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Protecting Athletes and Coaches

As coaches, our Number 1 priority is to maintain the safety of our athletes. When coaches begin coaching females, they should continue to follow all national, state, and district guidance regarding interactions between adults and athletes. While no additional regulations are in place specific to coaching female wrestlers, the following recommendations can help ensure we are creating safe environments and promoting and engaging in interactions that are at all times appropriate. 

Coach Katie (Downing) Kriebel talks about protecting athletes and coaches. Coach Kriebel Video

Setting and Maintaining Boundaries 

• Boundaries are essential in all coaching scenarios, especially those with coed teams and those with younger coaches close in age to the athletes. All coaches, in any sport, working with the same sex or with the opposite sex, must engage professionally with athletes at all times.

• Remember that it’s the adults’ job to make and maintain boundaries for the team. Be clear with the team on expectations/rules, safety, what will never be tolerated, etc. That comes from the top down. Ways to do this include:

  • Have a team Code of Conduct. 

  • Have a dress code. For example, is it okay for boys to run outside without a shirt, and can girls also do the same while wearing a sports bra? One easy solution is to adopt NFHS rules for undergarments. Then state what outer tops/bottoms are appropriate (e.g., t-shirt, compression shirt, sweatpants, leggings, no zippers, no pockets, no shorts), and make it consistent across sexes. 

  • Never be in spaces alone with your wrestlers regardless of gender. 

  • Teach your team that their conduct should always be respectful to all individuals in the room. In other words, no one should be able to tell if they dislike a teammate or if they’re best friends with them. In the room, everyone is a teammate, and everyone is respectful. Let the team know that this is true of romantic relationships as well.

• Create a safe environment for yourself and your athletes. Follow all district, state, and national guidelines regarding coach conduct. 

  • www.SafeSport.org provides overarching guidelines that apply to all levels. 

  • Athlete’s Bill of Rights - Universal Declaration of Players Rights from World Players Association.

Ensuring Safe Spaces 

• Think ahead and have a plan for spaces that girls will use. Planning for safe spaces is especially important if you have one girl on the team or if there are scenarios where your female wrestlers are alone or the only females in an area.

  • Locker room - Ask where the shower/locker room is for away matches and tournaments, especially if there is one girl on your team. In the case of only one female wrestler, it is essential to be aware of safety. For your own school’s locker room, bringing on a female coach (e.g., a parent) can provide an extra set of eyes.

  • Weigh-ins and weight certifications - With the new NFHS rules, ALL wrestlers weigh-in wearing their competition uniform. Weighing-in in their competition uniform enables males and females to weigh-in simultaneously in the weigh-in area while still protecting each athlete’s privacy.  

  • Bus rides - Set clear expectations for behavior on the bus. Make sure at least one coach stays awake to supervise athletes! Your school likely has a policy for its other co-ed teams, e.g., cross country, swimming & diving, etc. Coaches should consult their athletic director.

Coaches Wrestling Athletes

• There is currently no national guideline or regulation prohibiting coaches from wrestling athletes of the same or opposite sex. 

• Most coaches do wrestle with their athletes. With that said, some states and districts are exploring the idea of limiting physical contact between coaches and athletes. We recommend taking an approach that empowers the athlete and defers to the athlete’s comfort level. Here are a few ways to do this:

  • Consent Form - Some schools use Consent Forms that allow athletes and parents to give or revoke consent for the athlete to wrestle coaches. 

  • Ask permission - Before demonstrating a move on an athlete, working in with a group, or helping an athlete improve their skills by wrestling them, ask permission to do so. For example, verbally ask an athlete if you can use them as a partner. 

  • Handshake - Some schools have implemented a team-wide system of utilizing handshakes as a way to give (or not give) the “okay” to wrestle someone. These teams have made a rule that the initial handshake acts as an agreement to wrestle. If either wrestler doesn’t extend their hand, the other person cannot start wrestling them. These teams have reported that this method works well to cut down on horseplay (e.g., kids running up behind each other and beginning to wrestle) while also empowering people to say no. Additionally, this practice can be an introduction to the concept of boundaries and consent. 

• While most coaches prefer to jump into practices and show technique and some will live-wrestle with their athletes, this is not a requirement. Ultimately, if you are not comfortable wrestling athletes, you do not have to. You spread feelings of either discomfort or acceptance depending on your comfort level. 

• If you’re uncomfortable teaching technique or talking about certain subjects, find a way to make it comfortable for everyone. There are many ways to do this.

  • Delegate to other members of your staff.

  • Have a female staff member present.  

  • Use another coach as your partner to demonstrate technique.

  • Use your more experienced wrestlers to demonstrate technique. Kids love to teach skills to other kids.

  • Use great technique videos.

  • Verbally walk kids through skills.

Athletes Wrestling Each Other  

• There is currently no national guideline that prohibits athletes from wrestling teammates of the opposite gender.

• Many coaches allow the boys and girls in their room to wrestle the opposite sex if they’re comfortable with it. A girl may train with a boy due to not having female teammates around her weight, to feel a different style opponent, or to work with another athlete who can push her skill set to grow. Talk with your team about how they pick daily practice partners or partners for live goes and how every partner in the room is valuable to grow as an athlete. 

• Although many boys and girls at schools and clubs wrestle each other, and while there is no regulation currently prohibiting this, it’s always best to defer to each athlete’s preference. To do this, coaches should always provide the choice to their athletes on whom they wrestle so that their comfort level is respected. In other words, don’t require every athlete in the room to wrestle every other athlete in the room - allow them the ability to say no (this includes within the same sex as well). 

• Some schools have implemented a team-wide system of utilizing handshakes as a way to give (or not give) the “okay” to wrestle someone. These teams have made a rule that the initial handshake acts as an agreement to wrestle. If either person doesn’t extend a hand, the other person cannot start wrestling him or her. These teams have reported that this method works well to cut down on horseplay (e.g., kids running up behind each other and beginning to wrestle) while also empowering people to say no. Additionally, this practice can be an introduction to the concept of boundaries and consent.  

Resources

Link to sample Consent Form: Consent Form 

Coach Kriebel on Protecting Coaches and Athletes:  Coach Kriebel Video

National and international policy and best practices:  National Guidelines  | Athlete’s Bill of Rights  | www.SafeSport.org