By Shelba Waldron - Director of Club Education and Outreach, USA Gymnastics
USA Gymnastics encourages all parents to read the USA Gymnastics Safe Sport Policy, which includes information on educational requirements for coaches, club owners, and adult athletes, definitions of misconduct, and prevention policies that cover the rules that govern safe interactions between adult members and minor athletes.
The Prevention Polices include guidelines regarding transportation, lodging, locker rooms and changing areas, social media, texting, gifting, medical treatments, and parental access to practice at member clubs.
Please continue reading for information about the "Parental Access to Practice" policy. You can find the policy in full on page 19 of the Safe Sport Policy.
The Safe Sport Policy states:
Member Clubs must permit parents and guardians access to practice and training sessions. Access may include in-person viewing options or closed-circuit broadcast. Each training session must be accessible to at least a portion of the club's parents and applied to both recreation and team programs, subject to space and safety limitations. Parents must respect the coach-athlete relationship and not interrupt training sessions, absent a concern that misconduct is occurring.
The club may:
Set rules and guidelines for behavior while viewing
Ask a parent to leave for a limited and specific period of time if that parent is coaching from the viewing area, interrupting the coach, contacting their child during breaks, contacting their child by cell phone during practice, or causing a disruption for other parents
Set policies that limit the amount of people who are in the viewing area for purposes of space or noise
Ask parents to limit their viewing if the child is distracted by the parent's presence (only for a limited, specific period of time and if there is another option for viewing)
May ask the parents to take turns watching their children to limit the amount of people in the gym
Limit personal video options such as only allowing for video of your child or not allowing routines to be posted on personal social media platforms
The Member Club may not:
Remove all parents from a specific team without any person having the ability to view any of the children
Use closed-circuit broadcast that doesn't cover the majority of the training space or is broken and doesn't relay the video properly
Only allow parents to view 15 minutes before or at the end of practice without any other viewing options during the majority of the training time
Refuse a parent the option to view their child at a competition or showcase that is allowed for some parents but not all
USA Gymnastics understands that many parents want the opportunity to view their child at practice for a number of reasons. Coaches will often discourage viewing during the creation of new routines or before a meet so the athlete can focus. We encourage coaches and parents to work together for the benefit of the athlete on the most appropriate times to view practice and if there is a problem, to find a solution that works for both parties. For any questions about this policy, please reach out to Shelba Waldron at Swaldron@usagym.org.
