Athlete Protection Policies, Reporting Procedure Top Agenda at USA Swimming and

Jul 1, 2010
Athlete Protection Policies, Reporting Procedure Top Agenda
at USA Swimming and Child Welfare League of America Meeting
                   
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –  Building on the national partnership announced a week ago, USA Swimming and the Child Welfare League of America held a joint working session in Colorado Springs today. At the meeting, the groups reviewed proposed policies and guidelines to govern coach-athlete relationships, discussed key education topics and audiences and reviewed potential improvements to the complaint reporting system and background screening requirements.

The points will be shared with the USA Swimming Board of Directors tomorrow, at which time the volunteer leadership will be invited to provide input on each topic.

 “Today we had the opportunity to take the abundance of thoughtful input that we’ve received from our membership, and, with the help of the experts at CWLA, discuss what actions and decisions will be the most effective in working to build the safest environment possible for our athletes,” said Chuck Wielgus.

“Working closely with USA Swimming provides us the opportunity to provide in-depth knowledge and expertise in child welfare.” said Linda Spears, Vice President of Policy for CWLA. ”Ultimately our goal is to help USA Swimming put in place policies, guidelines and programming that are both consistent with industry best practices and effective in the youth sports environment.”

“It’s important to remember that this is going to be an ongoing process. While we recognize the urgency of the subject, we are absolutely committed to doing this the right way,” said Jim Wood, USA Swimming President. “This process is going to take time and hard work, but at the end of the day, we will have built a strong and effective program that works within our sport.”