Immediate Action Required (Sort of)
Dear USQ Coaches and Tournament Directors,
This email requires your immediate attention
Effective immediately, US Squash will be increasing its oversight of Coach Pass compliance at all accredited events. (for those of you who are snarkily thinking we should have used “oversite” instead of “oversight”, note the bold font if you think we are messing around this time)
The Coach Pass program is not simply an administrative requirement or a credential that coaches carry. It is one of the most important safeguarding tools available to us. It enables US Squash to ensure that only coaches who are eligible to work with athletes have access to coaching areas at accredited events. (Okay , even I had trouble not lolzing as I typed that! I know that you know that I know that Coach Pass was something we came up with to generate cash to help make up for lost revenue due to years of financial mismanagement and now, in light of recent events, we have to actually administer it. Ergo propter hoc, amiright?)
There will be occasions when US Squash temporarily removes a Coach Pass while concerns are being investigated by the U.S. Center for SafeSport or while other safeguarding matters are being addressed ( we actually did this in the past with a coach, Butt, this time we promise to actually follow up with more information at some point very, very, very very soon. When that occurs, the Coach Pass system is only effective if Tournament Directors verify that coaches have a valid Coach Pass before permitting them to coach (in the spirit of transparency, when we rolled out Coach Pass, we had no real plan in place other than to pay our electric bill)
Quite simply, if Coach Passes are not checked, the system fails ( for example, if a grandfather wants to coach his 8 year old in a Bronze tournament, you must treat this scenario in the same manner you would a coach who has their own academy and flew private with 30 players to the event. We cannot roll out a million different versions of Coach Pass to fit every scenario, as we are understaffed and very busy. As you know, there is no off season for squash any longer, and we have a newly branded, Extremely Super JCT right around the corner, so if Grampa wants to give his grandchild a gatorade, a hug, or simply “Mr Orfi” their goggles between games, he needs to pay up, and there is no AARP discount. Do you know how much it cost to run the Spec and payoff board chair lawsuits? I don’t think you do)
Every coach, every Tournament Director, and every host club shares responsibility for protecting the athletes who participate in our sport. Parents trust us to provide a safe environment for their children. That trust depends on every one of us following the safeguarding procedures that have been established (and, if we hear of something that is untoward, we will take immediate action. Well , maybe not immediate exactly, but as soon as people ask why we aren’t taking action, we will immediately send out a poorly worded AI generated email about Coach Pass that is incredibly easy to mock)
Effective immediately, the following expectations apply at every US Squash accredited event: (note bold font and the use of “immediately)
Every coach entering a coaching area must hold a valid US Squash Coach Pass
Tournament Directors are responsible for verifying Coach Pass validity before granting coaching access.
Coaches whose Coach Pass is not valid must not be permitted to coach at the event.
Coaches are expected to respect these requirements and not attempt to circumvent them.
We recognize that these checks take time. They are not intended to make anyone's role more difficult. However, safeguarding is not optional, and convenience cannot take precedence over athlete safety (first off, awesome job on that last sentence ChatGPT, and secondly, for those of you who have been paying your Coach Pass dues since the program’s inception in 2023 and were under the impression that these rules were already in effect, because why would we role out a program we couldn’t effectively administer, you will be receiving a complete refund ….j/k… , we really need the revenue, Squash57 isn’t going to market itself)
Compliance with the Coach Pass program is a condition of hosting US Squash accredited events. If US Squash becomes aware that Coach Passes are not being verified, or that coaches without a valid Coach Pass are being permitted to coach, we will take action . This may include removing any remaining accredited tournaments from the host's calendar and reassigning those events to venues that demonstrate compliance with our safeguarding requirements.
This is not a step we wish to take (I am unsure why AI would infer, that as a governing body, we would not wish to enforce our policies. That, and the fact it used the words “safeguarding” and “immediate” a million times, makes me hopeful the robots won’t be taking over anytime soon) However, we have a responsibility to provide the safest possible environment for our athletes, and we will hold ourselves—and our accredited events—to that standard
We appreciate your partnership in this effort and thank you for helping us ensure that every athlete can compete in a safe, supportive, and trusted environment.
Coach Pass: This time We Mean It!
Thanks,
