This Transportation/Lodging Policy applies to all In-Program Contact including travel to or from practices or games, or to or from out of town games or tournaments, and regarding hotel or lodging during overnight events.
Minor Athletes may be vulnerable to abuse or misconduct during travel, including during transportation for local travel or away from the home area. A transportation policy provides guidelines to minimize one- on-one interactions between Minor Athletes and adults while traveling. Adherence to the Transportation Policy helps to reduce the opportunities for misconduct.
The travel policy addresses both “Local Travel” which is generally transportation and travel to and from local practices, games and events, and “Organization/Team Travel,” which generally includes travel away from the home area. Each USA Hockey Member Program must have a team travel policy applicable to youth teams that is published and provided to all players, parents, coaches and other adults that are travelling with the team that includes parental consents to In-Program travel and lodging. The Member Program/team must obtain a signature each year by each adult (including parents) acknowledging receipt of and agreeing to the travel policy. A sample local and overnight travel policy form for a Member Program may be found at usahockey.com/safesportprogram.
Elements of all travel policies must include:
The Member Program, team and their administrators should avoid sponsoring, coordinating, or arranging for local travel, and the parents of a Minor Athlete should be responsible for making all local travel arrangements.
Coaches who do not have a Dual Relationship shall not ride in a vehicle alone with a Minor Athlete, absent emergency circumstances, and must have at least two Minor Athletes or another adult present at all times.
All other Adult Participants shall not ride in a vehicle alone with a Minor Athlete, and must have at least two Minor Athletes or another adult present at all times unless (i) the Adult Participant has a Dual Relationship with the Minor Athlete, (ii) the Close-in-Age exception applies, (iii) the parent/ guardian of the Minor Athlete has provided written consent on an annual basis, (iv) the Adult Participant is a Personal Care Assistant, or (v) emergency circumstances exist. A parent/guardian may withdraw consent at any time.
Where an Adult Participant is involved in an unrelated Minor Athlete’s local travel (even with written consent), efforts should be made to ensure that the Adult Participant is not alone with the unrelated player, by, for example, picking up or dropping off the players in groups.
Adult Participants who are also a player’s parent or guardian may provide shared transportation for any player(s) if they pick up their own player first and drop off their own player last.
It is recognized that in some limited instances an emergency will make it unavoidable for an employee, coach or volunteer to drive alone with an unrelated Minor Athlete. However, efforts should be made to minimize these occurrences and to mitigate any circumstances that could lead to allegations of abuse or misconduct.
Because of the greater distances involved in team travel, coaches, staff, volunteers, and chaperones will often travel with the players. No Participant will engage in team 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 complete applicable SafeSport Training and shall have been screened in compliance with the USA Hockey Screening Policy.
For many hockey teams, a significant portion of USA Hockey participation involves overnight travel to games and tournaments. Minor Athletes are most vulnerable to abuse or misconduct during travel, particularly overnight stays. This includes a greater risk of misconduct between or among Minor Athletes. During travel, players may be away from their families and support networks, and the setting – unfamiliar locker rooms, automobiles, and hotel rooms – is less structured and less familiar. A lodging policy provides guidelines so that care is taken to minimize one-on-one interactions between minors and adults while traveling. Adherence to the Lodging Policy helps to reduce the opportunities for misconduct.
All interactions and In-Program Contact between an Adult Participant and a single Minor Athlete must be Observable and Interruptible unless the Dual Relationship or Close-in-Age exceptions apply, or if the Minor Athlete is accompanied by an Adult Personal Care Assistant, who has the parent’s written consent and has met the requirements of the SafeSport Training and Background Check policies.
Regardless of gender, Coaches shall not share a hotel room or other sleeping arrangement with a Minor Athlete unless the Coach is the parent, guardian or sibling of, or is otherwise related to the Minor Athlete and written consent is obtained, when necessary.
Regardless of gender, all Adult Participants (other than Coaches) shall not share a hotel room or other sleeping arrangement with a Minor Athlete unless (i) the Adult Participant is the parent, guardian or sibling of the Minor Athlete, (ii) they are teammates and the Close-in-Age exception applies, or (iii) the Dual Relationship exception applies and the Minor Athlete’s parent(s) provides written consent to such an arrangement describing the overnight trips to which the consent applies.
The Member Program or team 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 players). If a team is composed of both male and female players, then it is recommended that chaperones are arranged of the same gender.
Minor Athletes should share rooms with other Minor Athletes of the same gender, with the appropriate number of players assigned per room depending on accommodations.
Regular monitoring and curfew checks should be made of each room by at least two SafeSport Trained and properly screened adults. All Adult Participants, including coaches, staff, volunteers and chaperones, travelling with a team must (i) comply with the SafeSport Training policy, (ii) sign the Member Program’s lodging policy at least annually, and (iii) be familiar with the Safe Sport Program Handbook to monitor compliance with all Safe Sport Policies.
The team personnel shall ask hotels to block adult pay per view channels.
Meetings shall be conducted consistent with USA Hockey’s One-on-One Interactions Policy (i.e., any such meeting shall be Observable and Interruptible). Individual meetings between a player and coach may not occur in hotel sleeping rooms.
All players shall be permitted to make regular check in phone calls to parents. Team personnel shall allow for any unscheduled check in phone calls initiated by either the player or parents.
Family members who wish to stay in the team hotel shall be permitted and encouraged to do so.
The team shall make every effort to accommodate reasonable parental requests when a child is away from home without a parent.
Specific travel itineraries will be distributed to parents when they are available and will include a detailed itinerary as well as contact information for all team personnel and chaperones.
If disciplinary action against a player is required while the player is traveling without his/her parents, reasonable attempts to notify the player’s parents will be made before any action is taken.
No coach or chaperone shall at any time be under the influence of alcohol or drugs while performing their coaching and/or chaperoning duties.
Upon proof of a violation of USA Hockey’s policies regarding travel, the offending Member Program, team or person will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.