What Parents Need to Know About SafeSport

SafeSport was created to protect young athletes, but most parents have no idea how it actually works. That lack of knowledge can have devastating consequences, as a ProPublica reporter discovered after years of investigating abuse in youth sports and speaking with dozens of families.

Nearly every parent she met said the same thing: they didn't have the information needed to understand the system designed to keep their kids safe. Here's what that system looks like, where it falls short, and what parents can do today.

How the System Is Supposed to Work

SafeSport, formally the U.S. Center for SafeSport, handles abuse allegations across all levels of sport, from Olympic athletes down to recreational youth players. Congress created the organization in 2018, following the revelations about USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar and other prominent figures who abused children for years.

The center's mandate is broad. It investigates sexual abuse claims, but also looks into emotional and physical abuse. During an investigation, SafeSport can suspend a coach and place their name in a public database known as the SafeSport list. The organization can ultimately ban coaches for life, declaring them "permanently ineligible." It can also issue bans based on certain criminal convictions, like those involving abuse of minors.

Getting on the List

Coaches and club administrators must report misconduct to SafeSport, but anyone can file a report online or by phone. SafeSport doesn't take every case. It decides whether to investigate.

Here's the critical detail: coaches usually can keep working with kids while SafeSport looks into an allegation, which means the process can stretch on without any immediate public consequences. But if the allegations are recent or serious, the center can issue a temporary suspension during the investigation. That changes everything. Coaches found not to have engaged in misconduct are removed from the list. If SafeSport substantiates the allegations, it can issue sanctions ranging from suspensions to permanent bans, and those decisions can reshape a career overnight. It's a heavy system. So the stakes are real, and they're high.

Who Is and Isn't Covered

The center only has jurisdiction over the country's 50 national sports governing bodies, which oversee Olympic sports like volleyball, swimming, basketball, and soccer. Those bodies fall under the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

That covers millions of young athletes. But it leaves millions more outside the system entirely, or only partially covered. A banned coach can't interact with athletes in any organization under those 50 governing bodies. Yet that same coach can keep working with kids by joining clubs or organizations not covered by SafeSport. That's a gap parents need to understand.

What a Ban Actually Means

Banned coaches cannot be associated in any way with a team or organization under the 50 sports governing bodies. No practices, no events, no contact with athletes in those groups. Any adult who allows that to happen also violates the SafeSport code.

But that ban doesn't stop the coach from coaching elsewhere.

"Had we watched this earlier, my kid might have been more open to be like, 'Mom, my coach made a comment about my butt.' 'Mom, he sent me a message to my phone.'"

That quote came from a mother whose daughter was groomed by a volleyball coach. The reporter spoke to both mother and daughter, who described how the coach groomed the girl when she was a young teenager in his gym. The mother thought she was protecting her daughter, but there was a lot she didn't know. Everything changed when she finally watched a SafeSport training video with her daughter, who had just turned 18.

Training and Prevention

SafeSport creates and mandates training for coaches and other adults focused on recognizing and reporting sexual abuse. It's a heavy lift, and they enforce strict rules about adult interactions with kids, ensuring an adult is never alone with a minor. But that's the point. The rules don't bend, and they're built to protect, which means every adult must know the signs, report quickly, and never risk a private moment with a child, no matter the circumstance. So don't underestimate the weight. That training is the shield.

Athletes only have to take the training if they're over 18, though the organization offers optional courses for younger kids. For parents, the training is optional too. That's a missed opportunity, the reporter suggests, because understanding the patterns coaches use to groom children can become a key safety tool.

Criticism and Failures

SafeSport has faced serious scrutiny. The organization has been underfunded and understaffed, leading to a backlog of unresolved complaints. Critics say cases were closed without proper investigation. SafeSport says it has resolved some of those issues, improving its process to resolve cases more quickly and cut down the backlog.

She’s an Olympic gold medalist. But Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, the center’s new CEO, didn’t flinch as she faced the criticism head-on in a public statement, choosing instead to project a calm, forward-looking confidence that suggested the institution had finally steadied itself after a rocky stretch. "We are on surer footing today," she said. And the organization, she added, "acknowledges the challenges we have met as the first national sport safeguarding organization in the world," which is a hefty claim for any group to carry, let alone one still finding its balance. So they’re owning it.

The reporter's own investigations have found gaps in the system and failures by both SafeSport and national governing bodies that put young athletes at risk.

What Parents Can Do Right Now

First, ask your child's club or team whether they compete under a national governing body, which is legally bound by SafeSport, or in an organization that voluntarily follows the SafeSport list. But keep in mind that even voluntary compliance doesn't guarantee the organization regularly checks the list or enforces bans. The reporting has documented that gap too.

Check your child's coach in the SafeSport database. Remember that coaches can appear on the list temporarily during an investigation, so they might not ultimately be found to have engaged in misconduct. If you find a coach you know on the list, review SafeSport's resources for deciding next steps.

• Take SafeSport training yourself to learn red flags for abuse and grooming
• Discuss those warning signs with your child openly
• Ask direct questions about how your child's organization handles safety

The reporter is also collecting stories from parents, particularly about banned coaches who continue working with kids, how abusive coaches manipulate parents, and abuse in basketball where SafeSport has far less influence compared with other popular youth sports.

The system has improved. It has real gaps. Parents who understand both can make better decisions about where their children play and who coaches them. That knowledge might be the most important protective measure of all.