Best Practice Guidelines

By joining the Great Plains Swim Team, I understand that:

Activities that violate the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy and/or Bullying Policy will not be tolerated by the Great Plains Swim Club. I have a responsibility to speak up if I see an incident occur so it can be dealt with promptly and effectively. 

The following Best Practice Guidelines are strongly recommended for all USA Swimming members.

1. Parents should be encouraged to appropriately support their children's swimming experience.​

2. All swimming practices should be open to observation by parents.

3. Coaches should not initiate contact with or accept supervisory responsibility for athletes outside club programs and activities.

4. When only one athlete and one coach travel to a competition, at the competition the coach and athlete should attempt to establish a "buddy" club to associate with during the competition and when away from the venue.

5. Relationships of a peer-to-peer nature with any athletes should be avoided. For example, coaches should avoid sharing their own personal problems with athletes.

6. Coaches and other non-athlete adult members should avoid horseplay and roughhousing with athletes.

7. When a coach touches an athlete as part of instruction, the coach should do so in direct view of others and inform the athlete of what he/she is doing prior to the initial contact. Touching athletes should be minimized outside the boundaries of what is considered normal instruction. Appropriate interaction would include high fives, fist bumps, side-to-side hugs, and handshakes.

8. Coaches should avoid having athletes as their favorites. They should also avoid creating a situation that could be perceived as them having favorites.

9. Gift-giving, providing special favors, or showing favoritism to individual athletes is strongly discouraged.

Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy (MAAPP)

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 its continued commitment to safeguarding our athletes, USA Swimming has enacted enhancements to Safe Sport policy and education requirements.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport (“the Center”), the separate, independent, organization that oversees all sexual misconduct reports in the Olympic and Paralympic Movement created the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies to set a baseline for acceptable safety standards that limit one-on-one interactions between adults and minor athletes. The Center urged all National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to add restrictions tailored to fit the sport.

USA Swimming released the Minor Athlete Protection Policy (MAAPP) addressing 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 in April 2019.  All USA Swimming member clubs were required to implement MAAPP in June 23, 2019.

Bullying Policy

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at Great Plains Swim Club and will not be tolerated. Bullying is counterproductive to team spirit and can be devastating to a victim.  HVSC is committed to providing a safe, caring and friendly environment for all of our members.  If bullying does occur, all athletes and parents should know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively. Anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell a coach, board member or athlete/mentor.

You may have access to the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy and/or Bullying Policy in full. You may access the policies on the Great Plains Swim Club team site, or you may request a paper copy. Join USA Swimming and Great Plains Swim Club in our commitment to do more to keep our athletes safe and abuse out of our sport.