Safe Sport - Athlete Anonymous texting
Good morning everyone,
USAS has released a new platform to give the kids more avenues for reporting Safe Sport issues. Below is an article describing how the program works. I would encourage all Safe Sport Chairs and Coaches to put this out to our athletes. Many times kids feel more comfortable with one or another platform for communication. This is just anonther platform that can be used to give our athletes the oportunity to report any issues.
Thank you,
Keith Stetor
Allegheny Mountain Swimming
Safe Sport Chair
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming in the United States, today announced their alignment with RealResponse, the award-winning safe and secure feedback, monitoring and anonymous reporting platform. Starting September 1, 2022, USA Swimming members can submit anonymously or on the record through simple text messaging at 888-270-SWIM (7946). To enhance the ability of USA Swimming to gather facts while still protecting the identity of anonymous reporters, select USA Swimming staff will be able to respond through the platform for appropriate follow up. This includes the recent hiring of two additional Safe Sport staff members who will focus on responding to reports.
This summer, the RealResponse platform was made available to USA Swimming’s National and Junior National Teams as they traveled overseas for competitions. It will now be released to the rest of the organization on September 1 to track, monitor and proactively address reports.
“We are excited to provide this valuable new resource for our USA Swimming members,” said Liz Hahn, Program Director for Safe Sport at USA Swimming. “Our utilization of this platform will allow all members to easily report from their phones, while still remaining anonymous - if they wish. In addition to continuing to provide anonymous reporting, this tool will allow USA Swimming to gather additional facts to effectively permit staff to follow up on all reports.”
RealResponse allows individuals to report with ease through text messaging. Additionally, all current reporting mechanisms such as email, phone and the online reporting form, will continue to be available here.
"USA Swimming has always had athlete and member well-being at the top of their priorities, and our partnership will give all involved the ability to further promote the well-being of USA Swimming members,” said David Chadwick, Founder and CEO of RealResponse. "Not only will RealResponse provide for timely, critical reporting, but USA Swimming will be able to watch for trends in health and wellness aspects of its athletes, from mental health to out of competition concerns.”
USA Swimming will continue to protect the identity of reporters, and will serve its members through resources such as the Whistleblower and Anti-Retaliation Policy.
For more information on USA Swimming’s Safe Sport efforts, please visit https://www.usaswimming.org/safe-sport.
