June 19, 2019

Dear parents and legal guardians of USA Gymnastics athlete members:

Over the past several months, USA Gymnastics has been working on strengthening its athlete safety policies that serve the ultimate purpose of keeping your child safe in an environment free from abuse and misconduct. USA Gymnastics has adopted the 2019 USA Gymnastics Safe Sport Policy, a comprehensive policy on athlete safety and abuse prevention that is meant to set standards for defining misconduct, setting interaction boundaries between an adult, including a coach, and an athlete, and reporting misconduct. As a parent or guardian, you are an essential and vital part of our athlete safety initiatives. As a powerful advocate for your child, you can help us by increasing your familiarity with this policy, as well as initiatives your child’s club is taking toward fostering a safe and positive environment.

Athlete safety requires the club owners, coaches, staff and parents to work together in establishing a safe and encouraging environment. To do this, all adults should be informed about misconduct and grooming behaviors, know how to report a problem, and communicate openly with each other. Here are a few other key actions you can take for your child’s welfare.

• • Believe your child.
• • Ask your club how staff and volunteers are screened.
• • Establish a professional relationship with your child’s coach and club personnel.
• • Ask to see the club’s athlete safety policies.
• • Know where to report policy violations to the club, and expect reports to be kept confidential and taken seriously.
• • Make unannounced visits to observe your child during training.
• • Participate in parent meetings with coaches and club personnel and ask questions.
• • Teach your child about the proper boundaries coaches and other adults should maintain with children.
• • Look for warning signs in your child’s behavior that something may be wrong, such as a loss of interest in gymnastics, declining grades or loss of appetite.

USA Gymnastics has set up an email address, safesportpolicy@usagym.org, where you can have questions answered by our Safe Sport Department. You may find the Safe Sport Policy, Safe Sport policy Snapshot and all related documents on the USA Gymnastics website at https://usagym.org/pages/education/safesport/policy.html

On behalf of USA Gymnastics, we want to thank all of the parents and families who have worked and continue to give their children the opportunity to participate in gymnastics. The importance of your involvement and sacrifice is immeasurable, and we cannot succeed in these efforts without you.

Sincerely,

Shelba Waldron
Director of Safe Sport Education and Training

All Professional Members and Parents,

You probably know, Ohio law requires you to have liability insurance if you drive a motorized vehicle. However, do you know in 2013 the state of Ohio passed a law requiring coaches/officials of Ohio youth sports to have training on concussion management? This is not a one-time requirement. Every three years coaches/officials need to renew their training and have evidence of completion. This is the responsibility of each person to monitor and maintain, just like liability insurance. Please make sure you have taken a concussion training and have physical record of completion.

*Note: USA Gymnastics Safety Certification DOES NOT fulfill this requirement. Please see link below for details on what you need to know and complete.
Concussion Law: Ohio’s Return-to-Play – Youth Concussion Law (ORC 3313.539 or ORC 3314.03) Learn More

In 2017, Ohio put into effect “Lindsay’s Law”. Lindsay’s Law applies to coaches, club owners, parents, and youth athletes in being knowledgeable and trained about sudden cardiac arrest. There are online trainings and forms required to comply with this state law. To learn about Lindsay’s Law, and how it applies to you, please see the link below for more information.

Lindsay’s Law: Sudden Cardiac Arrest (ORC 3313.5310 and 3707.59) Learn More