Why Additional Policy is Needed in Recreational Sports

How lack of rules surrounding reporting and conduct fails to keep students safe at USD

Janea McCoy / Contributor / The USD Vista

Out of all of the extracurricular activities that USD offers, some of the most popular are recreational classes and sports. Students can choose from a wide range of options — from yoga to weight lifting, to intramurals like volleyball and soccer —  and have fun with their friends in a low-stress environment. For many, these activities offer community, the ability to learn something new, and a chance to engage in friendly competition with other students.  

However, while these activities have numerous positive aspects to them, there is a distinct lack of safety policy for recreational classes. Additionally, the existing policy is not being communicated to students and those in charge effectively. In order to amend this, there needs to be additional sensitivity training and vetting for student leaders and coaches regarding appropriate and safe conduct. Furthermore, there needs to be an understanding that all leaders are mandated reporters and are responsible for reporting instances of sexual assault, harassment, and harm to students, to their superiors.

In several recreation sports, students can be designated as club/team leaders. They are given the typical training that takes place for all student club leaders, which briefly mentions the student code of conduct. However, these students are not vetted or trained to ensure that they can effectively teach and supervise the course and sometimes run such courses without a trained coach or professional present.

Not only does this situation allow for a potentially dangerous and inappropriate dynamic between students, it can also be physically dangerous if the student isn’t well-trained in what they are coaching. I was a participant in the Jiu Jitsu club last semester, and struggled due to the absence of a professional coach.  I was nearly dropped on my head and felt unsafe when  I was pressured into sparring with people of the opposite gender and those that were at a much higher skill level than me. This was something that I was not comfortable with, leaving me overwhelmed and feeling unsafe.

After withdrawing from the class, I raised my concerns to Serena Gandara, the director of Campus Recreation. She told me that there was not a professional coach available to teach the Jiu Jitsu Club because the former coach struggled to comply with the university health protocols. Although helpful after the fact, I felt that the department was reactive to my negative experiences after they had already occurred rather than being proactive through policy and procedure to ensure student safety.

Along with the need for more strict requirements and regulations surrounding who is able to lead these clubs and activities, there is a lack of clarity surrounding protocol for reporting sexual assault and harassment as well as maintaining a professional relationship between student and coach.  

In the Student Organizations handbook, it states that “USD requires all…who have responsibility for student welfare to promptly report information about any incident of Sexual Misconduct or Relationship Violence to USD…unless that employee is required by law to keep that information confidential.” Although this extends to many in the USD community, there is nothing within this that mentions a duty for leaders in recreation sports and activities to report instances to higher-ups.

The lack of policy leads to a lack of accountability by those in recreational sports to protect their student participants. Anyone that interacts with students, especially in any kind of physical context, whether that be through a sport, a recreation class, or through any kind of physical activity, should be required to report such instances aforementioned to a third party as a mandated reporter.

As student leaders, students have power over other students, and for many student participants, it can put them in an awkward position especially when the student leader tries to befriend them outside of the class.

In my opinion, there is an assumption that because the leaders are fellow students, the risk of a dangerous power dynamic isn’t present or is lesser than if it was an adult; however, if anything, I find the risk of this dynamic to be even more pressing and serious. When someone you view as a leader or mentor is flirting with you, sending you suggestive messages, or trying to hang out with you outside of classes, it creates an uncomfortable precedent, taking away the fun of the sport or activity. Furthermore, these students may be in your class or in a club that you attend regularly which also impacts your life outside of the class/club.

Although the recreation department needs to fortify several of their policies, their overall intention is to make campus recreation activities a positive experience for everyone. While I can see efforts present, the oversight regarding policy about both vetting to ensure professional coaching as well as student-leader conduct does cast some doubt on whether or not I think they are achieving this goal. I think it is really easy to view these activities and sports as fun until something goes wrong, likely due to lack of policy. Furthermore, the lack of awareness makes it hard for both the department, participants and leaders in the club to take the concerns seriously.  

In order to keep all students safe, in every avenue of the sport or activity that they are choosing to participate in, there needs to be more accountability placed on those in charge.  Firstly, there needs to be clearer protocol for student-leader relations so that those in power are not abusing said power. Secondly, there needs to be mandated reporting implemented for clubs that engage with students in physical activities or environments and a thorough vetting process for leaders and coaches to make sure that all are properly trained and can effectively teach students.

Only through the responsibility of those in the Recreation Sports department along with accountability stemming from both student leaders and coaches regarding conduct, training, and reporting practices, can we ensure that all Toreros are safe when participating in club activities.