Choose a Suitable Setting Before a Private Athlete Conversation

Decide the setting before discussing the subject

An athlete needs an ordinary conversation away from teammates’ ears. That need for discretion does not require an isolated room. Before moving, check the program’s supervision and safeguarding requirements and identify an appropriate location.

The MAAPP’s Observable and Interruptible standard applies to covered in-program contact within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement, with defined exceptions. Read the organization’s actual policy. A general article cannot determine that an exception applies to a particular coach or athlete.

Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: Making One-on-One Interactions Safer

Check both parts of the standard

The Center describes observable contact as readily seen by another person and interruptible contact as able to be stopped by another person. A plan needs both where the requirement applies. Being in a public building does not by itself establish that someone can see or interrupt the specific interaction.

Use the organization’s approved arrangement and responsible staffing. Do not present an open door as a universal compliance formula or quietly change the setting after the other adult leaves. If the necessary conditions cannot be maintained, seek an appropriate alternative through the program.

Before an ordinary goal conversation, an adult can explain the setting without making a safeguarding lecture the subject of the meeting. The athlete can understand that the program uses suitable visible, interruptible arrangements for these conversations as a routine boundary. Check what will happen if staffing changes or the chosen area becomes unavailable. A plan that depends on one other adult remaining present needs a response when that person leaves. If the conditions no longer fit, pause or move through the approved process rather than assume that the original choice covers the rest of the conversation. The coach can protect the athlete's dignity while keeping the topic away from unnecessary listeners. Privacy about the subject and required visibility of the interaction are separate questions.

Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: Making One-on-One Interactions Safer

Preserve dignity without promising secrecy

Keep the ordinary topic out of unnecessary teammate discussion. Explain the setting in simple terms without making the athlete feel accused for wanting privacy. The coach’s boundary should be routine, not a reaction that implies the child has done something wrong.

Imagine a goal conversation held in an approved visible area where others are not required to hear the details. The coach discusses the agreed subject, keeps other children supervised under the actual arrangement and ends the conversation when that arrangement no longer fits.

Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: Making One-on-One Interactions Safer

Use the proper route for a serious concern

Do not promise absolute confidentiality. If a protection concern arises, follow the applicable reporting and safeguarding procedures promptly. A coach should not undertake an isolated investigation or make a child retell sensitive details for a planning exercise.

Use the worksheet for setting categories, policy checks and the responsible adult’s action, not names or disclosures. A completed plan does not prove a conversation was compliant; the actual conditions matter. Review a changed room, staffing arrangement or policy before assuming the earlier choice still applies.

Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: Making One-on-One Interactions Safer