SET A NATIONAL STANDARD FOR YOUTH SPORTS SAFETY
The CoachSafely Foundation’s goal is to advance the state policy in Alabama – the Coach Safely Act (AL Code 2018-496) – that has supported the training of tens of thousands of youth coaches to the other Southeastern Conference states and beyond. In 2023, the Georgia State Senate passed a resolution recommending youth coach training in injury recognition and prevention. The Arkansas Legislature passed and the governor signed that state’s own Coach Safely Act mandating such training. The strategy is to continue to build state-by-state coalitions of support for such legislation. The expectation is that these coalitions will consist of each state’s public health, medical and activities associations under the leadership of its recreation and parks association.
The legislative objective is to build a common standard for youth sports safety training based on the CoachSafely syllabus that 1.) is sport-neutral, comprehensive, evidence-based and peer-reviewed; 2.) addresses the current youth sports injury epidemic; and 3.) as a matter of risk mitigation, addresses this training in association with property use by youth sports organizations.
The three partners collaborating to achieve this goal operate in complementary spheres of influence in regard to research, policy and the course. These partners are: the CoachSafely Foundation, Play Safely Sports and the National Council of Youth Sports.
The CoachSafely Foundation conducts research to support the efficacy of injury prevention training featuring the CoachSafely syllabus. CoachSafely engages leaders in public health, public education and parks and recreation to advocate for state-by-state youth sports safety policy based on coach training as the key to reducing injuries so more children will enjoy the benefits of youth sports.
Play Safely Sports is the exclusive distribution partner for the state-of-the-art youth coach training course of injury prevention featuring the CoachSafely syllabus. Play Safely is a youth sports technology/coach training company with the operating capacity to engage the estimated 400,000 local sports leagues in the United States to serve administrators, coaches and parents on a national scale.
The National Council of Youth Sports is comprised of many of the Who’s Who in the youth sports industry. NCYS members, which range from National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to unaffiliated local youth sports organizations, serve some 60 million youth athletes across the United States. NCYS provides “one voice” to help achieve our mutual goal to set a national standard for youth sports safety.
