Dear US Club Soccer member,

New and free resources for parents are available via the U.S. Center for SafeSport, including the "Parent's Guide to Misconduct in Sport" online course and a variety of toolkits, which address misconduct issues in sport and help parents ensure their children have the most positive and safest experience possible.

That model aligns with US Club Soccer’s Players First philosophy, of which Player Health and Safety is one of five pillars. These resources supplement the SafeSport Trained course, which is required to be completed by all individuals coaching, managing or working with US Club Soccer-registered youth players as part of the staff registration process.

US Club Soccer encourages all parents to take this course and familiarize themselves with the additional resources. US Club Soccer also encourages all member clubs and organizations to forward these resources to all parents associated with their clubs and organizations.

Please see below for more information.

Parent’s Guide to Misconduct in Sport Online Course:

This course is a comprehensive resource for parents of youth athletes of all ages. The module takes less than an hour to complete and is comprised of five units: 1) Introduction to the Center for SafeSport; 2) Sexual Misconduct and Abuse; 3) Other Forms of Misconduct; 4) Creating Safe Environments; and 5) Responding to Misconduct. The units focus on the following points:

• The basic philosophy and policies of the U.S. Center for SafeSport
• What makes for a healthy coach-athlete relationship
• Best practices and policies you should look for in your child’s sport organization
• What you should know about sexual abuse and sexual misconduct in sport
• What you should know about other forms of misconduct in sport, including: bullying, harassment, hazing and emotional and physical misconduct
• Tips for making sports situations safer for your child
• How to talk to your child about misconduct, and ways to encourage your child to speak up about misconduct if it occurs
• How your child’s sport organization must report abuse and misconduct, in accordance with laws and policies

Instructions to take the course:

1. Visit athletesafety.org and click “SIGN IN” in the top right corner to create an account.
2. Complete the registration process. When prompted to enter a membership organization, enter “Not affiliated.”
3. Select “Shop for activities” and then locate “Parent’s Guide to Misconduct in Sport.”
4. Select “Add To Bag” and then finish checking out for the module, although it is completely free.
5. Select the play symbol and you may begin the training module, which does not need to be completed in one session.

Other resources for parents:

• Toolkit for Parents of Youth Athletes of All Ages
• Toolkit for Parents of Preschool Children
• Toolkit for Parents of School-Age Children
• Toolkit for Parents of Middle School Youth
• Toolkit for Parents of High School-Aged Adolescents
• Signs and symptoms of child abuse
• How to communicate with your child about misconduct
• Tips for local and overnight travel situations
• Questions to ask your child’s coach, your child’s club and your child’s sports camp

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Please also frequent the Child/Sexual Abuse Prevention web page on usclubsoccer.org for additional resources and reminders, including information about the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 and the associated duty of all adults who are authorized to interact with minor or amateur athletes to report suspected child abuse, including sexual abuse, within 24 hours.

Thanks for your time and commitment to Player Health and Safety. Together, we can achieve the safe environment that all our children deserve.