Friday, May 27, 2022
North Carolina Swimming Furthers its Commitment to Safe Sport by Requiring SSRP for Meet Hosts
USA Swimming is committed to providing a healthy and positive environment free from abuse for all its members. North Carolina Swimming (NCS) has shown its commitment to go above and beyond mandated Safe Sport practices by requiring Safe Sport Recognition approval for any club who hosts a swim meet in its Local Swimming Committee (LSC). Read more from the Safe Sport Chair, Jamie Bloom, and the General Chair, Trish Martin, on how this has affected a positive culture within North Carolina Swimming.
How has the Safe Sport Recognition Program helped create positive culture in your LSC?
SSRP has helped us showcase the clubs in NCS who are willing to go above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to creating positive club cultures and eliminating sexual abuse and misconduct. We promote them on our website and on our social media. We give these clubs special incentives for their efforts. Encouraging clubs to attain SSRP approval is a great reason for discussing Safe Sport at our Board Meetings, our HOD meetings and at our meets. As a result, the awareness of Safe Sport ideals is high and best practices become everyday actions.
Why did your LSC decide to require SSRP approval to host swim meets?
We feel that SSRP is an important exercise for all our clubs but especially those hosting meets for our athletes. The Board began by requiring teams bidding for our LSC Championship meets to be SSRP approved. Some of our coaches felt we needed to do more to move the needle and proposed legislation to requiring clubs to hold SSRP approval in order to be granted a sanction for any kind of meet. The HOD passed this legislation almost unanimously. That new rule went into effect in April 2022. Being SSRP approved can be a strong competitive advantage in our LSC.
What is some advice you can give other LSCs who want to make this requirement?
If you are considering implementing the requirement, think through the timing carefully. Talk up the idea at board meetings, at HOD meetings and at meets to understand how clubs feel about the idea. Get input on how to structure the legislation so that it works best for your LSC. Consider a phased-in approach, such as championship meets first, then other meets. Give clubs a reasonable amount of time to get SSRP approved. Build in authority for your sanctions committee or your board to grant exceptions for situations beyond a club’s control that delay the processing of their SSRP application. While you want hosts to be SSRP approved, you don’t want to constrain competition or a club’s ability to generate revenue.
Great job to North Carolina Swimming for leading the way for other LSCs!
To learn more on USA Swimming’s Safe Sport Recognition Program, please visit https://www.usaswimming.org/safe-sport/safe-sport-recognition-program.
How has the Safe Sport Recognition Program helped create positive culture in your LSC?
SSRP has helped us showcase the clubs in NCS who are willing to go above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to creating positive club cultures and eliminating sexual abuse and misconduct. We promote them on our website and on our social media. We give these clubs special incentives for their efforts. Encouraging clubs to attain SSRP approval is a great reason for discussing Safe Sport at our Board Meetings, our HOD meetings and at our meets. As a result, the awareness of Safe Sport ideals is high and best practices become everyday actions.
Why did your LSC decide to require SSRP approval to host swim meets?
We feel that SSRP is an important exercise for all our clubs but especially those hosting meets for our athletes. The Board began by requiring teams bidding for our LSC Championship meets to be SSRP approved. Some of our coaches felt we needed to do more to move the needle and proposed legislation to requiring clubs to hold SSRP approval in order to be granted a sanction for any kind of meet. The HOD passed this legislation almost unanimously. That new rule went into effect in April 2022. Being SSRP approved can be a strong competitive advantage in our LSC.
What is some advice you can give other LSCs who want to make this requirement?
If you are considering implementing the requirement, think through the timing carefully. Talk up the idea at board meetings, at HOD meetings and at meets to understand how clubs feel about the idea. Get input on how to structure the legislation so that it works best for your LSC. Consider a phased-in approach, such as championship meets first, then other meets. Give clubs a reasonable amount of time to get SSRP approved. Build in authority for your sanctions committee or your board to grant exceptions for situations beyond a club’s control that delay the processing of their SSRP application. While you want hosts to be SSRP approved, you don’t want to constrain competition or a club’s ability to generate revenue.
Great job to North Carolina Swimming for leading the way for other LSCs!
To learn more on USA Swimming’s Safe Sport Recognition Program, please visit https://www.usaswimming.org/safe-sport/safe-sport-recognition-program.