SportsEngine Inc., a provider of sports relationship management software, has signed on as the official provider of abuse prevention training for USA Football. In addition, SportsEngine’s subsidiary, National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI), is a new and preferred USA Football provider of youth football volunteer background checks.
USA Football is the sport’s national governing body and a member of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Since 2012, more than 700,000 coach certifications have been completed through USA Football spanning all 50 states and 10 foreign countries across four continents.
Abuse prevention training by SportsEngine will form part of USA Football’s comprehensive coach certification curriculum, which is the only football-specific educational program to earn national accreditation by the U.S. Center for Coaching Excellence.
Certified coaches are a key part of USA Football’s Football Development Model and League Excellence Program delivering positive youth experiences. Nearly four million kids ages 6-to-17 enjoy the fun and physical fitness of football nationwide.
Background screening will be managed through the National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI), a SportsEngine, Inc. wholly-owned subsidiary serving youth sports organizations and national governing bodies across the country. Additionally, SportsEngine’s safety program is integrated with the third-party provider, Abuse Prevention Systems, to offer sexual abuse prevention training that fulfills the federal Safe Sport Act requirements.
“When imagining what great youth sports look like, non-negotiables are gold-standard player safety, accredited coach education and coaches who serve as mentors and care about their kids,” said USA Football CEO and Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck. “Adding SportsEngine and NCSI to the USA Football family places all of this in youth football. The biggest winners are our children and their parents who love the fun, friends and fitness found in football.”
“We are thrilled to partner with USA Football in support of their efforts to improve youth sports safety,” said Brian Bell, CEO, SportsEngine, Inc. “Helping to provide safe, positive youth sports experiences is at the core of why we do what we do at SportsEngine, and we are excited to see organizations like USA Football set higher standards for other organizations around policies and best practices for athlete safety.”
More than one million teams, leagues and clubs use SportsEngine to run their tournaments, leagues, online registration, websites, and mobile apps.
Photo courtesy USA Football
