MODEL POLICY 2 :
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS & SOCIAL MEDIA
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
MANDATORY COMPONENTS
Electronic communication between an Adult Participant and Minor Athlete includes , but is not limited to , phone calls , video calls , text messages , social media platforms ’ direct messages ( e . g ., Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , WhatsApp , Snapchat , TikTok , etc .), fitness or other mobile device applications , emails , gaming platforms and / or direct messaging . All electronic communications between an Adult Participant and a Minor Athlete must comply with the One-on-One Policy and must be open and transparent . A . Open and transparent means that the Adult Participant copies or includes the Minor Athlete ’ s parent / guardian , another adult family member of the Minor Athlete or another Adult Participant .
B . |
All electronic communication must be professional in nature . |
C . |
Only platforms that allow for open and transparent communications may be used to communicate with Minor Athletes . |
D . |
Communication platforms must be able to record or maintain the message . |
E .
F .
If a Minor Athlete communicates with the Adult Participant first , the Adult Participant must either not respond or must include the Minor Athlete ’ s parent or guardian or another Adult Participant in the response . 1 . If a Minor Athlete initiates communication with an Adult Participant for the purposes of seeking counsel or the Minor Athlete is in distress , the safety of the Minor Athlete and addressing the situation that initiated the contact must be the focus of the communication . Adult Participants who are not trained or equipped to mitigate the situation at hand are advised to seek professional assistance . Electronic communications to an entire team or any number of Minor Athletes on a team must include at least one other Adult Participant or the Minor Athletes ’ parents / guardians if any team member is a Minor Athlete .
G . |
Any communication between Adult Participants and Minor Athletes involving the following is prohibited : |
1 . |
Drug or alcohol use ; |
2 . |
Sexual content ; |
3 . |
Explicit content ; or |
4 . |
Adult Participant discussing their personal or social life outside of the professional environment ( e . g ., discussing relationships or |
personal problems ). |
Any Member Clubs that are made aware of any of the prohibited communications mentioned in above must report such communications to USASF via the online reporting form at
www . usasf . net / reporting .
Adult Participants are not permitted to maintain private social media connections with Minor Athletes ; for example , this includes , but is not limited to , accepting or allowing Minor Athletes to “ friend ,” “ follow ,” or otherwise join a private social media site or similar online community that is not observable or open to the Minor Athlete ’ s parent / guardian as well . Note : Public fan pages are excluded from these restrictions . Private , direct or instant messaging to Minor Athletes is not excluded .
A parent / guardian may request in writing that a Minor Athlete not be contacted through electronic communications , including via social media . Requests that a Minor Athlete not be contacted electronically must be honored .
The aforementioned includes all communications unless the following exceptions exist : |
A . |
When a Dual Relationship exists ; or |
B . |
When the Close-in-Age Exception applies . |
RECOMMENDED COMPONENTS ( non-reportable offenses ) Any electronic communications to Athletes and parents should only be sent between the hours of 8 a . m . and 8 p . m . local time for the location of the recipients , except for travel , competition or emergency circumstances .
USASF CODE OF CONDUCT & COMPLIANCE | 2022-23 MEMBERSHIP SEASON 19