Safesport
For residents of the United States, the Classical Academy of Arms requires the annual completion of athlete and youth protection training conducted by SafeSport.org for coaches. The US Center for SafeSport is Congressionally mandated by the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 to serve as an independent national safe sport organization and to develop national policies and procedures to prevent emotional, physical, and sexual abuse of amateur athletes. It has exclusive authority to respond to allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse within the United States Olympic and Paralympic sports.
Trainers participating in the Academy’s programs may fulfill the Safe Sport training requirement in two ways:
(1) If you have taken the annual SafeSport training for coaches in conjunction with another sports organization (for example, USA Fencing), forward a copy of the training certificate as a .pdf or jpeg to geraci51@aol.com, by mail to Classical Academy of Arms, 10912 Forest Trace Lane, Glen Allen, Virginia, or request a fax number from us.
(2) If you have not taken SafeSport training, but do have access to it through another sports organization, take the training as soon as possible and forward the certificate as in (1) above.
(3) If you do not have access through your sports organization (AAU does not offer SafeSport training) go to the SafeSport training page select the individual training (price $20) and complete the 90 minute training course.
AAU Athlete Protection
SafeSport only takes action on incidents involving athletes, staff, and employees of the Olympic and Paralympic Sports. They specifically do not serve AAU sports and sports organizations. For the Classical Academy of Arms, incidents of hazing, bullying, psychological, physical, or sexual abuse therefore are reported using AAU procedures and guidelines to local law enforcement and the the Compliance Department at the AAU Central Office. AAU’s athlete protection policies are available here: Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) (aausports.org).
Athlete Protection Training in Other Countries
Many countries have training, either mandatory or voluntary, for fencing trainers on youth and athlete protection. This may be embedded in regular training courses for Coaches, presented at clinics or conferences, delivered online, etc. For members of the Academy who do not reside in he United States and who receive verification (certificate, listing in a published registry online, etc.) of stand-alone athlete protection training, please send a copy of the verification of training as a .pdf or jpeg to the Academy at geraci51@aol.com, by fax (request a fax number from us), or by mail to: Classical academy of Arms, 10912 Forest Trace Lane, Glen Allen, Virginia 23059, United States of America.
If such training must be completed on a specific cycle (for example, annually or every two years), please ensure that you send the Academy the new verification of training when it is received.
If training was combined with other training and no specific verification was provided to you, complete the following declaration of training received.
Athlete Protection Training Declaration
On my honor as a fencer, I declare that I received the following training on protecting youth and athletes from inappropriate behavior (including hazing, bullying, unwanted advances of a sexual nature, and physical, verbal, or sexual abuse), while engaged in sport. I verify that no specific documentation or verification of this training was provided to me, or that it has been lost or destroyed accidentally. I verify that to the best of my knowledge the training received met either governmental legal requirements or the requirements of a national sports federation. I understand that misrepresentation that I have received such training when I have not is cause for my removal from training in programs conducted by the Classical Academy of Arms and the withdrawal of any credentials issued.Name:E-mail:Date of Athlete/Youth Protection Training:Length of Training:Organization presenting the training:General description of training received:How often must training be repeated?