SafeSport will finally warn schools when sanctioned coaches keep working with children

The U.S. Center for SafeSport says it will begin notifying schools, clubs and other organisations when it learns that a coach sanctioned for abuse or misconduct is continuing to work with children. It is also asking the public to report such cases. The change follows a ProPublica and Washington Post investigation that found several coaches remained in youth sports after appearing in SafeSport’s disciplinary database.

SafeSport’s authority has a structural boundary. Congress empowered it to investigate sexual-abuse allegations in sports governed by national bodies under the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Schools, colleges and many independent leagues sit outside that system. They may choose to honour a SafeSport suspension or ban, but they are not automatically required to do so. Until now, an institution often learned of a sanction only if someone happened to search the database.

The investigation showed how that gap works in practice. SafeSport found Texas volleyball coach Ryan Richardson had committed sexual misconduct with a minor, yet videos showed him continuing to coach teenage girls in an independent league. A former assistant took over the club and allowed Richardson to remain involved. SafeSport later placed restrictions on the assistant, who was still listed as a high-school coach and argued that the sanction had nothing to do with school volleyball. The institutional boundary became a route around the ban.

The new process replaces passive publication with an affirmative warning. When SafeSport discovers that a listed coach is still working with children, it says it will send a form letter to the organisation. That is a meaningful operational improvement: a school can no longer plausibly say the information was available somewhere but never reached the people responsible for hiring or supervision. A parallel congressional investigation is examining why the Amateur Athletic Union does not follow SafeSport bans.

Notification is not enforcement. SafeSport has not gained jurisdiction over schools or independent leagues, and its announcement does not create a universal licensing system for youth coaches. Organisations still need a duty to check, a process for resolving identity and due-process questions, and consequences for ignoring a substantiated sanction. The reform fixes an information-delivery failure revealed by the reporting; the larger accountability gap remains where the legal authority stops.