USA Swimming, Praesidium Launch Athlete Protection Education Program

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, September 15. AS foreshadowed in our exclusive interview with USA Swimming Athlete Protection Officer Susan Woessner earlier this week, USA Swimming has now announced a mandatory online Athlete Protection Education Program for its members.

Here is the complete press release on the program:
USA Swimming today launched its online athlete protection education program, required of its over 30,000 non-athlete members. The curriculum, developed by Praesidium, the leading provider in the field of child protection, is available to members at no charge and must be completed by December 31, 2011 as a condition of membership.

"By working with Praesidium and our Athlete Protection Committee, we've created appropriate and actionable education that blends Praesidium's expertise in the field with USA Swimming's insight into the sport," said Susan Woessner, USA Swimming's Athlete Protection Officer. "Education on this important issue is the cornerstone of our efforts, and we are pleased to offer this tool to our coaches, officials and volunteers."

The education program, built from Praesidium's 25 years of field work and research, is customized specifically for the sport of swimming and for the organization and includes information on recognizing grooming, boundary violations and the effects of abuse in sports. The launch of the program is the first stage of USA Swimming's comprehensive education programming. Specialized curriculum will also be made available to USA Swimming's 300,000 athlete members and their parents at no cost later this year.

"Praesidium is excited about this next step towards athlete protection and appreciates USA Swimming's input and leadership in this important area for youth sports." said Britt Darwin-Looney, J.D., Praesidium's Director of Youth Development Services.

The program is being introduced today to USA Swimming's 600 local delegates at the organization's annual congress in Jacksonville, Fla.. For more, visit www.usaswimming.org/protect.

At its annual meeting in September 2010, USA Swimming adopted Athlete Protection legislation requiring that all non-athlete members, including coaches and officials, complete the educational program as a condition of membership. The legislation was part of a session which also saw the approval of expanded background checking requirements, mandatory pre-employment screening rules and a mandatory reporting rule for all members. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org/protect.

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