APPENDIX F - TRAVEL POLICY
APPENDIX F - TRAVEL POLICY
A portion of a minor participant ’ s involvement in All Star may involve overnight travel to camps , competitions or other events . Minor participants are most vulnerable to abuse or misconduct during travel , particularly overnight stays . This also includes a greater risk of participant to participant misconduct .
During travel , participants may be away from their families and support networks , and the setting ( unfamiliar facilities , automobiles , and hotel rooms ) is less structured and less familiar .
A travel policy provides guidelines so that care is taken to minimize one-on-one interactions between minors and adults while traveling . Further , the policy directs how minor participants will be supervised between and during travel to and from practice and competitions . Adherence to travel policies helps to reduce the opportunities for misconduct .
Each U . S . All Star Federation program shall have a travel policy that is published and provided to all participants , parents , coaches and other adults that are traveling with the program . It is strongly recommended that a signature by each adult acknowledging receipt of and agreeing to the travel policy be obtained by the program . Some travel involves only local travel to and from local practices , games and events , while other travel involves overnight stays . Different policies should apply to these two types of travel .
REQUIRED ELEMENTS OF ALL TRAVEL POLICIES
LOCAL TRAVEL
1 . The program and their administrators should avoid sponsoring , coordinating , or arranging for local travel , and the parents of a minor participant should be responsible for making all local travel arrangements .
2 . The employees , coaches and / or volunteers of a local program who are not also acting as a parent should not drive alone with an unrelated minor and should drive with at least two other participants or another adult at all times unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the minor ’ s parent .
3 . Where an employee , coach and / or volunteer is involved in an unrelated minor participant ’ s local travel , efforts should be made to ensure that the adult personnel are not alone with the unrelated participant . For example , picking up or dropping off the participants in groups instead of individually .
4 . Employees , coaches and volunteers who are also a participant ’ s parent or guardian may provide shared transportation for any participant ( s ) if they pick up their participant first and drop off their participant last .
5 . It is recognized that in some limited instances it will be unavoidable for an employee , coach or volunteer to drive alone with an unrelated minor participant . However , efforts should be made to minimize these occurrences and to mitigate any circumstances that could lead to allegations of abuse or misconduct .
PROGRAM TRAVEL
1 . A coach shall not share a hotel room or other sleeping arrangement with a minor participant unless the coach is the parent , guardian or sibling of the participant or unless the parent or guardian of the minor participant is also sharing the same hotel room ( e . g ., two adults , one or both of whom is a coach , and their children , share a hotel room ).
2 . It is strongly recommended that programs incorporate a parent consent for any minor participant that will travel without his or her parents .
3 . Because of the greater distances , coaches , staff , volunteers and chaperones will often travel with the participants . No employee , coach or volunteer will engage in program travel without the proper safety requirements in place and on record , including valid drivers ’ licenses , automobile liability insurance as required by applicable state law , vehicle in safe working order and compliance with all state laws . All chaperones and drivers shall have been screened in compliance with the U . S . All Star Federation Recommended Screening Policy [ See the USASF Sexual Abuse and Prevention Policy ] and drivers shall have an additional screen that includes a check of appropriate Department of Motor Vehicle records .
4 . The program shall provide adequate supervision through coaches and other adult chaperones . For example , a recommended number would include at least one coach or adult chaperone for every five to eight participants for athletes : ( a ) not traveling with a parent , guardian or family member ; or ( b ) not traveling with another party that was arranged by their parent and / or guardian .
5 . Regular monitoring and curfew checks should be made of each room by at least two properly screened adults . All coaches , staff , volunteers and chaperones traveling with a program shall be familiar with the U . S . All Star Federation SafeSport Policies to monitor compliance .
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