AYSO ’ s Safe Haven

1. AYSO’s Safe Haven

2. Course Credit Please sign the Course Roster Use your legal name, Home address & phone, And Date of Birth

3. Introduction Every child participating in an AYSO soccer program has a right to a safe, fun, fair and positive environment for experiencing the benefits of youth sports.

4. What is Safe Haven? • AYSO’s program to address the growing need for Child and Volunteer Protection in youth sports. • Components help create a safe, fun, fair and positive environment - “safe haven” - for all participants.

5. Creating a Safe Haven The Safe Haven program supports the creation of a “safe haven” for all participants by: • Registering and Screening all Volunteers Requiring Training and Certification Providing Child and Volunteer Protection Guidelines • Promoting Safety and Injury Prevention

6. Course Overview • Vision of AYSO • Creating a Safe Haven • Volunteer Requirements • Training and Certification • Child and Volunteer Protection • Safety and Injury Prevention • Volunteering in AYSO

7. Why AYSO? The Vision of AYSO is to provide world class youth soccer programs that enrich children’s lives.

8. What makes AYSO unique? The philosophy of the organization is to educate and develop young people by encouraging their interest and participation in soccer through our six philosophies:

9. Everyone Plays® Our goal is for kids to play soccer – so we mandate that every player on every team must play at least half of every game.

10. Everyone Plays® This includes our VIP -Very Important Players

11. Balanced Teams Each year we form new teams as evenly as possible – because it is fair and more fun when teams of equal ability play.

12. Open Registration Our program is open to all children between 4 and 19 years of age who want to register and play soccer. Interest and enthusiasm are the only criteria for playing.

13. Positive Coaching Encouragement of player effort provides for greater enjoyment by the players and ultimately leads to better-skilled and better-motivated players.

14. Good Sportsmanship We strive to create a safe, fair, fun and positive environment based on mutual respect, rather than a win-at-all-costs attitude, and our program is designed to instill good sportsmanship in every facet of AYSO.

15. Good Sportsmanship AYSO’s Kids Zone program is one of the first of its kind to promote good sportsmanship and appropriate sideline behavior. Every AYSO venue is a Kids Zone!

16. Player Development We believe that all players should be able to develop their soccer skills and knowledge to the best of their abilities, both individually and as a member of a team, in order to maximize their enjoyment of the game.

17. Player Development AYSO provides a number of programs that support player development including EXTRA and AYSO Soccer Camps.

18. Volunteer Philosophies? AYSO’s philosophies apply to volunteers too!

19. About AYSO AYSO’s governing documents support the vision and philosophies and are found in the AYSO Reference Book: • National Bylaws • Organizational structure & governance • Rules and Regulations • Conduct of AYSO Games • National Policy Statements • AYSO Policy • Standard Regional Guidelines • Regional Responsibilities

20. About AYSO The rules or “laws” of soccer are governed by FIFA – Federation Internationale de Football Association. AYSO games are conducted in accordance with the current edition of the FIFA Laws of the Game – with approved AYSO exceptions.

21. Quiz • Which of the following is NOT one of the core AYSO philosophies? • Balanced Teams • Open Registration • Paid Coaching • Everyone Plays • Player Development

22. Volunteer Protection Congress passed the Volunteer Protection Act in 1997 to promote volunteerism and grant immunity from certain liabilities for volunteers who meet its requirements.

23. Volunteer Requirements For protection under the Volunteer Protection Act and applicable laws, AYSO requires all volunteers to: • Sign and submit a Volunteer Application every year, • Be authorized to do their job, • Act within the scope of their Job Descriptions and AYSO’s policies, procedures and guidelines, • Complete Safe Haven Training and • Be properly trained in their jobs.

24. Volunteer Screening AYSO, like many youth organizations today, asks adult volunteers to submit character references and agree to background checks in order to protect players, volunteers and Region resources.

25. Volunteer Screening “Youth sports treasurer accused of embezzlement; Corona man has been charged with embezzling $100,000 from a youth sports program that receives money from the city.” “Montgomery County police arrested a longtime soccer coach on Thursday and charged him with inappropriate contact with a juvenile six months ago.” “South Dakota (Soccer) — A 42 year-old adult man strikes the soccer referee, who happened to also be the town’s mayor, during a match between 11-year-old girls. The coach was sentenced to one year in jail, required to attend anger management courses and banned from all youth sports events for a year.”

26. Volunteer Screening • The Volunteer Application contains consent agreement for background investigations. • AYSO’s National Background Check Policy is used to determine whether or not an adult volunteer is eligible to hold certain AYSO positions. • Safe Haven procedures and eAYSO technologies protect volunteer personal identification information, privacy and confidentiality. Details on www.ayso.org

27. Youth Volunteers • Under the age of 18, must complete a Youth Volunteer Application every year. • Should abide by the same protection guidelines when in the company of younger players or VIP participants. • Should be protected by the same protection policies as players.

28. Youth Volunteers • May hold: Youth Referee, Youth Team Assistant, Youth VIP Buddy or other Youth Volunteer positions which are supervised by adults. • May not be a Team Coach, Assistant Coach or Regional Board Member and may never be in a position of supervising players or managing a game from the coach’s area.

29. Training and Certification Training and Certification is the only way to ensure the fulfillment of the AYSO vision and the protection of Volunteers and Players.

30. Training and Certification Training provides job position and standard specific training such as U-6 Coach, Intermediate Referee or Registrar training. Certification requires competency in the assigned position (job training), Child and Volunteer Protection (Safe Haven training) and AYSO Policies and Guidelines. Continuing Education includes training to improve skills like Principles of Play, Dispute Resolution and Problems Outside the Touchline.

31. Training and Certification • All Coaches, Referees and Board Members are required to be trained and certified. • Practices and Games are NOT permitted without an AYSO trained and certified Team Coach. • Official games are NOT permitted without an AYSO trained and certified Referee for the U-8 division and above.

32. Training and Certification Regions must have the 7 required Board Positions and the volunteers serving in these positions, must be trained and certified: • Regional Commissioner, • Coach Administrator, • Referee Administrator, • Treasurer, • Registrar, • Safety Director and • Child and Volunteer Protection Advocate (CVPA).

33. Quiz…. • Which of the following is not a requirement of AYSO volunteers? • Completing and signing a Volunteer Application every year. • Fulfilling a continuing education requirement. • Consenting to background investigations. • Completing job training.

34. Child Protection The Child Protection Acts (1993,1997) enabled screening of volunteers who work with children and mandated reporting of suspected child abuse.

35. Child Abuse is Against the Law • AYSO is a mandated reporter of suspected abuse in many states – there are legal reporting standards. • In almost all states, legislation asks any adult who suspects abuse to file a claim. • In order to promote a safe haven, AYSO prohibits abusive behaviors beyond the legal reporting standards.

36. Reporting Abuse Reporting is generally required when a child is: physically injured by other than accidental means, subjected to willful cruelty or unjustifiable punishment, or sexually abused or exploited. neglected by a parent or caretaker who fails to provide adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care or supervision. Many states have penalties for failing to report.

37. Types of Abuse • Psychologists, legislators, educators and AYSO recognize five types of abuse. • It is important to understand the types of abusive behaviors in order to ensure their prevention. • Child abuse crosses all socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, occupational, religious and age groups. • Recognize that abuses can occur between players.

38. Emotional Abuse The most common: attacking the emotional well being and stability of an individual.

39. Emotional Abuse Legally required to report suspected abuses visibly affecting the emotional stability of the child. Abusive behaviors not allowed in AYSO include making comments about the size, inability or appearance of a player in front of others. Jokes, even in fun, can be emotionally abusive. Social bullying, derogatory comments and racial, ethnic or gender slurs must not be tolerated.

40. Physical Abuse The most obvious: harming the physical well being of an individual.

41. Physical Abuse Legally required to report acts resulting in “any non-accidental physical injury to the child” or circumstances that create a substantial risk of harm. Abusive behaviors not allowed in AYSO include corporal punishment, punishing players by making them run laps or denying water, bullying or fighting. AYSO has a zero tolerance policy for violence.

42. Neglect Not always easy to identify: harming an individual by abandoning, ignoring, or rejecting basic needs.

43. Neglect Legally required to report the failure of a parent or guardian to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision. AYSO does not allow neglectful behavior including never playing a below average player more than half of every game or consistently excluding a player from practice drills. Players should not be allowed to exclude a single player or a few players from team activities.

44. Sexual Abuse Frequently hidden: harming an individual through inappropriate sexual contact, lewd behavior, or exploitation.

45. Sexual Abuse Legally required to report any form of sexual abuse or exploitation. AYSO prohibits making lewd comments, sexual harassment or any type of inappropriate physical contact. Minors must be supervised to prevent minor-on-minor abuse. 20% of reported cases involve minors. Please contact Safe Haven immediately with any concern. 1-800-USA-AYSO.

46. Ethical Abuse The newest identified form of abuse: harming an individual by convincing him/her to commit an act that is against his/her physical, moral, or ethical interests.

47. Ethical Abuse Abusive behaviors not allowed include asking a player to “take down” an opposing player or faking an injury. Adults should refrain from asking children to keep “secrets” from parents.

48. Suspecting Abuse If abuse is suspected, notify your CVPA and the National Safe Haven Office. 1-800-USA-AYSO. If the abuse is considered life threatening, contact local law enforcement immediately. Remember reporting is a means of helping; let professional agencies investigate. Do not confront alleged abuser. Youth volunteers should be encouraged to inform an adult if told a “secret” about abuse.

49. Preventing Abuse Screening who volunteers in the AYSO program is just the first step. Training volunteers to recognize abuse and abusive behavior is necessary to report and stop abuse. It would all be meaningless unless we implement policies and guidelines to prevent opportunities for abuse to occur. Experts agree that is also important to foster positive self-images, a safe environment and the courage in our players to speak up.

50. What if? A player confides to a coach that someone is abusing him/her. A parent is screaming at his/her child on the field and strikes the child. Players are bullying one of their teammates. At the end of practice, players scatter around the field while waiting for their parents, some out of sight.