesson 10: Local Travel
Lesson 11: Overnight Travel
Lesson 12: Signs & Symptoms of Abuse
Lesson 13: The Barriers to Reporting Abuse
Lesson 14: Reporting and Responding to Misconduct & Abuse
We have committed to requiring our staff to take the training every two years in accordance with USA Field Hockey’s membership requirements.
SCREENING AND BACKGROUND CHECK PROGRAM
The purposes of a screening policy are to protect our participants from known offenders so that such known offenders do not have access to [CLUB] athletes; deter offenders and potential offenders from attempting to join [CLUB] programs because the program has a known policy against abuse; protect [CLUB] and USA Field Hockey’s reputation as a sport where participants are safe from abuse; and help insulate [CLUB] and USA Field Hockey’s staff and volunteers from liability that could arise from allowing a previous offender to have access to minors.
Provided as a membership benefit with USA Field Hockey, our coaches and umpires undergo a full criminal background check and a sex offender search through a national database annually. In addition, our international coaches and umpires undergo an international criminal and sex offender search annually. [CLUB] commits to our athletes that all coaches and umpires they come in contact with during club activities are members of USA Field Hockey and have passed the background screening.
[CLUB] recognizes the national statistic that less than 10% of sexual abusers ever receive a criminal charge on their record. To ease this scary fact, [CLUB] commits to fully screening an applicant before being employed by the club. Staff members, volunteers, contracted workers, and board members must consent to, and pass, a formal application screening process before performing any duties associated with our club. Elements of our screening process include successful completion of an application, interview, reference check and the background screening as part of USA Field Hockey’s membership. [CLUB] posts our application screening policy [INSERT LOCATION] and you can request a copy by contacting [NAME AND EMAIL].
PREVENTION POLICIES
LOCKER ROOMS AND CHANGING AREAS
Athletes are particularly vulnerable in locker rooms, changing areas and restrooms due to various stages of dress/undress and because they are less supervised than at many other times. Athlete-to-athlete problems, such as sexual abuse and bullying, harassment, and hazing, often occur when coaches or employees are not in a position to observe – this is especially true in locker rooms. [CLUB] has designed a Locker Rooms and Changing Areas policy to enhance privacy and reduce the likelihood of misconduct. Our policy includes information on supervision, prohibited conduct, use of recording devices and locker room meetings. [CLUB] posts our Locker Room and Changing Areas Policy [INSERT LOCATION] and you can request a copy by contacting [NAME AND EMAIL].
LOCAL AND OVERNIGHT TRAVEL
A significant portion of [CLUB] participation involves overnight travel for teams to games and tournaments. Athletes are most vulnerable to abuse or misconduct during travel, particularly overnight stays. This includes a high risk of player to player misconduct. During travel, athletes may be away from their families and support networks, and the setting – new locker rooms, automobiles, and hotel rooms – is less structured and less familiar. [CLUB] has created a Local and Overnight Travel policy so that care is taken to minimize one-on-one interactions between minors and adults while traveling. Further, the policy directs how athletes will be supervised between and during travel to and from practice and competitions. [CLUB] posts our Local and Overnight Travel Policy [INSERT LOCATION] and you can request a copy by contacting [NAME AND EMAIL].
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA
As part of [CLUB]’s emphasis on athlete safety, communications involving our youth players should be appropriate, productive, and transparent. Effective communication concerning travel, practice or game schedules, and administrative issues among administrators, coaches, athletes and their families is critical. However, the use of mobile devices, web-based applications, social media, and other forms of electronic communications increases the possibility for improprieties and misunderstandings and also provides potential offenders with unsupervised and potentially inappropriate access to participants. [CLUB] has published an Electronic Communications and Media Policy to give guidelines for communications between coaches, administrators, athletes and their parents through electronic mediums. [CLUB] posts our Electronic Communications and Media Policy [INSERT LOCATION] and you can request a copy by contacting [NAME AND EMAIL].
REPORTING PROCEDURES
[CLUB] aspires to implement an effective reporting policy that results in reports of suspected abuse and misconduct. Potential abusers will avoid involvement in a program where there is a likelihood that suspected abuse will be reported. By providing this guidance on when and how to report suspected misconduct, [CLUB] along with USA Field Hockey seeks to remove barriers to reporting misconduct, including child physical and sexual abuse.
[CLUB] is committed to providing a safe, secure environment for children and their families. To this end, any report of inappropriate behaviors or suspicions of abuse will be taken seriously and will be reported, in accordance with this policy, USA Field Hockey Safe Sport Program, and [STATE] law, to the USA Field Hockey Safe Sport Representative, Police Department, Child Protective Services, or other appropriate agency.
[CLUB] supports and encourages a culture of communication related to abuse or suspected abuse of children. If you see or suspect inappropriate interaction with or between children, it is your responsibility to report the inappropriate interaction to a supervisor or the USA Field Hockey Safe Sport Representative. Reports to USA Field Hockey may be made by: clicking on the “Report to USA Field Hockey” link on the USA Field Hockey Safe Sport Program webpage; e-mailing to , or; calling 719-866-4567.
USA Field Hockey will take a report in the way that is most comfortable for the person initiating a report including an anonymous, in-person, verbal or written report. Regardless of how an individual chooses to report, it is helpful to USA Field Hockey for individuals to provide, at a minimum:
1.Name(s) and contact information of the complainant(s).
2.Type of misconduct alleged.
3.Name(s) of the individual(s) alleged to have committed the misconduct.
4.Approximate dates the misconduct was committed.
5.Names of other individuals who might have information regarding the alleged misconduct.
6.A summary statement of the reasons to believe that misconduct has occurred
Because sexual abusers ‘groom’ children for abuse, it is possible a staff member or volunteer may witness behavior intended to ‘groom’ a child for sexual abuse. Staff members and volunteers are asked to report ‘grooming’ behavior, any policy violations, or any suspicious behaviors to a supervisor or the USA Field Hockey Safe Sport Representative.
[CLUB] has adopted the USA Field Hockey Safe Sport misconduct report form which is posted [INSERT LOCATION] and you can request a copy by contacting [NAME AND EMAIL].
MONITORING AND OVERSIGHT
Effective and periodic monitoring and oversight ensures that [CLUB] is committed to adhering to existing child protection efforts and protocols, reviewing our safety system for effectiveness, performance reviews, and accountability on upholding the United States Olympic Committee and USA Field Hockey Safe Sport standards.
APPENDIX I—V
[add each tailored policy here]
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