Use this government program to add credibility to your business.
By Jennifer Paulson
Do you have youth riders in your barn? Will you take advantage of the opportunity to employ youths in your facility? Do you want to increase your credibility within your community? A SafeSport certification could be an asset in each of those situations.
According to its website, uscenterforsafesport.org, “The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an independent nonprofit committed to building a sport community where participants can work and learn together free of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse and misconduct.”
You might wonder how the training process under this entity helps your business, and further doubt when you can fit it into your busy schedule. It’s all pretty simple.
A SafeSport certification costs a mere $20, and the online training takes around 90 minutes to complete. You can do it in one sitting, or you can spread it out over time. The programming consists of pretests, videos, written content, and tests for each segment: Sexual Misconduct, Mandatory Reporting, and Emotional and Physical Misconduct. This training is already a requirement for United States Equestrian Federation members with a Competing license.
While the training itself is quite simple and might seem like common sense, it does cause you to think about situations with young riders in a different light and how your actions can be perceived. It also can open your eyes to abuse that might be happening around you and arm you with tools to know your next steps in reporting.So how does this help your business? In a few words: Credibility. Trustworthiness. Awareness. Parents of young riders trust you with their children. Whether it’s only for a one-hour lesson or taking them to a days-long horse show without parental supervision, these adults put their children’s wellbeing in your hands regularly. Having a SafeSport certification can give confidence to a new client, encourage an existing client to stay with you over others, and build an atmosphere of respect and safety in your barn.
