Youth sports parents play many different roles: former (or current) athlete, coach, fan, motivator, role model, critic, and maybe most importantly, influencer. Studies have shown that family members may influence an athlete’s involvement and achievement in sport even more than coaches. Parents also are the first and most critical determiners in whether or not children reap the social benefits of playing sports. This is why it is so crucial that sports parents are aware and accountable for their actions, and how those influence their young athletes.

Accounting for Your Attitude

Parental encouragement is significantly related to a child’s attraction to and competence in playing sports. Parents who provide positive encouragement instill a greater sense of enjoyment, ability, and motivation in their child.

Research done by Windee M. Weiss, Ph.D. of the University of Northern Iowa emphasizes the importance of parents staying accountable for and modeling good behavior, and helping their children interpret their sport experiences. Parents are critical in helping their child develop coping strategies to deal not only with competition, but also with losing. Children’s perceptions of their parents’ interest in their playing sport also predict their lasting involvement in sport.

Studies done by the University of Minnesota’s Diane Wiese-Bjornstal found that the way girls perceive their parents’ assessment of their abilities predict their likelihood of playing and staying in sport. That is, if their parents do not have confidence in their abilities, neither will they.

And dads, are you listening? Studies have found that fathers hold more influence – both positive and negative – over their daughter’s sport competence and values than mothers do. However, mothers are more likely to first enroll their daughters in sport and then continue encouragement by providing transportation, uniforms, moral support, and snacks.

Being Responsible for Their Readiness

There is some good news to report from yet another study on the topic. Researchers from Yale University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Michigan suggest that children participate in organized activities, such as sport, because they want to, not because their parents make them.

But parents still need to consider whether a child is mentally, emotionally, socially, and physically mature enough to participate in sport. Readiness for a sport is just as important as readiness for school. And, like schooling, younger children need more positive direction at first, until they begin to develop and master the sport.

Pros and Cons for Parents

Parents also benefit from their child’s participation in sport. Research from Wiersma and Fifer found that their positive experiences include watching their child learn new skills and having the opportunity to interact with other parents.

On the negative side, parents who lose accountability for their lofty expectations and put too many demands on their young athletes before, during, and after competition can create stress that can destroy their child’s enjoyment of sport. Research by Bois et al., Power and Woolger, and Van Yperen has shown that negative parental support and pressure can result in competitive anxiety, interpersonal difficulties among teammates, and even quitting. Conversely, lower parental pressure has been found to be associated with children enjoying their sport more.

An overemphasis on extrinsic goals (winning, trophies, status) by parents can negate focusing on intrinsic goals, through which the child gains enjoyment from playing, mastering skills, and improving their game. Coaches also report that children’s sport performance is affected by the presence of parents. Additionally, parents lacking self-awareness and accountability for their actions are most likely to create conflict for coaches during the critical time that their child is improving mastery and transferring their trust in authority from the parent to the coach.

LaVoi and Stellino research found that the children of parents who create anxiety about failing and emphasize winning are more likely to engage in poor sport behaviors than children whose parents encourage enjoyment and self-mastery. Another study from Guivernau and Duda showed how athletes’ perceptions of their parents’ approval regarding cheating and aggression shape their own views about appropriate sport behavior. When youth athletes feel that their parents are supportive, positive, and emphasize mastery and enjoyment, they are more likely to display concern for opponents and grace in losing. They also are less likely to trash talk or whine and complain about the coach or their playing time.

Accountability from parents for their actions and attitudes effects much more than just their athletes’ level of effort on the field. It also impacts their mindset, mood, and motivation to continue playing sports at all, as well as their trust in their coach and authority in general.

Creating accountable youth athletes and young adults starts at home, with parents taking responsibility for their actions first before demanding that their athletes do the same.

Anyone who’s ever gone for a long, satisfying run and felt that rush of feel-good endorphins flood their body knows the power a good workout can have on their entire mood. Countless studies have found a demonstrable link between physical activity and mental health—more of one is associated with more of the other—but the science has struggled to prove a causal connection. Does more exercise cause better mental health, or do people who already have better mental health just tend to exercise more?

But now, finally, we have some pretty strong evidence: Exercise really may prevent depression, a new study shows.

Published recently in the JAMA Psychiatry journal, the study used a type of genetic analysis to prove the causal link. Using the results of large-scale genome-wide association studies, researchers identified gene variants relating to physical activity and depression. There was a lot of data involved: One measure of physical activity was based on 377,000 people’s self-reported documentation of their physical activity; another was based on 91,000 people wearing motion-detecting sensors on their wrists, and the depression measure was based on 143,000 people with and without the illness.

The analysis showed that more physical activity clocked in on the motion sensors appeared to protect against the risk of depression, but the relationship did not work the other way around—depression did not lead to less physical activity. Interestingly, people’s self-reported physical activity also didn’t lead to less risk of depression, perhaps because people don’t always honestly report how much they’ve exercised and don’t always know to include all the strenuous activity they do throughout the day that gets the heart pumping—things like climbing up a lot of stairs, mowing the lawn, or other activities a motion sensor will still register.

On average, “doing more physical activity appears to protect against developing depression,” says Karmel Choi, Ph.D., the report’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Genomic Medicine, in a news release. “Any activity appears to be better than none; our rough calculations suggest that replacing sitting with 15 minutes of a heart-pumping activity like running, or with an hour of moderately vigorous activity, is enough to produce the average increase in accelerometer data that was linked to a lower depression risk.”

Considering nearly one in five people in the United States live with mental illness and about one in 12 adults report having depression specifically, these findings offer an important preventive strategy for anyone looking to protect their mental health.

“Of course, it’s one thing to know that physical activity could be beneficial for preventing depression; it’s another to actually get people to be physically active,” Dr. Choi says. “More work needs to be done to figure out how best to tailor recommendations to different kinds of people with different risk profiles. We currently are looking at whether and how much physical activity can benefit different at-risk groups, such as people who are genetically vulnerable to depression or those going through stressful situations and hope to develop a better understanding of physical activity to promote resilience to depression.”

While the scientists keep working out the details, the actionable take-away for most people is fairly clear: Get moving. Building physical activity into your day is key to a healthy body and mind, no questions asked.

If you’re someone already with depression, holistic psychiatrist and mbq Collective member Ellen Vora, M.D., still recommends working some movement into your day—but emphasizes the importance of setting achievable expectations.

“When you’re depressed, the last thing you want to do is haul yourself to the gym for a spin class,” Dr. Vora tells mbq. “Commit to doing something quick, free, easy, convenient, and pleasant in your living room for a few minutes most days of the week. I suggest anything from Pilates to calisthenics to yoga to dancing along to a Beyoncé music video on YouTube. If you do anything at all, you’ll begin to get the antidepressant benefits, and I assure you doing something—no matter how small—is so much better than nothing.”

Physical weakness, a grumbling stomach, headache and trouble concentrating— we’re all familiar with how it feels when hunger hits. While it’s common to experience these symptoms upon waking in the morning and close to meal times, for some people they occur far more frequently throughout the day.

Known medically as polyphagia, such extreme hunger is often an indication of underlying health concerns such as poor diet to unhealthy personal habits. If you regularly find yourself anxious for your next meal, even after just eating, here are seven possible reasons why.

1. Refined Carbohydrates:

Cookies, pastries and white bread, while delicious, quickly spike the body’s blood sugar levels. But when they crash soon after, you’ll be left feeling even hungrier and craving more of these refined carbs to refuel the body once again—creating a cycle.

To keep your blood sugar in check and stave off feelings of hunger, Health.com recommends eating carbs that are high in fiber, such as almonds, apples, chia seeds or pistachios.

2. Thirst:

When the pangs of hunger hit, the first thing we think of is food. But maybe what the body really needs is water? As people commonly misinterpret dehydration for hunger, the best way to find out what’s causing the feeling is to drink a large glass of water and see if hunger persists afterward.

To prevent dehydration, Self.com says a good rule of thumb is to “take your body weight and divide it by two [to find] the number of ounces of water [you should be drinking every day].”

3. Stress:

It can be tempting to reach for food when experiencing stress, and not just because of the temporary comfort it provides. When the body is tense it triggers an overproduction of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, both of which can trick the body into thinking it needs to eat.

Not only that, but stress reduces levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can also encourage feelings of hunger. To combat this, try practicing stress-reducing activities such as meditation or yoga on a regular basis.

4. Not getting enough sleep:

There are only so many hours in a day, and with our lives becoming increasingly busier, sacrifices must often be made. Unfortunately, despite how vital it is to our overall health, sleep tends to be one of the first things to go. A lack of shut-eye could be contributing to more than just your inability to stay awake throughout the day, however. Not enough sleep can increase production of the hormone ghrelin, making you feel hungry even if your body doesn’t require the calories.

5. Eating too quickly:

If you’re ravenous at mealtime, it can be tempting to scarf down your food. But eating quickly doesn’t allow the brain adequate time to register that you’ve had enough to eat. As a result, you may continue feeling hungry even after you’ve consumed a sufficient amount of food, causing you to continue eating.

To slow your eating pace, The Globe and Mail suggests pausing between bites to allow enough time for though chewing. The source also says to “ban distractions that prevent you from paying attention to the fact you’re eating. Step away from the TV, computer or newspaper when eating.”

6. You need more protein and fat:

Do you find yourself constantly eating but never managing to stay full? It might be what you’re eating that’s causing persistent hunger. As mentioned earlier, refined carbs are a culprit of this as they mess with blood sugar and are lacking essential nutrients like protein and fat. Protein and fat remain in the stomach longer, helping to maintain feelings of fullness. Livestrong.com recommends    incorporating more sources of these nutrients in every meal, such as fish, poultry, eggs, nuts or low-fat dairy.

7. Certain Medications:

Insatiable hunger can also be a side effect of taking certain medications. WebMD says that ‘antihistamines are known for this, as are antidepressants called SSRIs, steroids, some diabetes medicines, and antipsychotic drugs.”

If you always feel the need to eat, even after consuming a large meal, it may be worth speaking to your physician about possibly switching to another drug.

Leo Anderson was in the middle of a baseball game when he threw a ball he had just caught, heard a crunch in his elbow and fell to the ground.

That sound was a growth plate in his elbow breaking, and it ended the now-15-year-old’s season last spring.

Doctors said the break was caused by overuse, and the Highland Park, Ill., teenager had surgery to place a pin in his elbow to stabilize it. Anderson, a catcher who had been trying out pitching, wore a cast for 12 weeks before his comeback this fall. The freshman at Lake Forest High School also had physical therapy until November and says he hopes to play for his high school team in the upcoming spring season, in addition to his other team.

But his father, Bill Anderson, said he now closely monitors his son’s play, and that the injury was a warning. Leo, like many youth athletes, plays baseball 10 months of the year. “Quite honestly, it just didn’t occur to me that he was overusing his arm.”

Doctors say overuse injuries in youth sports have increased significantly in the past decade. They blame it on kids focusing on one sport early on and playing it year-round, sometimes on multiple teams at once.

“Sports specialization has led to almost an epidemic in sports injuries,” said Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, surgical director of women’s musculoskeletal health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School. “Kids are fatigued, and they’re not strengthening the way they should be.”

Matzkin said that, in the past decade, she’s seen overuse injuries in young athletes that she used to see mainly in adults.

“Over the past 10 years, you’d maybe see the occasional high school ACL tear. Now you’re seeing it in 12-, 13-year-olds,” she said. With such injuries at 13, “are you going to have arthritis when you’re 30?”

While doctors and physical therapists say they can treat the injuries, some worry what will happen as these young athletes grow up — when old injuries could turn into chronic problems.

“We can get you back playing your sport … but what we can’t do is prevent your arthritis in your knee,” Matzkin said. Then “you’re seeing young women in their 30s who can’t keep up with their kids in the backyard.”

Doctors say it’s largely up to parents and coaches to try to prevent these injuries through cross-training and rest.

But that message can be hard to follow in the increasingly competitive field of youth sports, in which more parents seem to have their sights set on college scholarships and even professional play for their kids, said Dr. Andrea Kramer, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute.

Kramer, who treated Leo Anderson, said she’s seen more overuse injuries in recent years, and at younger ages.

“I’m seeing kids from 7 on up for overuse injuries,” she said. The injuries come in the forms of sprains, breaks, stress fractures and other problems that cause “much more increased pain at a much younger age” than she used to see, and span many sports.

Kramer said children are at risk for these injuries because they are still growing and growth plates are shifting. She said she advises these young athletes and their parents to try more variety in sports or cross-conditioning, and stresses the importance of rest. Societal pressures seem to play into the desire for high achievement in sports, often leading to overplay, Kramer said.

“If we could convince people to not specialize in one sport at a young age, it would help a lot,” she said.

For Leo Anderson’s arm injury, the tipping point seemed to be when Leo, a catcher since childhood, started to try out pitching with private lessons, plus his regular team practices, which begin in October and last through July. His dad said rainouts last spring caused more back-to-back games, which he thinks also contributed to his son’s overthrowing.

“Looking back it was pretty obvious,” Bill Anderson said. “As a parent, I’m (now) much more hypersensitive to Leo having a sore arm.”

Anderson said he, along with Leo’s coaches, doctor and physical therapist, is monitoring Leo’s play to make sure the injury is healed and to prevent another overuse injury.

Matzkin, who is on American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons board of directors, said education of coaches and parents is necessary to prevent overuse injuries in kids.

The academy teamed up with the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine this year to begin OneSport Injury campaign, which focuses on just that. The slogan is: “Doctors can treat them. Parents and coaches can prevent them.”

The campaign offers materials geared toward coaches, parents and young athletes, providing prevention tips, statistics on injuries and guidelines for specific sports.

“Sports are beneficial, but playing the same sport more than eight months out of the year can be detrimental,” Matzkin said.

by Kate Thayer Chicago Tribune

A popular Christmas song boldly declares, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

Yet, for many this is rarely the case. Some will be celebrating the holidays for the first time without a loved one. Feelings of isolation, loneliness, or betrayal will be multiplied over the coming weeks. Often times unmet expectations of the holiday season mix with the grey and gloom of winter to bring deep levels of depression. And for most people, the hustle and bustle of extra shopping, extra parties, crowded parking lots and check-out lines lead to greater stress than other times of the year.

Yes, indeed, the most wonderful time of the year is too often felt as the most difficult.

But we can change that.

Well, we probably can’t change it for everybody. But we can intentionally spread some holiday cheer this week and make it a little more wonderful for somebody. And if we can brighten one person’s day, maybe their smile can brighten one more.

Plus, given the fact the quickest way to find happiness is to help someone else find theirs, intentionally spreading holiday cheer is the best way to find it ourselves. Consider this list of simple ideas you could complete this week. Most of them cost less than $20 and will take less than 10 minutes.

12 Uniquely Simple Ideas to Spread Some Holiday Cheer

1. Handwrite a letter.The handwritten letter has become a lost art in our world. During the holiday season, the handwritten letter has been replaced by the mass produced-family-photo-card-purchased-on-Shutterfly. And in a world where handwritten letters have been forgotten, their uniqueness and value increases dramatically. So find yourself 10 minutes, a stamp, and an envelope. Choose an old friend with a current street address and put some of your thoughts of appreciation on paper. You’ll be glad you did. And it will be the best piece of mail your friend receives this holiday season.
2. FaceTime/Skype an old friend. Technology has entirely changed our lives. In my lifetime alone, the idea of video conferencing with a friend has gone from far-fetched science fiction to cultural norm. Use it to your advantage by connecting face-to-face with an old friend or a friend halfway around the world. It doesn’t need to be too long, just lengthy enough to wish them a happy holiday and maybe compare how much the children have grown.
3. Buy coffee for a stranger. Next time you roll through the drive-thru of your local coffee shop, offer to pay for yourself and the person behind you (if they have already ordered, the cashier should have their bill handy). Or better yet,  leave a $20 bill with the cashier after you pay and ask him/her to pay for the following customers until the $20 runs out. Either way, coupled with their favorite beverage, this pleasant surprise is guaranteed to brighten someone’s day.
4. Smile and joke with your next cashier.The hustle and bustle and stress-filled shopping days leading up to Christmas results in plenty of customer-frustration. Parking lots are crowded, shelves are empty, aisles are full, and check-out lines are long. During these days in retail, even the simplest of smiles from a customer is too rare and fleeting. Next time you reach the front of the check-out line, make the most of your interaction by smiling, engaging, and flashing a little humor.
5. Leave a nice tip.Rare is the waiter or waitress getting wealthy at their job serving food to patrons. Most of the servers I know are working the shift just trying to make the ends meet for themselves and their family. An extra $20 added to their nightly tip will certainly bring some extra holiday cheer—especially during a busy time of the year when they’d rather be home with their family.
6. Buy movie tickets for a family in your neighborhood.Know somebody on your block who has fallen into some difficult financial times? How ’bout putting some movie gift cards in an envelope and leaving it on their doorstep? Time with family is always good. And some holiday entertainment may be just the distraction they need to experience a little extra cheer.
7. Ask your religious friend about the story behind the season. Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, and other religions all celebrate important dates and remembrances during the month of December. The next time you are at a holiday party, ask your spiritual friend the story behind their religion’s celebration. Almost certainly, their eyes will light up that somebody expressed interest in something so important to them. And whether you choose to believe the story or not, you will become better informed about another culture’s understanding of the season. Win-win.
8. Invite someone over for dinner.For any number of reasons, there are many people alone during the holidays. If you know someone alone this season, open your house to them for a meal. Rather than infringing on your holiday traditions, it may just become one of your favorites.
9. Send a gift of food/coffee.There are countless inexpensive, clutter-free gift ideas that can be shipped nearly anywhere in the world. With minimal expense and just a few mouse clicks, you can easily send an edible gift to show someone your appreciation for them.
10. Shovel your neighbor’s driveway. Granted, with the prevalence of snowblowers nowadays, this early morning surprise may be a little less appreciated than in years past. But if you can bring a little cheer to your neighbor’s face on a cold, snowy morning during the holiday season, your good deed will not go unnoticed—and will likely get mentioned by the recipient as soon as they arrive at work. And when it does, it will sound something like this, “You’ll never guess what my neighbor did for me this morning…”
11. Bring in a warm breakfast for your office. Doughnuts are great. I mean, everybody loves the guy who brings in doughnuts. But to take it even one step further this holiday season, bring in something warm for your officemates to eat. If the timing is right, you can bring in something homemade.
12. Go ahead, sing along. Whether in your car, in the office, or in the store, you know the songs. They get played every year. And quite frankly, some of them are pretty darn catchy. So go ahead, sing along when you get the chance. It’ll brighten your mood and almost certainly the mood of the person next to you as well. Even if singing isn’t your strongest talent, you can always hum along. Remember, cheerfulness is contagious.

We probably can’t change the entire world with these simple ideas. But we can still intentionally seek to add life and cheer to the people around us. And as a result, make this season a little more wonderful.

Requirements for Child Abuse Prevention Reporting, Training and Policies

President Trump signed the federal Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 into law in February 2018. Many believe that this act primarily applies to National Governing Bodies (NGBs) such as U.S. Gymnastics, Paralympic Organizations and their member organizations. However, it also directly or indirectly applies to all amateur youth sports organizations.

This article will concentrate on the impact and ramifications of mandatory reporting, training, and prevention policies to non-NGB amateur sports organizations, which will be referred to as “Non-NGB sports organizations.”

Why the Safe Sport Act will be effective

This legislation was designed to have a broad-based impact on actually protecting our youth. The same is not true of initiatives that concentrate solely or primarily on criminal background checks. That’s because only about 5% of sex abusers even have a criminal background that could be detected.

Criminal background checks are a must as a level of minimum due diligence. But they don’t impact the other 95% of the sex abusers who don’t have a criminal record. Furthermore, the Safe Sport Act also applies to all forms of child abuse, including physical and emotional abuse.

Which non-NGB sport organizations are required to comply?

Non-NGB sports organizations include those teams, leagues, camps, sports facilities, tournament hosts, churches, and schools that participate in interstate or international amateur athletic competitions, and whose membership includes any adult who is in regular contact with an amateur athlete who is a minor.

The reach of the federal act is limited to organizations that are engaged in interstate or international commerce or activities. Interstate competition refers to sports organizations that travel across state lines to compete. But even those that do not travel across state lines are indirectly impacted by the act because it sets a new standard of care that will likely apply to all organizations. Most states will also move to pass state-specific legislation that directly applies to sports organizations that do not cross state lines.

What Is directly required of non-NGB sports organizations under the Safe Sport Act?

Mandatory Reporting

“The term ‘covered individual’ under the Safe Sport Act means an adult who is … authorized by an amateur youth sports organization that participates in interstate or international amateur athletic competitions to interact with a minor or amateur athlete at an amateur sport organization facility or at an event (including travel, lodging, practice, competition, and health or medical treatment) sanctioned by an amateur sports organization.”

Participating adults are required to report suspicions of child abuse including sex abuse, as soon as possible (within a 24-hour period) to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, as determined by state or federal law.

Each state has a separate law relating to mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect. Some states require every adult to report suspicions of abuse and neglect. Others only require certain adults to report under certain circumstances.

The Safe Sport Act provides a limitation of liability provision that protects the sports entity and any officer, employee, agent, or member who reports suspicions of abuse. They are protected against civil actions for defamation, slander, and libel arising from the execution of their functions under the Act. In addition, the Act prohibits retaliation by the amateur sports organization against the reporting individual.

Mandatory Prevention Training

Non-NGB sports organizations must “offer and provide consistent training to all adult members who are in regular contact with amateur athletes who are minors, and subject to parental consent, to members who are minors regarding prevention and reporting of child abuse…”

It is important to note that the type of training contemplated under the Act is not merely to identify those who may already have been victimized by abuse by a list of indicators. Instead it is to learn how to prevent sexual abuse from occurring. In other words, the training must be proactive rather than reactive.

The most essential part of proactive training is to learn the process of sexual grooming of both minor victims and parents. Grooming is the process by which predators gain access to vulnerable youth, gradually introduce sexual interaction, and then keep the child silent.

The key to preventing the grooming process is to train all participating adults in a sports organization on understanding how it works, identifying when it is occurring, and taking appropriate action.

Mandatory Prevention Policies

The Safe Sport Act requires sports organizations to establish reasonable procedures to limit one-on-one interactions between an adult and an amateur athlete who is a minor… without being in an observable and interruptible distance from another adult.

The Safe Sport Act has been criticized for not requiring other prevention procedures for non-NGB sports organizations. However, in addition to limiting one-on-one interactions, a well-written child abuse/molestation risk management program will incorporate other more specific prevention policies such as:

• Requiring the presence of more than one adult at every activity
• Having a take-home/pick-up policy to prevent one-on-one situations with a child who was not picked up by parents after practice
• Defining appropriate touching of a child
• Avoiding socialization with participants outside of sponsored activities
• Avoiding overnight sleepover social functions.

Indirect application of the Safe Sport Act to non-NGB sports associations

The emphasis of this article keys in on the less stringent requirements of mandatory reporting, prevention training, and prevention policies that directly apply to non-NGB sports organizations.

However, there are many more stringent requirements for NGBs and Paralympic sports organizations and their members that don’t directly apply to non-NGB sports organizations. The Safe Sport Act requires NGBs and Paralympic organizations to work with the U.S. Center for Safe Sport. The USCSS exercises jurisdiction over NGBs with regard to safeguarding amateur athletes against abuse. This includes further training, oversight policies, and procedures to prevent all forms of child abuse. Child abuse is a much broader topic than just sex abuse and also includes emotional and physical abuse.

The additional polices required of NGBs through their association with U.S Center for Safe Sports include:

• Mandatory reporting to the U.S. Center for Safe Sports
• Mechanism for reporting
• Procedures to prohibit retaliation
• Oversight procedures, such as regular and random audits conducted by subject matter specialists to ensure that policies are being correctly followed.

It could be argued that these additional, more stringent requirements for NGBs and Paralympic organizations have set a standard of care that could apply to all sports organizations.

What if an amateur sports organization fails to comply and does not meet the standard of care?

Quite simply, failure to comply with a federal statute meant to protect the public safety is negligence per se and an easy win for the claimant. Under the Act, the claimant may bring a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court. They can recover actual damages or liquidated damages in the amount of $150,000 and the costs of the action including reasonable attorney’s fees. The court may also allow punitive damages.

Insurance carriers offering coverage for sex abuse / molestation may demand compliance with the Safe Sport Act as an underwriting requirement as a pre-condition of coverage.

Recommendation for compliance with the Safe Sport Act:

1. Your sports organization should have a written child abuse risk management plan that satisfies the mandatory reporting, education, and prevention policies.
2. Distribute the plan via paper or electronic format on an annual basis to all participating adults who are in regular contact with minor amateur athletes. Be able to obtain their written acknowledgment that they have received and completed the training.Document compliance with 1 and 2 above so that it can be introduced into evidence in the event of an allegation covered by the Safe Sport Act.