RISK

MANAGEMENT

GEMENT

Providing the safest possible environment

through US Youth Soccer Risk Management
KIDSAFE PROGRAM US YOUTH SOCCER
800.4.SOCCER
USYOUTHSOCCER.ORG
9220 World Cup Way
Frisco, Texas 75034
US YOUTH SOCCER RISK MANAGEMENT

WELCOME TO
US YOUTH SOCCER
Whether you play in Honolulu or Philadelphia…
Whether your local club, league or association has
thousands of players or just a few teams…

Whether you work with (or are) a paid professional coach

or are just coaching for the fun of it….

Whether you’re an Under-6 or an Under-19….

Whether you’re a parent, a player, an administrator,
a trainer or a coach...

You are part of

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 CONTENTS

Introduction
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

KidSafe
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Goal Safety
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Personal Safety
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Tournament and
Travel Safety
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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Introduction
Our commitment is to provide the safest possible
environment through US Youth Soccer Risk Management
KidSafe Program. We want to provide each player with a
culture of safety – a place where every parent, player, coach,
administrator and volunteer works together to ensure the
safety of all of our players. This guide touches on several
important topics and is designed to educate and inform so
that you can help us in making sure that every child that
is registered with US Youth Soccer is protected in as many
ways possible. The topics included in this guide are:

• US Youth Soccer KidSafe Program (beginning on

this page)
• Goal Safety (page 6)
• Personal Safety (page 8)
• Travel and Tournament Safety (page 12)
• If Guidelines for Financial Management are needed,
please refer to the US Youth Soccer web site

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

KidSafe Program
US Youth Soccer and its State Associations consider
the safety of youth soccer players and others involved in
youth soccer to be of paramount importance. We have
implemented stringent risk management policies and
practices to promote the safety and security of players,
teams, team officials, parents, volunteers and spectators.
US Youth Soccer works in close cooperation with its State
Associations to protect and improve the safety of youth
soccer players nationwide.

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 US Youth Soccer and its State Associations’
programs, activities, policies and bylaws that protect
the safety and security of youth soccer players include
the following:

(A) adopting the KidSafe Program, including estab-

lishing and training Risk Management coordina-
tors, and applying the program broadly to team
officials, referees and volunteers;
(B) promulgating risk management guidelines for
youth web sites;
(C) encouraging and facilitating compliance with
the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
(COPPA);
(D) instituting coach and referee training programs;
(E) developing materials and presenting programs
about running safe activities, such as this guide and
well-managed soccer tournaments and games;
(F) developing and disseminating programs about
proper parenting of youth soccer players;
(G) encouraging and conducting educational pro-
grams about positive interactions among players,
parents, team officials, referees and spectators;
(H) providing information and guidance concern-
ing many safety matters, such as lightning and
weather, goal anchoring and safety, and coor-
dination with local fire, emergency and law en-
forcement officials; and
(I) ensuring age-appropriate interaction between
and among youth soccer players.

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US YOUTH SOCCER RISK MANAGEMENT

Goal Safety
Every year children are injured or lose their lives
in goal post accidents. This risk is very real, and soccer
goals are so much a part of our “scenery” that we often
don’t recognize the danger. Simply, falling goals can
seriously injure and kill.

Here are some simple safety guidelines to reduce the risk:

• Never start a practice or game without inspecting
the goals; don’t rely on someone else to ensure the
safety of your players.
• Always make sure that goals are properly an-
chored, including portable goals, before you
start play. If goals are not anchored, don’t
have players in the goal area and notify the
proper official immediately.
• Be sure to check that the top cross bar is se-
cure. If it is constructed of two pieces, make
sure they are bolted together.
• Know how goals should be anchored. For the best
instruction, go to Consumer Safety Products at
www.cpsc.gov; then make sure you give proper in-
struction to all members of your club, league or as-
sociation.
• Do not manufacture or design goal posts – buy from
a manufacturer who has product liability.
• Perform periodic surveys on goal condition, includ-
ing who owns the goals. Could your organization,
league or association be held responsible for goals
that don’t belong to you?

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• Put warning labels on all goals. For warning label
information: www.cpsc.gov
• Communicate goal safety information through ev-
ery channel and opportunity, including your web
site and registration.
• Goals aren’t playground equipment. Make sure
that your soccer player – all your children – under-
stand that goals should never be climbed. Don’t
allow play on soccer goals.
• Be responsible. If you see any children playing on a
goal, ask them to stop and inform the proper official.
• Be aware – goals are a part of the landscape but
can injure or kill. Respect them.
• Make sure that nets are removed and the goals
are stored safely when not in use.

Never
under any circumstances
ask players to help
you move a goal.

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US YOUTH SOCCER RISK MANAGEMENT

Personal Safety
The statistics are frightening. Fact: One out of
every four girls and one out of every six boys will be
sexually abused before the age of 18. Fact: Pedophiles
are drawn to places where there are children. All youth
sports, including youth soccer, are such places.
Each US Youth Soccer State Association has a
KidSafe Program in place. At a minimum, this includes
Risk Management disclosures and it may also include
background checks of coaches, assistant coaches, ad-
ministrators, volunteers and even parent helpers who
are working with the players. However, background
checks can only turn up past offenses; they cannot pre-
vent child abuse on their own.
Education protects our adults and our play-
ers. Know the types of predators and the red flags.
Be vigilant. Whether you are a coach, administrator,
parent, or player, be alert. If you suspect someone
is at risk, inform the appropriate person. You can go
to club, league or association officials, or to the Risk
Manager of your State Association. Your concerns will
be treated with importance and respect.

Here are the types of predators that prey on youth

• The pedophile creates and seeks opportunities to
access children. This person has a tremendous
aptitude for identifying children’s needs and vulner-
abilities. He or she will take the time to form rela-
tionships, not only with the youth, but, possibly, the
family. Youth sports can open the door for predators.
By offering success, they can take advantage of the
needs and desires of both parents and players.

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• The seducer, sexual harasser, or exploiter preys
on older adolescents and young adults. He or
she may make sexual behavior, sexual advances
or romantic involvement part of the terms and
conditions for participation. Players may feel that
a coach’s actions (from playing time to recom-
mendations) are based on the intimate or sexual
relationship.
• The molester is the nightmare in the news. This
is the person who seeks, and may snatch, vul-
nerable and easily manipulated children, often
the very young. Because we play in parks and
other publicly accessible facilities, our youth are
vulnerable to these predators who may become
fixated with a child from a distance.

Here are some simple safety guidelines to

reduce the risk
• Make sure that every adult who works with
youth has complied with the Risk Management
policies of your State Association, and club
league or association.
• Check references thoroughly. Don’t be afraid to
ask a coach, assistant coach trainer, or adminis-
trator about his or her previous experience.
• Help create an open environment that makes sure
players know that they will be supported for seek-
ing help with anything that makes them uncomfort-
able. Assure them that there are multiple avenues
of support.

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US YOUTH SOCCER RISK MANAGEMENT

• Set a tone of respect for players. Communicate

the level of expected professional conduct to
coaches, administrators and volunteers at coach-
es’ meetings, parent meetings and in literature.
• As an adult, never be alone with a player. If you
are working with an individual player one-on-
one, work in sight of other adults.
• Don’t send players to restrooms alone.
• Keep barriers in place. If communication occurs
by text or emails, send group messages to the
entire team, including parents. Don’t use these
means to communicate on an individual basis.
• Limit the use of adult-to-player communication
through cell phones.
• Adults involved in a team, club, league or asso-
ciation should not become “friends” with players
on social web sites.
• Coaches coaching players of the opposite sex
should make sure to have an assistant coach,
parent or manager of the same sex as the players
at all practices, training sessions, games, etc.
• Have another adult at all practices. Be sure at
least two adults wait for players to be picked up
from practices or games or, if there is only one
adult available, such as the coach, then make
sure the adult stays out in the open and visible.

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• Establish boundaries between team and
social activities.
• Watch for red flags:
o Adults who seeks personal intimacy
with a player or discloses intimate, per-
sonal or emotional feelings for a player.
o Adults who “court” a player or re-
sponds in kind to flirting or seductive
behavior.
o Adults who make excessive or dis-
proportionate physical contact with
one player.

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US YOUTH SOCCER RISK MANAGEMENT

Tournament and Travel Safety

Tournaments and travel are part of the fun and
experience of participating in youth soccer. Help
make them safe for everyone involved.

• Plan ahead – make sure you have all the neces-

sary paperwork, forms and passes.
• Make sure that all contact numbers for parents,
guardians, administrators, etc. are current.
• If a player is traveling with someone else, other
than his or her family, know the player’s transpor-
tation arrangements. Make sure these arrange-
ments have been approved. Is the player going
with another family? Does the player need some-
one to pick him or her up?
• Plan your first team meeting/game in advance.
Make sure everyone knows the meeting place
and time along with how to get to the hotel, field
or facility.
• Double check all arrangements. If you have
questions, ask.
• Make sure players have all their gear and neces-
sary funds to be prepared to travel and play.
• Hotel safety:
o If players are staying together in their own
rooms, make sure they have adequate su-
pervision. Rule of thumb: Are there enough
adults to remove the players from the hotel
safely in an emergency?
o Set team rules and monitor behavior.

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PLAN AHEAD
o Use a hotel booking service whenever pos-
sible for hotel selection to reduce liability.
o If it is “your” tournament, remember that
requiring teams to stay in certain hotels in-
creases liability should there be a problem
at a hotel. Again, use a service to reduce
liability if specifying hotels.
o If parents are traveling with the team, know
who is in charge at all times. Don’t let your
son or daughter leave your supervision un-
less they are attending a specified team
activity.
o Do not let players roam the hotel alone.
o Instruct team members on basic hotel safety,
including the following:
 Instruct players on hotel rules and safety.
 Players should use elevators, not stairs
(unless an emergency dictates otherwise).
 Players should always have a buddy with
them.
 Players should not allow anyone into their
rooms other than their family members
and/or teammates unless with an adult’s
approval and knowledge.
 Keep room numbers private.
 Do not prop doors open so that people
can come and go without restriction.
Keep doors locked at all times.

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US YOUTH SOCCER RISK MANAGEMENT

 Communicate matters of non-compliance

and unsafe behavior.
 On the road: Did you know that Federal Law
prohibits the use of 15-passenger vans for
school-related transport of high school age
and younger children? Between 1990 and
2002, there were 1,576 fatal crashes involv-
ing 15 passenger vans. 87% of those killed
were not wearing seatbelts.
 Remember; the insurance coverage provid-
ed by your state association may not include
liabilty insurance for drivers. If you are trans-
porting players in your own vehicle, you may
not have additional liability other than your
personal coverage.

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W
e hope that this will give you some ideas

on how to help make US Youth Soccer the

safest possible place for our players. If you have

any questions or concerns, please remember that

you can contact Risk Management officials in US

Youth Soccer, your State Association your local

club, league or association. The Risk Management

committee members contact information is avail-

able in the Risk Management Resource Center on,

www.USYouthSoccer.org

Thank you for helping us keep our players safe.

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