Indianapolis Rowing Center (IRC)
Safe Sport Policies and Protocols

OVERVIEW

In the event that any coach or volunteer observes inappropriate behaviors (i.e., policy violations), suspected physical or sexual abuse, or misconduct, it is the personal responsibility of each coach and volunteer to immediately report his/her observations to the Director of Rowing, Executive Director, or IRC board member.

IRC is committed to creating a safe and positive environment for athletes’ physical, emotional and social development and to ensuring that it promotes an environment free of misconduct.

Coaches and volunteers should not attempt to evaluate the credibility or validity of an athlete’s physical or sexual abuse allegations as a condition for reporting to appropriate law enforcement authorities. Instead, it is the responsibility of each coach or volunteer to immediately report his/her observations to the Director of Rowing, Executive Director, or IRC board member. In the case of sexual misconduct, US Rowing has a jurisdictional responsibility to investigate and adjudicate these issues. US Rowing Safe Sport Policy and Procedures can be found here.

IRC recognizes that the process for training and motivating athletes will vary with each coach and athlete, but it is nevertheless important for everyone involved in sport to support the use of motivational and training methods that avoid misconduct.

APPLICATION

This Policy applies to:

• Coaches, board members, IRC staff & volunteers
• IRC athletes and athletes’ parents

Staff members, volunteers, athletes and participants shall refrain from all forms of misconduct, which
include:

• Bullying
• Harassment
• Hazing
• Emotional misconduct
• Physical misconduct
• Sexual misconduct, including child sexual abuse.

 

PROHIBITED CONDUCT

 Child Sexual Abuse

• • Any sexual activity with a child where consent is not or cannot be given. This includes sexual
    contact with a child that is accomplished by deception, manipulation, force or threat of force,
    regardless of the age of the participants, and all sexual interactions between an adult and a
    child, regardless of whether there is deception, or the child understands the sexual nature of the
    activity.
  • Any act or conduct described as child sexual abuse under federal or state law.
    All instances of sexual misconduct should be reports to US Rowing Safe Sport for investigation
    and adjudication.

Emotional Misconduct

• A pattern of deliberate, non-contact behavior that has the potential to cause emotional or psychological harm to an athlete. Non-contact behaviors include:
  • • Verbal acts
    • Physical acts
    • Acts that deny attention or support
•  Any act or conduct described as emotional abuse or misconduct under federal or state law (e.g. child abuse, child neglect).

Physical Misconduct

• Contact or non-contact conduct that results in, or reasonably threaten to, cause physical harm
  to an athlete or other sport participants; or
• Any act or conduct described as physical abuse or misconduct under federal or state law (e.g.
  child abuse, child neglect, assault).

Sexual Misconduct

• Any touching or non-touching sexual interaction that is
  • (a) nonconsensual or forced, (b) coerced or manipulated, or (c) perpetrated in an aggressive, harassing, exploitative or threatening manner;
  •  Any sexual interaction between an athlete and an individual with evaluative, direct or indirect authority. Such relationships involve an imbalance of power and are likely to impair judgment or be exploitative; or
  • Any act or conduct described as sexual abuse or misconduct under federal or state law (e.g.
    sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, rape).
• All instances of sexual misconduct should be reported to US Rowing Safe Sport for investigation and adjudication.

 

Types of Sexual Misconduct

• Sexual assault
• Sexual harassment
• Sexual abuse
• Any other sexual intimacies that exploit an athlete. Minors cannot consent to sexual activity with an adult, and all sexual interaction between an adult and a minor is strictly prohibited.

 

Bullying

• An intentional, persistent and repeated pattern of committing or willfully tolerating physical
  and non-physical behaviors that are intended, or have the reasonable potential, to cause fear,
  humiliation or physical harm in an attempt to socially exclude, diminish or isolate the targeted
  athlete(s), as a condition of membership
• Any act or conduct described as bullying under federal or state law

Harassment

• A repeated pattern of physical and/or non-physical behaviors that (a) are intended to cause
  fear, humiliation or annoyance, (b) offend or degrade, (c) create a hostile environment or (d) reflect discriminatory bias in an attempt to establish dominance, superiority or power over an individual athlete or group based on gender, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression or mental or physical disability; or
• Any act or conduct described as harassment under federal or state law

 

Hazing

• Coercing, requiring, forcing or willfully tolerating any humiliating, unwelcome or dangerous
  activity that serves as a condition for (a) joining a group or (b) being socially accepted by a
  group’s members; or
• Any act or conduct described as hazing under federal or state law

 

REPORTING AN INCIDENT

Forms can be emailed to the following individuals:

SAFESPORT COMPLAINT FORM

• IRC Executive Director at exec@indyrowing.org
• IRC Director of Rowing info@indyrowing.org
• IRC Board President IRCBoardPresident@indyrowing.org

INVESTIGATION, ADJUDICATION, AND APPEAL PROCESS

• An internal investigation process will be led by the Executive Director and Director of Rowing.
• An impartial open adjudication process will be led by the IRC Board President with help from other board members as he/she sees fit.
• An appeal process will be offered following the adjudication process. This will be led by an IRC board member not associated with the adjudication.

 

SAFESPORT COMPLIANCE MONITORING

The Director of Rowing will ensure all coaches and adult volunteers who interact with athletes have completed the online SafeSport Training.

All coaches will have their SafeSport compliance verified at the beginning of each season. Any coaches who are on a different training schedule, will be noted and their updated training status monitored.

All coaches will have background checks completed every 2 years. This will be conducted through NCSI (USRowing suggested)