The U.S. Center for SafeSport will now alert schools and other organizations of coaches on the SafeSport list. In a new internal process, SafeSport will contact schools when it finds that banned coaches are still working with children or when a report against a coach is received.
According to ProPublica, previously, SafeSport only had the authority to ban coaches who worked with teams governed by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic committees, meaning many prep teams or independent youth teams were left unaware of a coach’s ban. Parents and others who work with children would need to intentionally check the SafeSport banned list to know if the coach was listed.
SafeSport CEO Benita Fitzgerald Mosley encouraged people to find and report banned coaches. “When SafeSport imposes a sanction for abuse or misconduct, the community should be aware,” she said. “Someone could be on the SafeSport Database for abuse but go on to work at a school or coach for a league outside of our jurisdiction.”
In a recent investigation, ProPublica and the Washington Post discovered many coaches banned by SafeSport were still working with children. In one case, a volleyball coach committed sexual misconduct against a minor, but an independent volleyball league still allowed him to coach several tournaments because no one knew he was on the SafeSport database.
As a part of the investigation, ProPublica and the Washington Post found that many coaches on SafeSport’s database take jobs with the Amateur Athletic Union, a “haven for coaches who are banned for abuse.”
Now, SafeSport will run a video campaign to spread awareness of the problem. They will promote the public database and encourage parents and coaches to stay informed. Since launching the new Centralized Disciplinary Database in July, the site has had 13,000 new visitors and a 108% increase in web traffic compared to 2025.
