The U.S. Center for SafeSport will debut five free online youth training courses, beginning June 12.
They will include courses for children of pre-school age, grades K-2, grades 3-5, middle school and high school. They are designed as an introduction for athletes who are minors, and their parents or other caregivers, to understand the importance of positive, welcoming environments in sports, where misconduct such as bullying or abuse is less likely to happen.The course are also designed to help participants know where to report abuse.
Each course will be hosted on www.athletesafety.org and requires that a parent/legal guardian create an account to provide consent for their child to access the training. Once an account is created, parents can choose which course is best for their child, based on their actual or developmental age.
Every course will take less than 30 minutes to complete. While the youth training courses are not required, a PDF certificate is available at the conclusion of each training, and parents are encouraged to create one bearing their child’s name.
Competing members of the U.S. Equestrian Federation are required to take the SafeSport course for adults, as are licensed officials.