Parents and guardians of youth wrestlers have the same concerns around athlete safety as those in other sports.

Understanding how adults – coaches, trainers and other influencers around youth athletes – are trained and certified with regard to athlete safety is a key question to ask leaders of wrestling clubs you’re considering.

The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an independent nonprofit committed to building a sport community where participants can work and learn together free of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and misconduct. They provide training resources, help and best practices for coaches, parents, athletes, youth and amateur sports organizations in creating your SafeSport environment.

Fortunately, USA Wrestling-sanctioned clubs are required to ensure that ALL coaches or adults affiliated with their affiliate clubs complete SafeSport training. It’s presented in clear and detailed modules that require course takers to complete quizzes based on multiple situations. While individuals are firmly grounded in requirements for safe interactions with youth athletes, the fact that all adults in any given club are certified creates a unified, communal approach to ensuring all adults are on the same page with regard to appropriate behavior, as well as legal reporting requirements in each state when violations or witnessed or suspected.

Parents and guardians should ask the leadership of any club they’re considering for their kids if the club USA Wrestling-sanctioned. Or they can check here on USA Wrestling’s web site. If not, they should inquire why they are not, or if they require adults in their program to complete SafeSport training.

Doing so reinforces the importance of standards in any club for the protection of youth athletes, and provides an additional layer of protection for all kids in the club.