In a perfect world coaches instill a strong work ethic, teach life skills, and leave kids and teens with a lifelong passion for their sport. Blindly trusting those wanting to coach children is never a good idea. News stories of sexual assaults, emotional or physical abuse remind us that it is essential that kids’ sport coaches and mentors have the same background checks and screening as anyone else who has access to minors.
Implementing background checks as part of your league’s vetting process sets a standard for your community. Not only does it show how committed your organization is to safety, responsibility, and professionalism, but it also creates a culture where accountability is prioritized. This is important whether you are a county rec league or a national organization. No matter how wonderful a coach may seem, everyone must go through the same process. When safety measures are universally enforced, everyone, from parents to organizers can sit back and enjoy the game.
Here are the main things you get from a quality background check:
Protecting Kids from Avoidable Harm
In any sport, we know there are risks. It’s impossible to protect athletes from a collision, a stray ball, or even a twisted ankle. We outfit them as best we can to protect from these unavoidable injuries, but youth sports put kids in vulnerable situations that are harder to protect against. Background checks help make sure adults working with children have no history that might raise red flags.
Background checks will reveal:
- Criminal History: This includes prior convictions for abuse, assault, or other criminal activities that would make them unfit to work with children.
- Sexual Misconduct: Checking sex offender databases is an absolute must for these positions.
- Driving Records: This might not be necessary for everyone, but if your coach is going to be responsible for taking athletes to and from events, it makes good sense.
Building Trust with Parents
Parents won’t sign their kids up season after season if they don’t trust your organization. It’s imperative your organization shows its commitment to families by background checking coaches and mentors to reinforce that trust.
When you are able to clearly show parents that you take the safety of young athletes seriously, parents can feel confident that their kids are in good hands. This trust allows the coaches to do their jobs and the parents to relax and enjoy the experience.
Protecting Against Liability
An unqualified coach that hasn’t been vetted can do irreparable harm to children in their care, but they can also ruin your group’s reputation or worse their actions can send you to court. Skimping on background screening can be seen as negligence, and it is hard to recover from that reputation.
When you have a solid background screening program in place, your organization can proudly show that it’s doing its due diligence. When organizers and families know that all coaches have been screened, everyone can rest assured that children’s welfare is the priority. In the unfortunate event that there is an incident, your risk of liability is limited since you can show you took all the possible steps to protect your athletes.
Making Sure Coaches are Not Just Safe, but Qualified
The right background check program not only keeps predators out of your organization, but when you choose the right options, it can help ensure coaches are qualified to do the job.
Screening can confirm a potential coach’s:
- Experience in the sport
- Certifications like first aid or concussion protocol training
- Educational background relevant to coaching and child development
Building the Best Background Check
When hiring a coach, relying on word of mouth or past experiences may not set your organization up for a win. To conduct the most effective background checks, youth sports organizations should partner with a reputable company that specializes in the process.
A comprehensive background check should include:
- National, State, and County Criminal Record Checks to look for both felonies and misdemeanors
- Identity Verification to confirm the applicant’s Social Security number, check for aliases, and confirm address history to improve the quality of the criminal records searches
- Fingerprinting may be required depending on your state’s requirements for volunteers working with vulnerable populations
- Reference Checks to verify the applicant’s experience and character
All youth sports organizations should have a clear policy outlining which background checks are required for each type of candidate. Your administrative staff, for example, might require different packages than your volunteers. For example, someone handling money or who has access to your company’s financials may require a credit check. A position that represents your organization to the public may need a social media screen to assess any history of potentially damaging remarks that could reflect negatively on your group. Organizations should also have a plan for re-screening either every year or every couple of years depending on your state’s requirements.
Background Checks Are Essential for Vetting Coaches and Mentors in Kids’ Sports
Having a customized, effective, and reliable screening system protects your organization and all of the families you serve. If you would like more information about how Protect Youth Sports can help craft your perfect program, contact us today.
About the Guest Author
Jennifer Gladstone is a news anchor and journalist with more than 25 years of experience in front of the camera. During her broadcasting years, she worked in several local news markets, including Atlanta and Baltimore, and was the National News Anchor for Sinclair Broadcasting’s NewsCentral operation. She is now the owner of Gladstone Creative Media, allowing her to represent a broad group of clients in the energy, banking, technology, and human resources sectors.
Jennifer has been working in the Background Screening space since 2013, helping employers navigate and better understand this very complex yet essential piece of the hiring process.
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