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SOUTH ORLANDO ROWING ASSOCIATION

SORA Safe Sport Manual: SORA - USRowing SafeSport Manual and Policy Guide

As a US Rowing member, SORA follows the Safe Sport guidelines below. 

USRowing's mission is to champion participation and the passionate pursuit of excellence in the sport of rowing. The organization seeks to achieve these goals with a commitment to integrity, teamwork, and -- above all -- safety.

The U.S. Congress designated the U.S. Center for SafeSport with the authority to respond to reports of sexual misconduct within the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Movement by passing the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. This legislation designates the?U.S. Center for SafeSport?to serve as the?independent?national safe sport organization. 

USRowing's Safe Sport program is designed to assure athlete safety by promoting and enforcing policies and programs that address: bullying, hazing, harassment (including sexual harassment), emotional misconduct, physical misconduct and sexual misconduct (including child sexual abuse and/or grooming behaviors).?

All USRowing Member Organizations are required to have their own athlete safety program. While the primary focus is to safeguard children, these policies extend to all age groups including masters and college level. 

As a condition of membership, USRowing Member Organizations must accept the jurisdictional role of the U.S. Center for SafeSport to investigate and adjudicate any issues of sexual misconduct within their organization.

Safe Sport violations for behaviors other than sexual misconduct should be investigated and handled within each member organization following its internal policies and procedures. After exhausting all remedies afforded by the member organization's policy, issues of misconduct may be brought to USRowing.

Basic SafeSport Program Requirements

As a member organization of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), USRowing, its employees, contractors, volunteers, officials, board members, committee members and other designees, members and organizational members (collectively, "Participants") are required to comply with the U.S. Center for SafeSport Code of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement.
 

Organizational Member Safe Sport Programs

Individuals covered by an organizational member's Safe Sport policy should include part- and full-time administrators, board members, trainers, and coaches, as well as volunteers with direct access to athletes. At a minimum, these individuals must complete background checks, receive SafeSport training, and be familiar with internal reporting, investigation and hearing procedures.

Background Checks 

To protect athletes and all members of the USRowing community, part- and full-time employees of USRowing, USRowing member organizations, members of the Board of Directors, coaches, referees, volunteers that have direct access to athletes over the course of several days, and vendors with direct access/interactions with athletes are required to undergo criminal background checks. 

USRowing has partnered with the National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI) to provide background checks for all USRowing covered individuals. 

Organizational members also may utilize NCSI to bring their organization into compliance. Discounted background checks are available from NCSI for $30 (additional county fees may apply) for all covered individuals. Organizational members can get started by clicking this link. 

After registering your organization through the online form, NCSI will contact you directly to finalize the application.
 

Education and Training

USRowing recognizes that education and awareness may be the best approach to prevent issues of misconduct. USRowing has partnered with the U.S. Center for SafeSport to provide training and education on the various forms of misconduct. The Center has developed a comprehensive online program, which is free to all USRowing individual members. It focuses on both identifying misconduct and the steps needed to prevent it.

Effective January 1, 2022,participants 18 years of age or older are now required to take SafeSport training.

If SafeSport training is not completed prior to attending a regatta, an adult participant will not be allowed to participate. The training is?free?for all members of USRowing. We want to emphasize this is not just USRowing policy, but it is required by law and supported by the USOPC. 

Please note, if you are 18 years of age or older, you will be required to take the SafeSport Core Training or a Refresher Course prior to participation. Training must be completed annually.  

PLEASE NOTE that you will need your own USRowing member number and your own email address to access the training.  If you are an Adult Participant but will not be participating as an athlete, coach or referee, you can register at no cost under the support staff category to obtain your USRowing member number. You must be affiliated with a member organization to receive a support staff membership.  

USRowing has migrated to the Center's new learning management system, Absorb. All SafeSport training will be done at https://safesporttrained.org. 

Please be sure to use the Enrollment Key on the SafeSport landing page and enter the following key: NGBUSR-RFKt8f if you are new to the SafeSport training. 
If you need further assistance with the SafeSport training site, please contact the U.S. Center for SafeSport directly at 720-676-6417or on their Help Portal at?https://safesporttrained.org . 
 

Policies and Procedures 

USRowing has developed several policies and procedures to protect our athletes and all members of the USRowing community. These are found in the essential resources section below. 

Several state and local governments have enacted safe sport reporting requirements. After your organization has drafted its internal Safe Sport policy and procedures, it is important to have the policy and procedures vetted to ensure that it meets these requirements.

Essential Resources

USRowing Exclusion List (updated 9/24/2021)

If you have any additional questions, please contact our Safe Sport team at:
 
(609) 751-0713 
USRowingSafeSport@usrowing.org

Everyone wins when all athletes are safe and supported! 

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