The author, a reporter for The Washington Post and ProPublica, has investigated how youth sports organizations fail to protect children from sexual predators, speaking to dozens of parents who expressed concern about keeping their kids safe. The US Center for SafeSport is the primary organization responsible for investigating allegations of abuse in sports, with the power to suspend coaches temporarily or ban them permanently if found guilty. Since its establishment in 2018 by Congress, SafeSport has jurisdiction over 50 national sports governing bodies that oversee Olympic sports such as volleyball and basketball. The author reports that millions of young athletes are not fully covered under this system, leaving a gap in protection against abuse.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-24,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
As a reporter for The Washington Post and now ProPublica, I’ve investigated how youth sports organizations have failed to protect kids from sexual predators.
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organizations → investigate → predators
I’ve spoken to dozens of parents.
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I → speak → parents
Some had children who were victimized by coaches.
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who → have → coaches
Others wanted to know how to keep their children safe.
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Others → want → children
Nearly every parent I’ve met said they didn’t have the information they needed to understand the system set up to protect their kids.
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they → meet → kids
Here’s what you need to know (and how to get in touch with tips):
How is the system supposed to work?
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system → ’ → tips
The system revolves around one organization: the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
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system → revolve → SafeSport
SafeSport, as it’s known, is charged with investigating allegations of abuse at all levels of sport, from elite Olympic athletes to young recreational players.
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it → know → players
Its focus is sexual abuse, but it can also look into allegations of emotional and physical abuse.
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it → look → abuse
The center has the power to suspend coaches as it investigates them, recording their names in a public database known as the SafeSport list.
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it → have → list
It can ultimately ban abusive coaches for life, declaring them “permanently ineligible.”
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them → ban → life
It can also ban coaches based on certain types of criminal convictions, like those involving abuse of minors.
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It → ban → minors
SafeSport was set up by Congress in 2018, in the wake of revelations about abuse by USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar and other prominent sports figures.
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SafeSport → set → Nassar
How do coaches get on the SafeSport list?
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coaches → get → list
Coaches and club administrators are required to report misconduct to SafeSport, but anyone can make a report online or by phone.
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anyone → require → phone
SafeSport then decides whether to investigate; it doesn’t take every case.
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it → decide → case
Usually coaches can keep working with kids while SafeSport looks into an allegation, but if the allegations are recent or serious, SafeSport can issue a suspension — temporarily placing a coach on the list — while it investigates.
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it → keep → list
If the coach is found not to have engaged in misconduct, they’ll be removed from the list.
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they → find → list
If SafeSport substantiates allegations, it can issue sanctions ranging from suspensions or other restrictions to permanent bans.
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it → substantiate → bans
Which sports does SafeSport cover?
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SafeSport → cover → sports
The center has jurisdiction only over the country’s 50 national sports governing bodies, which oversee and set rules for volleyball, swimming, basketball, soccer and any other sports that are included in the Olympics.
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that → have → Olympics
Those governing bodies are overseen by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
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bodies → govern → Committee
That covers millions of young athletes, but there are millions more who don’t fall under that system or who are only partially covered by it.
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who → cover → it
What does it mean if a coach is banned or suspended?
Banned coaches cannot be associated in any way with a team or organization that falls under the 50 sports governing bodies.
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that → mean → bodies
That means they cannot interact at all with athletes in those groups, including at practices.
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they → mean → practices
Any adult in the organization who allows that to happen is also in violation of the SafeSport code.
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that → allow → code
A banned coach can keep working with kids, however, by joining clubs or organizations that are not covered by SafeSport.
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that → ban → SafeSport
What else does SafeSport do?
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SafeSport → do → What
SafeSport also creates and mandates training for coaches and other adults that is centered on recognizing and reporting sexual abuse, and it enforces strict rules meant to govern how adults interact with kids, like making sure an adult is never alone with a minor.
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is → create → minor
Athletes have to take the training only if they are over 18, although the organization provides optional courses for younger kids.
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organization → have → kids
Understanding how to recognize patterns that coaches use to abuse and groom children can become an important way to keep their children safe.
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coaches → understand → children
As part of my reporting on a volleyball coach who has been accused of sexual misconduct, I spoke to a mother and daughter who both told me that the coach had groomed the girl when she was a young teenager in his gym.
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she → accuse → gym
The mom told me she tried her best to protect her daughter, but there was a lot she didn’t know.
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she → tell → daughter
When she finally watched a SafeSport training video with her daughter, who had just turned 18, the mother told me, “Had we watched this earlier, my kid might have been more open to be like, ‘Mom, my coach made a comment about my butt.’
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coach → watch → butt
‘Mom, he sent me a message to my phone.’
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he → send → phone
Underfunded and understaffed, SafeSport has come under scrutiny for a backlog of unresolved complaints and for closing cases that critics said it hadn’t properly investigated.
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it → come → that
SafeSport said it has since resolved some of those issues, improving its process to resolve cases more quickly and cut down its backlog.
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it → say → backlog
In a statement, the center’s new CEO, Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, an Olympic gold medalist, said the organization “acknowledges the challenges we have met as the first national sport safeguarding organization in the world.
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we → say → world
My reporting has also found gaps in the system and failures by both SafeSport and national governing bodies that put young athletes at risk.
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that → find → risk
What can you do?
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you → do → What
…and 9 more, not listed.
