By Ken Reed
There’s a sports organization in the United States that almost nobody has heard of, but nevertheless, is doing outstanding work: The U.S. Center for SafeSport.
The Center for SafeSport’s mission is to create a safe sports environment by preventing abuse in athletics — sexual, physical and emotional. Following a growing number of sexual abuse reports in SportsWorld in the 2010s, SafeSport was authorized by Congress to not only fight abuse but to educate stakeholders in every sport about the lurking dangers of sexual, physical and emotional abuse in sports.
The Center, a 501c3, was created by the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. The Center is the first of its kind globally.
“Abuse in sport has has persisted for far too long,” says the Center’s CEO, Ju’Riese Colon. “Changing that culture to make athletes’ well-being the top priority is our mission at the U.S. Center for SafeSport.”
The Center has dealt with more than 7,000 abuse and misconduct reports since 2017, and delivered more than 3 million online trainings to over 900 organizations. SafeSport offers a wide-variety of abuse-prevention resources.
Most importantly, the Center is continually restricting bad actors from sport. As of March of this year, over 1200 individuals have been sanctioned by the Center and over 1,600 adults listed in the Center’s Centralized Disciplinary Database.
“It’s a great responsibility to be trusted by victims, particularly those of sexual abuse, and it’s something we take seriously,” says Colon.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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