NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF/Nashville Banner) — Parents of young athletes have once again found themselves on edge after news this week of a local soccer coach who was allegedly drugging and abusing young boys who trusted him.
Is there any way to truly know your son or daughter is safe with a coach?
A former Olympic skater and longtime coach in Nashville said he’s come up with a screening system that might instill new confidence in youth sports.
"You have to have faith in your coach that they know what they're doing. But beyond that, you have to have faith in the person," said Bill Fauver, an Olympic pairs skater turned coach.
For years, he's been concerned about his sport and its youngest athletes.
"Originally, it started with a number of coaches coming to the United States from overseas, and there was no way to check their resumes," Fauver said. "A gentleman asked me to coach his daughter, who is a national junior lady. And he was going to send her to Vanderbilt, and I said, 'Well, I'd be honored to coach her, but you don't know anything about me. Why would you have your daughter come work with me?' So that conversation led to more and more in-depth conversations."
Bill hit upon the idea of an in-depth screening and certification system. Similar to what's become commonplace with automobiles. He calls it CoachFax.
"CoachFax will be a private club," Fauver said. "And as long as we don't discriminate, we can set whatever standards we want to be a member."
Right now, there is a quasi-governmental agency called SafeSport.
Currently, all coaches through SafeSport get a background screening," Fauver said. "Even if you are found guilty by SafeSport of a violation, they can choose to stop you from being part of the sport at sanctioned events. They can't stop you from teaching. So, uh, and especially in a private facility. What we are proposing is for CoachFax, the standards would be extremely high. Because it's not a requirement to join, the people who would want to be members of CoachFax are those people who want to clearly show that they're head and shoulders above their competitors."
Members will be screened every year at a cost of about $400 to $500.
Coach Fax is nonprofit and backed by some top athletes, including tennis pro Pam Shriver.
And with what's happened in Nashville this week, Fauver said it's coming not a moment too soon.
"Once, once the abuse has occurred, then the problems multiply hugely — sisters, brothers, family. Everyone's affected by it. What you're going to find in the upcoming weeks and months is there are probably more victims," he said. "There's going to be greater effects. This is the beginning of a slow explosion."
