PURPOSE
The following policy is designed to maintain personal privacy as well as to reduce the risk of misconduct and/or criminal activity in locker rooms and changing areas.
FACILITIES
During VAC swim season, practices are held at Valley Central High School Natatorium. The locker rooms are shared with the general public. As such, there are likely to be people who are not affiliated with VAC in the locker rooms around the time of practice. The use of locker room at these facilities is a privilege, and failure to follow posted rules could lead to loss of locker room use or pool time for individuals or even the club as a whole!
USE OF CELL PHONES AND OTHER MOBILE RECORDING DEVICES ARE PROHIBITED
Cell phones and other devices with recording capabilities, including voice recording, still cameras and video cameras increase the risk for misconduct and criminal activity in locker rooms. The USA Swimming Athlete Protection Policies prohibit the use of such devices in the locker room or other changing areas:
305.3 Use of audio or visual recording devices, including a cell phone camera, is not allowed in changing areas, rest rooms or locker rooms.
Since VAC is a USA swim team we also follow this prohibition as its own policy. Violations of this policy by anyone will result in immediate action, which may include, but not be limited to, loss of locker room privileges, suspension, termination of membership and/or criminal prosecution.
MONITORING
When a coach or staff member is aware that an athlete has gone to the locker room during practice, and said athlete has not returned to practice after a reasonable time, the coach or staff member shall check on the athlete’s whereabouts. We discourage parents from entering locker rooms unless it is truly necessary (e.g., to assist a young child who has difficulty dressing, or to assist an athlete with a disability). In those instances, it should only be a same‐sex parent and parents should enter with another adult. Swimmers may arrive late to practice, and VAC practices may end at different times depending upon skill group. In addition, coaches will be busy on deck with instruction during practices. As a result, it is impractical to constantly monitor the locker rooms. VAC does not post coaches or other staff inside or at the doors of the locker rooms, but they may make occasional sweeps of these areas. When coaches or other staff performs such sweeps, women will check female locker rooms, and men will check male locker rooms.
LOCKER ROOM SAFETY POLICY VAC (cont’)
RESPONSIBILITIES AND HANDLING OF POLICY VIOLATIONS
Swimmers
- Swimmers are to follow all posted locker room policies as listed in each individual facility and follow the VAC Code of Conduct at all times
- If a coach becomes aware of any swimmer violating locker room policy, they will discuss with the parent(s) of the swimmer(s) involved
- Repeated offenses may result in being barred from locker room use or swim practice
- Use of a recording device will be treated as the most serious offense and depending on content of recordings may require notification of law enforcement
- Swimmers must not use the office doors to enter the pool deck or the locker room.
Parents
- Should use good judgment in any use of the locker rooms
- If a parent becomes aware of locker room misconduct they should notify a coach or board member immediately
- VAC strongly encourages USA swimming Safe Sport training for all parents (material can be found at www.usaswimming.org under Safe Sport > Access Training Materials > Free Training for Parents)
Coaches
- Are required to have completed Safe Sport training and must undergo a background check as a condition of employment
- Are responsible for communicating any reports of misconduct to the swimmers, parents and board members where necessary
- Coaches will follow a standard process for handling misconduct