USA Swimming Safe Sport - MAAPP Policy

 

 

USA Swimming is committed to providing a healthy and positive environment free from abuse for all its members.  USA Swimming’s Safe Sport program, a comprehensive abuse prevention program, consists of a multi-layered approach to keep kids safe, including: required policies and best practice guidelines; mandatory screening, including criminal background checks and employment screening; training and education; monitoring, supervision and mandatory reporting.  These measures are informed by experts in the field of child safety and are among the strongest safeguards found in youth-serving organizations.

USA Swimming’s top priority continues to be keeping our athletes safe. No form of abuse, including child sexual abuse, has a place in our sport. As a part of our continued commitment to safeguarding our athletes, USA Swimming has enacted enhancements to our Safe Sport policy requirements.

The Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy (MAAPP) addresses one-on-one interactions, social media and electronic communications, travel: local and team, locker rooms and changing areas and massages, rubdowns and athletic training modalities. Every USA Swimming club, Zone and LSC is required to implement the MAAPP in full.

Blackline Aquatics welcomes and supports these policies, as we are committed to a safe environment for our athletes to participate. No form of abuse is ever tolerated in our sport. The Blackline Aquatics staff and other non-athlete members annually receive training/certifications for Athlete Protection and SafeSport.

The US Center for SafeSport is the governing authority for all SafeSport policies (and enforcement) for all sports within the Olympic and Para-Olympic movements. The Center oversees all national governing bodies, including USA Swimming, for compliance with SafeSport policies and best practices.

One of the procedures requires that all members who are 18 and Older who have interaction with minor athletes this includes athletes, all (both) parents, coaches and officials must affirm/sign their agreement to MAAPP (Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy). 

 The process is straightforward – go to our MAAPP Policy page, carefully read the documents and click on “Register Online”.

All (both) parents need to go through this process.  Parents will need to register as a “New Member”, note that is not to join the team. The online system requires an electronic process to affirm the documents, so the term “New Member” really means “New Signature” – the website does not retain your birthdate or other info, it will merely retain your signature.  

18 & Older swimmers need to go through this process too, but do not need to hit new member.  They also need to take the APT (Athlete Protection Training) located here: https://www.usaswimming.org/resource-center/athlete-protection-training

USA Swimming Safe Sport Page

MAAPP