Locker Room Monitoring Policy

Purpose

The following guidelines are designed to maintain personal privacy as well as to reduce the risk of misconduct in locker rooms and changing areas.

Facilities

The following is a description of our practice and competition facilities to allow athletes and their families to plan their use:

We practice within the Mounds View Publics Schools at Chippewa, Edgewood and Highview Middle Schools.

These locations have a changing area and locker room dedicated to our swimmers, during NSAC’s practice times. Athletes shall have access to these changing room via pool deck only.

During summer months NSAC may practice at: University of Minnesota Aquatic Center or Richfield’s Parks and Recreation Facility (or other Public Facilities).

These locations have: A changing area that is shared with the general public. As such, there are likely to be people who are not associated with NSAC in the changing area around the time of practice.

Monitoring

General Policy Considerations

Coaches and staff make every effort to recognize when an athlete goes to the locker room or changing area during practice and competition and, if they do not return in a timely fashion, we will check on the athlete’s whereabouts.

We discourage parents from entering locker rooms and changing areas unless it is truly necessary. In those instances, it should only be a same‐sex parent. If this is necessary, parents should let the coach or administrator know about this in advance.

If an athlete needs assistance with his or her uniform or gear (for example, a child under the age of eight), or an athlete’s disability warrants assistance, then we ask that parents let the coach or an administrator know beforehand that he or she will be helping the athlete.

North Suburban Aquatic Club has staggered practices, with different groups arriving and departing throughout the day. It is therefore not practical to constantly monitor locker rooms and changing areas over this extended course of time. While we do not post staff, coach, parent, or other adult inside or at the doors of the locker rooms and changing areas, we do make occasional sweeps of these areas. Staff, coach, parent, or other adult conduct these sweeps, with women checking on female locker rooms, and men checking on male locker rooms.

Use of Cell Phones and Other Mobile Recording Devices

Cell phones and other mobile devices with recording capabilities, including voice recording, still cameras and video cameras increase the risk for different forms of misconduct in locker rooms and changing areas. The USA Swimming Athlete Protection Policies prohibit the use of such devices in the locker room or other changing area:

305.3 Use of audio or visual recording devices, including a cell phone camera, is not allowed in changing areas, rest rooms or locker rooms.

Violations of the nsac’s locker room code of conduct will be dealt with in the following manner at a coach’s discretion:

1st  Warning: A verbal warning is issued to the misbehaving swimmer.

2nd  Warning: If any coach has to approach that swimmer a second time, she/he will receive a time-out on the deck.

3rd  Warning: A third warning will be documented and the swimmer’s parents will be contacted. Swimmer will be removed from practice area for remainder of practice. Swimmer will not be readmitted until parents have met with the coach in the swimmer’s presence and the swimmer has served a week of suspension from the team, including any meets during that time

Follow-up: If the disruptive behavior continues, there will be a meeting with the swimmer, coaches and parents in which we’ll discuss the possibility of the swimmer not being invited back to swim with the team for the remainder of the year.

Depending on the severity of the issue at hand, coaches may choose to jump straight to the second or third warning.