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Recreation staff report early success, monitoring plan for coach background checks and training
Summary
St. Mary's County Recreation and Parks staff said the first-year Raising Community Standards initiative has produced high participation in background checks and training for volunteer coaches, and outlined a plan for spot monitoring and possible enforcement if outside leagues fail to comply.
St. Mary's County Recreation and Parks staff on March 1 reported initial results from the department's first year of its Raising Community Standards initiative, which requires volunteer youth coaches who use county facilities to complete background checks and coach training.
Recreation Division Manager Arthur Shepherd said the winter season produced high completion rates for the county-run, sponsored leagues but that monitoring remains the next challenge. "This is the 1st year we've implemented this program," Shepherd said, adding that staff will return with monitoring results after spot checks during spring league play.
Shepherd gave the board a snapshot of the youth basketball program: 109 teams, which implies 218 coach slots; 162 coaches actually registered; staff completed background checks on 166 coaches and disqualified four people, which Shepherd described as roughly a 2 percent disqualification rate. He also said the department has conducted coach training and is trying to increase annual compliance.
Shepherd and other staff described how enforcement and verification will work. Sports coordinators who staff Saturday games and sessions at Leonard Hall Recreation Center will carry lists of verified coaches and compare bench personnel to those lists during spot visits. "They have a list with them of who the coaches are, who has the training, and so forth," Shepherd said.
Board members asked whether the department has authority to bar noncompliant leagues from county fields. Phil (staff member) said the county's authority to grant field use could be used if leagues repeatedly fail to comply; he reported that county commissioners "are looking for that to happen if leagues aren't complying." Shepherd said staff expect to rely on leagues for much of the day-to-day monitoring and will do spot checks themselves because county staff cannot be at every game.
Board members also asked about frequency of rechecks and spectator access by disqualified individuals. Shepherd said background checks are required annually rather than by season. Regarding presence at events, Shepherd said disqualification removes a person's eligibility to coach, not necessarily to attend events; the department has other tools (for example, no-trespass orders) to address unruly or prohibited attendees.
The department plans to continue working with independent leagues that use county facilities to increase compliance for spring sports and said it will report monitoring statistics to the board after a program of spot checks during spring play.
