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Instruction from USAWP in the case you are told about a s3xu@l assault during your game. We MUST follow this protocol.
- stop the game
- make clear to the coaches what you have been told and confirm that due to the allegations, the game will not continue and the police will be called
- call the police (non-emergency line)
- can start the next games on time while waiting for police, etc. (if the police do not come, you can confirm that in your report to safesport)
- take notes of players involved, take photo of scoresheet
- make report on USAWP reporting site (inform ZHR that this occurred and you are making a report)
- following business day, call safesport reporting line and make a report
- do NOT share specific information with your peers (partner is ok) - everyone who is told the specific names and information must make a report
So the coach has to determine during a game if what the athlete states constitutes SA. Go to the ref and tell them to call the cops. I could see doing this for egregious actions, but no one wants to be stuck on the wrong side of gray so good luck coaches and refs.
Here’s the problem the coaches and officials cannot determine. If it’s reported we are mandated to report it. No figuring out if it really happened or not.
So if someone reports it gets reported. Which could become a very slippery slope.
HS season last year, we played a team 3 times, player on the other team got rolled each game, and in game 3 escalted his behaviour with a crotch grab that could easily be described as a SA on our player, it was pretty traumatic. He was rolled again, and a complaint made to the AD of the school. Learned during club season the player had moved regions as he had recieved multiple Safe sport filings in his home region. I think this guidance probably should have been used in this case. In any other avenue of life, this would have been considered an assult
Please understand that allegations of s3xu@l assault are serious and should be treated that way. Water polo is a physical/contact sport so simple contact with someone should not be considered s3xu@l assault. As instructed, please be sure the player(s) and coach(es) understand the allegations and are sure that is what happened before proceeding - we do not want reporting on false or wrong allegations, etc. That being said, we must cover ourselves if told of an instance happening in your game (coaches are also REQUIRED to do their part in reporting).
This helps a little, it seems clear that they should stop the game, confirm with both sides the seriousness of the accusations, if after confirming the seriousness the victim stands by the comment as an assault and not just saying, “he grabbed my thing”, they should proceed with the protocol. At least it gives the accuser a chance to calm down and decide if what happened to them was a shocking accident or an intentional crime. I am all for this but its implementation will be bumpy. I have seen livid 12u moms (years ago) freaking out because someone’s hand wend down little Johns speedo. Tye them tight was the response back then. Now she will be calling for the cops to be called.
Don’t think that’s right. Referees are not trained to investigate s**ual assault. Once the allegation is made, our role is to report according to the protocol, not to judge whether the allegation is credible or not. And if a result is a game with less crotch grabbing–that’s not a bad thing. Never heard a world class wrestler joke about ball grabbing in Olympic matches, but I remember a US center (Ryan Bailey, maybe?) being interviewed during the Olympics and starting a response to a question about physicality in the sport with "I’ve never been much of a ball grabber, but . . . " Not a great sound bite for the sport.
The way I read that, the referee is required to stop the game if he or she hears a complaint that s**ual assault occurred from anyone involved in the game.