Dear USA Hockey Coach, The USA Hockey SafeSport Program includes required training for all USA Hockey coaches. Last season, over 48,000 USA Hockey coaches completed the training. As background, the SafeSport Program was developed in conjunction with the United States Olympic Committee (“USOC”) and is designed to prevent abuse and maximize the safety of our participants in the off-ice environment. We recognize that adding additional educational requirements increases the burden on our coaches, but as the primary and most direct leaders and supervisors of our youth teams, it is critical that all coaches are trained in ways that can help prevent abuse within our programs.   In the 2015-16 season, all coaches will be required to have completed the training prior to that person’s participation (on ice or off ice) in the USA Hockey program. All coaches that completed the training in the 2014-15 season will remain valid for the 2015-16 season. Any coach that completed training in the 2013-14 season WILL need to complete the refresher course that is approximately 35 minutes long, prior to participationTHIS season. Any coach that has not completed any training (primarily new coaches) will need to complete the full SafeSport Training course prior to participation in a USA Hockey program. Please note that as last season was the first time that training was required, Affiliates were permitted to extend the deadline for completing training until December 31st, but that extension is not available this season, and coaches must complete training (if required this year) prior to participation. The SafeSport Training and SafeSport Refresher courses are available for you to take right now so you can get a head start on your upcoming season. The training is availableat no cost. The training was produced by the USOC and is comprised of short video segments; however, not all training needs to be completed in one session. You will need your USA Hockey Member Number, which can be obtained at www.usahockeyregistration.com (under Member Options, click on ‘Request Duplicate Registration Confirmation). Information on how to register and access the SafeSport Training can be found on our website at http://www.usahockey.com/safesporttraining. The website also has information if you have questions about the training or on registering for the training. If you feel that you are receiving this email in error and have completed the training, please contact Joyce Kulpinski at joycek@usahockey.org. We strongly encourage you to get a head start and complete the SafeSport Training or Refresher course this summer. Thank you for your diligence in helping make our sport as safe as possible! Sincerely,   Mike MacMillan National Coach-in-Chief             Mark Tabrum Director, Coaching Education Program

The safety of its participants is of paramount importance to USA Hockey. This includes not only on-ice safety, but also off-ice safety in any part of USA Hockey’s programs.

USA Hockey has long had systems in place to protect its participants from physical abuse, sexual abuse and other types of abuse and misconduct that can be harmful to youth hockey players. These include without limitation Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Screening, Locker Room Supervision and Hazing Policies, in addition to Codes of Conduct applicable to administrators, coaches, officials, parents, players and spectators. The USA Hockey SafeSport Handbook is intended to update and collect USA Hockey’s various policies to protect its youth participants from all types of misconduct and abuse.

The SafeSport Program training is now MANDATORY for all Member Association (MA) coaches, volunteers and MA board members to take this online training course.

The course is free for all registered USA Hockey members (you will need our 15-16 USAH registration number to access the training) and can be accessed through the link below.

SafeSport Program Informational Page
 

SafeSport Program Training