Coach Background Screening Policy

 

PURPOSE

 

To establish certain guidelines wherein Nisqually Junior Football League (hereinafter referred to as “NJFL”) can seek to protect our children by investigating the background of volunteers who will be coaching or serving on the Board of Directors, the league follows the guidelines set by the National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI), the organization that is used by USA Football.

 

GENERAL

 

A. NJFL shall ensure that all participants 18 years of age or younger shall have at least one (1) approved coach or assistant coach (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Coach”) present at each athletic activity, including practices and games. A Coach becomes approved once the process described in this policy is completed. This process is required for any coach for football or cheer; any Board member or volunteer of any organization that will be on the field including as a Field Marshal or photographer.

 

B. Any person who has been found guilty, pled guilty; or pled no contest, regardless of adjudication, or has a pending charge pertaining to, any of the disqualifying offenses listed in this policy will be immediately disqualified from coaching (either as a head coach or an assistant coach) in any NJFL Football or Cheer activity. NJFL reserves the right to disqualify a person for any crime that would be considered a potential risk to children and/or vulnerable populations. A Coach who willfully fails to comply with this background screening policy shall be automatically disqualified.

 

C. This policy will apply to all youth sports coaches, both head and assistant, participating in sanctioned NJFL activities. If there is any doubt as to which coaches should be screened, the general rule is anyone who would potentially have unsupervised access to children on the team. Each Coach will have his or her background checked at the beginning of every football season, tackle and flag. If a coach passed in the Fall for tackle, they do NOT have to receive a new check for the following Spring flag season.

 

CONFIDENTIALITY

 

To help ensure confidentiality, only the Registrar, who is responsible for overseeing the background check process, and the Team President in which the coach has applied to be a part of, are notified.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY

 

It is important for the integrity of the background screening program that all NJFL Board of Directors verify that (1) only those persons who are screened and who are not disqualified coach or assist in the coaching of the young people approved by the NJFL and (2) that such persons are active with only the team or teams identified.

 

SCREENING PROCESS

 

A. NJFL has a statement of understanding when applying to coach any activity, that makes it clear that to be a coach, the person must pass a background check. This is done as part of the online registration process for all NJFL activities. Registration cannot be completed unless the applicant agrees to authorize NJFL to conduct a background check and failure to complete registration is a disqualification from consideration.

 

B. NJFL will notify the Coach and the organization by email that he/she is disqualified. Upon request, the Coach will receive a copy of the background check.

 

APPEALS PROCESS

 

If a Coach’s background check includes a charge set forth on the list of disqualifiers below, NJFL shall immediately disqualify a person from volunteering as a Coach. There shall be no appeal of a decision to disqualify a Coach, if the Coach’s relevant criminal history is accurate; all decisions are final.

 

If an applicant wishes to dispute the content of the report, the applicant shall contact the National Center for Safety Initiatives, the background screening company for USA Football. The applicant is responsible for providing any or all documentation to support his or her claim.