The presence of adults in the locker rooms is critical to maintaining a safe and positive environment. More than half of all SafeSport incidents reported each year occur in locker rooms. In all but a few cases, there was no locker room monitor present.

Whenever players are present in the locker room, there must be at least one screened and SafeSport- trained adult present in the locker room. Coaches are often the best choice for locker room monitors, but parents who complete the requirements above can also fill the role.

The physical presence of an adult(s) is far more effective in deterring and stopping misbehavior, and also enables the adult(s) to visually monitor the behavior of the individual players and to intercede prior to an incident getting out of hand. Additionally, it affords the opportunity to ensure that players are not using their electronic devices inappropriately.

Hold a team meeting focused on locker room monitoring and behavior expectations:

• Include players, parents, coaches, team managers, and locker room monitors.
• Clearly explain the rules and expectations for players.
• Clearly explain the rules and expectations of the locker room monitor……including the corrective action that will be taken if necessary (player could be benched, suspended, or worse).
• Ensure players and parents understand the locker room monitor is there to help ensure there is a safe environment for all members of the team.

Opening and use of the locker room:

• Ideally, the designated locker room should not be opened until a locker room monitor can accompany any players who have arrived.
• If a single player is present, the locker room should be monitored by at least two adults until additional players arrive.
• If there is only one adult present, whether a coach or volunteer parent, they should wait for multiple players to arrive before allowing access to the locker room.
• The same strategies should be applied after practice with a monitor staying until the last player leaves, and at no time should one adult be alone in the locker room with one player, unless the player is their own child.

The designated parent would have to come early and stay late. That parent could also have the locker room key and be responsible for securing the room when the players are on the ice. The parent would have to understand that his or her role is limited to supervision, and that he or she is not an additional coach.

Parents of Mites and Squirts are routinely in the locker rooms before and after practices and games to assist their sons and daughters with their equipment. Implementing the new rule would simply involve having one or more of them come early, remain in the room until the players take the ice, be present when they return, and stay until all players leave the locker room. Older players, of course, do not require such assistance, so the parent would have to come early and stay late on his or her scheduled duty days.

In addition to hazing, rough-housing and verbal abuse, coaches and the supervising parents need to be reminded that many players bring cell phones to hockey practices and games. Sometimes the phone is needed to call for a ride home. Most cell phones, however, include a digital camera. The opportunity for inappropriate locker room photos exists, and our players may not realize the harm such pictures cause when published on the internet. This can be prevented by establishing a team (or association) rule banning cell phones in the locker rooms. The rule can be implemented by having the supervising parent collect the phones when the players enter the locker room and return them when they leave. This team or association rule is another reason for each team to establish a group of parental locker room supervisors.

Quite apart from protecting the players is the issue of protecting coaches. Our society is litigious, and there have been instances where coaches were subject to allegations that they were physically or verbally abusive to a player. If the team arranges for another adult to be in the locker room at all times, an independent witness exists. The parent can verify that there was no abuse, or heaven forbid, serve as a deterrent and prevent the abuse from happening.

Implementing the new rule will require time and cooperation from everyone. Supervision should not be the coach’s responsibility; for association teams it should be part of the team’s parental duties. Each local association will have to implement the rule for its tryouts, its clinics and its teams, just as Minnesota Hockey will have to implement the rule for its clinics, advanced clinic tryouts, advanced clinics and select teams. The rule originated jointly from the USA Hockey’s Coaching Section and the USA Hockey Risk Management Committee. It was adopted with a near-unanimous vote of the Board of Directors. It is another of the rules designed to protect our players, coaches and volunteers, not unlike background screening and helmets for referees and coaches. Its implementation requires and deserves the assistance of all players, coaches, parents and volunteers.

A note from Scott Gray (Safe Sport Coordinator, Minnesota Hockey) regarding whether parents are allowed to be in the locker rooms for mites and below without being screened or SafeSport trained.

The USAH rule allows parents/family members to be in the locker rooms to help their kids get dressed etc. and does not require them to be screened or trained. Our adjustment of the rule was simply aimed at requiring the actual locker room monitors to be inside the locker rooms rather than outside and checking in frequently. Nothing we did legislatively changed anything else in the existing rule, so it is still the case that for mites and mini-mites or termites or whatever we’re calling the little kids, that parents/family can be in the locker rooms without being screened or trained. Nonetheless, those locker rooms still need to be monitored by at least one adult that HAS been screened and SafeSport trained.  The idea there for the most part is for them to make sure no one that shouldn’t be in the locker room gets in there.