Is SafeSport—and U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s MAAPP Protocol—Actually Working?

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In March of this year, an alpine coach from a Colorado based ski club—a club that encompasses all U.S. Ski & Snowboard (USSS) disciplines—was reported for abusing a nine-year-old child during a post-season training camp in Taos, New Mexico. The club promptly reported the coach to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. He was suspended and has since been permanently banned from sport.

It is important to shine light on the issue of athlete abuse and the requirements put in place by The Center for SafeSport and the Minor Athlete Abuse Protection Policies (MAAPP) adopted by national governing bodies (NGBs). In a 2018 Congressional hearing, Senator Dianne Feinstein noted that, “Only 1 in 10 instances of child sexual abuse are ever reported to authorities.” Child USA (a leading child protection advocacy group) reports that 60–80% of abuse in youth-serving organizations, including sports, is never reported. SafeSport has stated that reporting often occurs years after the abuse, especially in cases involving minors who do not feel safe speaking out at the time. There’s also significant underreporting by organizations, particularly when abuse doesn’t involve clear criminal conduct but violates policies like MAAPP, which are supposed to be monitored by the NGBs.

Given these facts, any official count of abuse reports is almost certainly a vast underestimation. So, when abuse does come to light, especially in clubs or organizations that lack MAAPP compliance, it should trigger scrutiny not just of the individual, but of the systemic failure that allowed it to happen.

As horrific as this abuse is, it also forces us to confront a larger systemic failure. The criminal justice system and SafeSport can hold perpetrators accountable, but they alone cannot address the deeper, ongoing crisis of abuse in youth sports. While predators are often banned or criminally prosecuted, the organizations that failed to implement and enforce appropriate policies typically walk away after issuing the same generic statement: “We are cooperating with SafeSport and law enforcement, and we are reviewing and refining our policies.”

Let’s be clear: SafeSport was not created to police the NGBs and their clubs. Its role is to investigate and adjudicate claims, to provide education and certification of coaches, and to protect athletes from all forms of abuse: sexual, physical, emotional, as well as bullying, harassment, and hazing. While SafeSport has made progress in providing education and establishing prevention policies such as the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP), its system has serious shortcomings: investigations are slow, enforcement inconsistent, and many cases are closed administratively without resolution. Most concerning is the burden it places on individual victims filing complaints, often at great emotional and personal cost.

That said, US Ski and Snowboards MAAPP policies do establish critical protection. They outline strict requirements for coach/athlete interactions, electronic communications, travel, and overnight lodging. For example, all one-on-one interactions with minor athletes must be observable and interruptible, and coaches are prohibited from sharing hotel rooms or residences with minor athletes.

In this case, according to press reports, those safeguards were not upheld. Two male coaches accompanied the athletes to Taos. One was housed with the girls, the other with the boys. That alone violates USSS MAAPP lodging and supervision policies. Reports allege the coach made the travel and lodging arrangements sharing cabins with minors, drinking alcohol during the trip, and leaving the athletes unsupervised. These are not policy “gray areas.”  These are direct violations of SafeSport and USSS MAAPP protocols.

What Are the Actual MAAPP Requirements?

U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Obligations:

• Ensure that all member clubs adopt and implement MAAPP in full.
• Require annual, written acknowledgement of MAAPP from coaches, parents, athletes, and adult participants.
• Track and document training for adult participants, parents, and athletes.
• Provide consent forms and quick-reference summaries.
• Certify that clubs adhere to MAAPP and concussion policies.

Club-Level Responsibilities:

• Provide MAAPP training to all constituents, board members, staff, parents, athletes, and volunteers.
• Offer age-appropriate athlete training using U.S. Center for SafeSport resources, with parental consent.
• Certify compliance with MAAPP and maintain required documentation.

It is unclear whether USSS exercised any oversight over this Colorado club, or any club in the country. Based on statements from the Executive Director, it appears the club did not have these policies in place prior to the incident. This fits a troubling pattern we see across several abuse cases, including a number of recent high-profile cases involving USA Biathlon; while the abuser is sanctioned or prosecuted, the organizations that failed to implement oversight escapes responsibility entirely. SafeSport does not automatically investigate institutional failure; that burden falls on victims to file a second complaint, an exhausting, re-traumatizing process. As a result, systemic failures often go unreported and unpunished.

In the case of the Colorado club cited in this article, while the coach who allegedly abused the child was reported to SafeSport, there is no evidence that the club reported the failure of the second coach to comply with MAAPP, as is required. All coaches certified by USSS are obligated to know and understand all SafeSport guidelines, and to act on them accordingly. That failures to comply with MAAPP on the part of the second coach was not reported by the club represents a clear failure of oversight (which is the club’s responsibility).

The larger question we need to ask in every case is this: Were the sanctioning organization’s MAAPP policies fully in place and enforced? Was there meaningful oversight of coaches? In this case, the answer appears to be no.

Following the incident, the club released a damage-control statement, with this quote from the Executive Director appearing in multiple news outlets:

“We are currently vetting our policies through child safety advocacy groups and operating under these practices in the interim: The minimum age for team travel is 12 years old; two adults per accommodation are required; at least one adult of each athlete’s gender must be represented; a special form must be completed by all participants if there are exceptions to the above policies.”

This is revealing. These policies are not new. They have been required by MAAPP for years. To suggest that they’re being implemented “in the interim” is, in effect, an admission that they were not in place before the abuse occurred.

This raises the fundamental issue: Where is the USSS’s oversight of its clubs?

Let’s not forget that MAAPP rules are specific and unequivocal:

• No room sharing between adult coaches and minor athletes.
• Observable and interruptible interactions at all times.
• Two adults present for any room checks or supervisory interactions.
• Billeting rules that require background checks, written consent, and oversight.
• Coach-athlete meetings, even with health providers, must follow strict protocols.

Based on both the reports and the club’s own statements, these policies were not followed. And yet, there is no indication that USSS is holding the club accountable. The Executive Director was even quoted as saying to parents he “didn’t know why nine-year-olds were at a post-season training camp,” despite excellent snow conditions on their home mountain, another red flag regarding institutional oversight.

What Needs to Change?

1. Every time a coach or staff member is reported to SafeSport, there must also be an institutional review. Was MAAPP fully implemented? Were policies followed? If not, the club should be investigated as well.
2. USSS must actively monitor its member clubs for compliance. If clubs are negligent, there must be public accountability and appropriate sanctions, not just quietly “reviewing policies.”
3. Mandatory reporting laws must be enforced. Too often, abuse is ignored or minimized to protect organizational reputations and resources. That must end.

The abuse of a child is always a tragedy. But so, too, is a system that allows preventable abuse to occur through complacency, poor oversight, or disregard for established safeguards. It’s time to stop pretending that issuing a press release counts as accountability. If SafeSport and MAAPP are going to work, they must be enforced, not just in policy, but in practice.