Sexual Abuse Prevention Policy

BYBA is committed to providing a safe, respectful environment for every child. Sexual abuse, molestation, grooming, sexual harassment, exploitation, and other inappropriate conduct involving a minor are strictly prohibited.

This policy establishes standards for adult conduct, screening, training, supervision, communications, transportation, private interactions, reporting, response, documentation, and discipline. It applies to BYBA practices, games, clinics, tournaments, team events, electronic communications, social media, and other activities connected to BYBA.

For purposes of this policy, a “Covered Adult” is an adult whose BYBA role gives the person regular responsibility for, authority over, or direct access to minor participants. Covered Adults include:

• Paid head coaches, assistant coaches, trainers, and other paid independent contractors who work directly with athletes.
• Volunteer coaches and assistant coaches, including parent volunteers who regularly coach, instruct, supervise, or manage athletes.
• Board members, administrators, or other volunteers who regularly interact with athletes in an official BYBA capacity.

Occasional Parent Volunteers. A parent who helps only occasionally in a limited, public, and directly supervised role — for example, helping at check-in, operating the scoreboard, keeping the book, or assisting at a team event while coaches and other adults are present — is not required to complete the full Covered Adult background-check and training process solely because of that incidental role. However, while volunteering, that parent must follow BYBA’s conduct, boundary, communication, supervision, and reporting rules.

If an occasional volunteer’s role becomes recurring, includes coaching or instruction, permits unsupervised access, involves transportation or changing areas, or otherwise places the adult in a position of authority or trust over athletes, the person becomes a Covered Adult and must complete all requirements before continuing in that role.

Before serving each season, every Covered Adult must receive this policy and confirm in writing or electronically that the person has reviewed it, understands the required safeguards, and agrees to comply. BYBA will retain the acknowledgment.

Violations may result in immediate removal from youth activities, suspension, termination of the person’s BYBA role, permanent exclusion from BYBA activities, and referral to public authorities when appropriate or required.

Before beginning service, every Covered Adult must successfully complete a background screening through NCSI or another BYBA-approved background-screening provider. Screening may include criminal-history and sex-offender-registry checks and other screening elements available through the selected service and permitted by law.

Background checks will be renewed at intervals established by BYBA and may be repeated when circumstances warrant. BYBA may disqualify, restrict, suspend, or remove a person when screening results or other reliable information indicate that the person presents an unreasonable risk to children.

A background check is one safeguard and does not replace supervision, training, appropriate boundaries, or prompt reporting of concerns.

Before having access to children, and thereafter at an interval determined by the BYBA Board, every Covered Adult must complete BYBA-approved sexual-abuse awareness and prevention training. BYBA will retain completion records.

Training will address at least:

• Recognizing sexual abuse, grooming, exploitation, and boundary violations.
• Appropriate adult-athlete boundaries and physical contact.
• One-on-one interactions and the observable-and-interruptible standard.
• Electronic communications and social media.
• Locker-room, changing-area, and transportation safeguards.
• How to respond when a child discloses possible abuse.
• Internal and external reporting obligations, confidentiality, and non-retaliation.
• Athlete-to-athlete sexual misconduct and other serious boundary concerns.

Covered Adults must maintain professional boundaries with minor athletes at all times. Adults must treat athletes with dignity and respect, keep interactions related to legitimate BYBA activities, and avoid relationships or conduct that create secrecy, inappropriate dependency, favoritism, or isolation.

The following conduct is prohibited:

• Sexual contact, sexual activity, sexualized touching, or romantic or sexual relationships with a minor athlete.
• Sexual jokes, comments, gestures, conversations, or messages directed toward or involving minor athletes.
• Requesting, possessing, creating, transmitting, or sharing sexually explicit or sexually suggestive material involving a minor.
• Grooming behavior, including efforts to build secrecy, inappropriate trust, dependency, isolation, or special access to a minor.
• Encouraging an athlete to hide communications, meetings, gifts, favors, or relationships from parents, guardians, or BYBA officials.
• Unnecessary private meetings or other isolated interactions with minor athletes.
• Using alcohol, illegal drugs, pornography, or similarly inappropriate material in the presence of minor athletes.
• Retaliating against anyone who makes a good-faith report, raises a safety concern, or participates in an investigation.
• Interfering with, delaying, suppressing, or attempting to privately resolve a report that must be made to public authorities.

A minor’s apparent willingness or consent does not make prohibited sexual conduct acceptable.

BYBA will minimize one-on-one interactions between adults and minor athletes. Whenever reasonably possible, an adult and a minor athlete should not be alone together in a location that cannot be observed or interrupted by another adult.

This standard applies to practices, individual instruction, meetings, transportation, locker or changing areas, training rooms, team events, and electronic communications.

When an unavoidable one-on-one interaction occurs, it should be necessary for a legitimate BYBA purpose, take place in an observable or readily interruptible setting, and use reasonable safeguards. Closed-door or isolated meetings with a minor are prohibited except when immediate safety requires otherwise.

Basketball involves legitimate physical contact. Any contact by an adult must be appropriate, necessary, and related to basketball instruction, safety, first aid, or a brief public congratulatory gesture.

Adults must avoid unnecessary or prolonged touching, lap sitting, inappropriate horseplay, unnecessary massages or rubdowns, and touching intimate areas except when legitimate medical care requires it and appropriate safeguards are followed. Adults must respect a child’s expressed discomfort with physical contact.

Electronic communications with minor athletes must be professional, transparent, and related to legitimate BYBA activities.

• Use BYBA-approved team-management systems, group texts, team email, or other transparent group communication whenever practical.
• When direct communication with an individual athlete is necessary, include the athlete’s parent/guardian or another authorized adult whenever reasonably possible.
• Do not use disappearing-message applications or other methods intended to conceal communications.
• Do not engage in private social-media contact, sexual or romantic messaging, requests for personal or intimate photographs, or communications designed to create a secret or inappropriate personal relationship.

Adults must respect athlete privacy while maintaining appropriate supervision. Adults should not be alone with a minor in a restroom, locker room, changing area, or similarly private space except when necessary to address an immediate safety issue.

• No photography or video is permitted in bathrooms, locker rooms, or changing areas.
• Adults may photograph or record athletes for legitimate BYBA or team purposes only and consistent with applicable parental permissions.
• Sexualized, intimate, exploitative, or grooming-related photography or video is prohibited.
• Whenever practical, adult personnel should use separate changing arrangements from minor athletes.

Whenever possible, transportation of minor athletes should involve a parent/guardian, at least two adults, or multiple athletes traveling with an adult. A Covered Adult should not transport a single minor athlete alone except in a genuine emergency or when advance parent/guardian authorization and appropriate BYBA safeguards are in place.

Any person who observes, learns of, or reasonably suspects sexual abuse, grooming, exploitation, or another serious boundary violation must act promptly.

• If a child is in immediate danger, call 911.
• Promptly notify the designated BYBA Safety Officer or BYBA President, unless that person is implicated in the concern.
• When abuse is suspected, contact law enforcement or the New York Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment at 1-800-342-3720, as appropriate, and comply with any legally required reporting obligation.
• An internal BYBA report does not replace any report required by law.
• Do not conduct your own investigation, confront the accused, promise secrecy, or delay a required report while seeking additional proof.

If a child discloses possible abuse or inappropriate conduct, the adult should:

• Stay calm, listen, and take the child seriously.
• Reassure the child that telling a trusted adult was the right thing to do.
• Ask only questions necessary to address immediate safety; do not interrogate or demand details.
• Do not promise secrecy.
• Document the child’s words as accurately as possible.
• Make required reports promptly and take reasonable steps to prevent further contact with the alleged offender.
• Do not confront the alleged offender or conduct an independent investigation.

When an allegation involves a Covered Adult or other adult participant, BYBA will promptly notify its Safety Officer or designated administrator unless that person is implicated. The accused adult may be removed from all contact with minor athletes while the matter is addressed. Temporary removal is a protective administrative measure and is not a finding of guilt.

BYBA will make legally required reports, cooperate with law enforcement and child-protection authorities, preserve relevant information, and avoid any internal process that interferes with an official investigation. Retaliation is prohibited.

BYBA prohibits sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, coercion, inappropriate sexual conduct, and abusive behavior between athletes. Reports will be evaluated promptly based on the athletes’ ages, circumstances, power differences, nature of the conduct, applicable law, and the safety needs of everyone involved. BYBA will make any legally required reports.

BYBA will maintain a confidential written report and central incident log for reported concerns, including the date, persons involved, nature of the concern, reporting actions, protective measures, and follow-up. Information will be shared only with persons who need it for child safety, legal compliance, or BYBA administration.

BYBA cannot promise absolute confidentiality when information must be shared with law enforcement, child-protection authorities, medical professionals, legal counsel, parents/guardians, or others with a legitimate need to know.

Retaliation against an athlete, parent, reporter, witness, volunteer, employee, or other person who makes a good-faith report or participates in a review is prohibited and may itself result in discipline.

Any outside organization or contractor that receives access to BYBA minor participants through a BYBA program or activity must maintain child-protection standards reasonably consistent with this policy when acting in connection with BYBA.

BYBA will designate a Safety Officer or other administrator to oversee policy acknowledgments, background-screening records, training completion, incident records, reporting procedures, and annual review of this policy.

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and when applicable law, BYBA operations, or recognized youth-safety practices materially change.