The problem is prevalent, its prevention oft-overlooked.
Youth sports leagues and other group activities are particularly vulnerable to individuals keen on doing harm with one of two things — your child or your money.
Prevention, at least enough to dissuade would-be perpetrators, is a matter of common sense and fortitude.
Yet the frequency with which the problem occurs is alarming. The battery of examples is illustrative of how vast it has become:
• A pair of girls soccer coaches, a boys baseball coach and a junior high school softball coach. All were arrested and charged in Front Range communities over the past five months with felonies ranging from kidnapping to soliciting young boys to pose nude for photographs.
• A youth football coach, the founder of a youth sports organization who used 11 aliases, and the manager of a large sports association. All were convicted locally for absconding with tens of thousands of dollars parents had paid to register their children to play.
The individuals had probably undergone a form of background check — some more extensive than others — before they were given unfettered access to the children they coached or the money they handled.
Still, each managed to get precisely where they wanted to be: close enough to gain a child’s trust or to pocket the dough.
“Youth sports has turned into a big business,” said Sally Johnson, executive director of the National Council on Youth Sports in Stuart, Fla.
With summertime approaching, parents are scrambling to ensure their children have a place to play and a team to play with.
“Any program where adults supervise children represents an obvious opportunity for sexual predators,” the NCYS offers in its survey. “Youth sports programs are known targets for perpetrators of these crimes.”
In nearly every case where a child has been harmed — typically a form of sexual abuse — or a league or club is wiped out financially when an administrator takes off with the funds, parents are stunned, not just because it happened, but because they didn’t see it coming.
“Many (perpetrators) have developed the skills to provide a high level of confidence that they’re OK, and that’s all part of the game,” said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, which conducts background checks on prospective coaches and youth-group volunteers. “Your personal comfort level with them means very little since it is someone who knows how to be credible.”
Background checks have become nearly automatic in youth sports, though they’re not mandated by law. Only school districts are required to do the checks. Independent groups decide on their own.
Most do check, The Denver Post found in a random survey of a dozen organizations.
The extent, however, varies. Every coach or volunteer undergoes a background check at the Brighton Youth Baseball Association, something president Leonard Hale admits wasn’t consistently done in prior years.
“Apparently it was no big deal for people who were returning as a coach, but I insist on one each year,” he said. “We don’t want to find anything bad.”
Not every background check is the same. Many through private companies merely do a cursory check of already-free public records such as the national registry of sexual predators.
“This information is considered public record,” one company that’s used by a local soccer organization explains on its report. “All criminal history information reflected should not be considered as 100% complete or an accurate history of an individual.”
Says Clem: “Unless it’s a fingerprint check, there’s no proof-positive it’s the same person.”
National checks with the FBI are the most accurate, so it’s important to ask your organization which it uses.
The same goes for criminal charges that would disqualify someone from having contact with children. Drunken driving might not be an issue unless the parent is transporting the athletes.
David Migoya: 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com
How to check
Due diligence likely can minimize or even prevent some of the problems parents experience with youth sports leagues. Here are a few tips on ensuring you choose a good coach and league:
• Ensure background checks are at a national level. The most reliable is via the state police, and the cost is minimal.
• Convictions aren’t the whole story. Plea bargains are not reflected, so more serious charges can be hidden. Check directly with the court.
• Check lawsuits in the county a person has lived in for any judgments or problems.
• Check credit by requiring coaches or others handling money to provide a current copy of their credit report. Financial problems can be a red flag.
• Ask for three years of tax records for any nonprofit league. They’re usually online at for free, or simply ask the league. It is required by law to provide them.
• Do the math. Find out what the team fee is, divide by the number of players. If it doesn’t match what you’re being charged, ask why.
• Check it out. Travel teams are expensive. Don’t just pay for a flight; check the airline price and the hotels to ensure you’re being charged properly. Ask for itemized receipts.
Source: Denver Post research
