Move the Team Photo Out of the Changing Area
Apply the actual changing-area policy before recording. Under covered MAAPP rules, ordinary photos and videos in places designated for changing are prohibited; any formal media or championship exception requires all applicable approvals and conditions.
Decide by the space’s use before looking through the camera
The team is celebrating, someone lifts a phone and the coach sees only fully dressed athletes near the front. Check the location before allowing the picture. A changing area can include people outside the frame or someone who enters a moment later. The relevant decision is whether recording is permitted in this designated space, not whether the coach likes the composition visible on one screen.
Read the actual organization’s current policy and the venue’s rules. SafeSport’s MAAPP applies to covered in-program contact within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement; organizations outside it may adopt it. Its changing-area guidance prohibits ordinary photos and videos in places designated for changing. Do not present that scope as a universal law for every team, or assume a familiar facility has no additional requirements.
Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: 2025 MAAPP Manual-Locker Rooms and Changing Areas
Teach the boundary before athletes enter
Explain the actual rule to the athletes, adults and other permitted users who need to follow it. The rule concerns recording capabilities and the designated area; do not quietly turn it into an invented universal prohibition on possessing a phone. Check how your program handles necessary device use and concerns through its approved arrangements. Children should hear a clear instruction before a teammate calls everyone into a selfie.
Confirm who is responsible for responding to a recording concern without abandoning other supervision duties. Follow the program’s safeguarding arrangements for the space. Do not use this article to improvise searches, demand access to private galleries or take over a child’s account. If the staff cannot explain its authority or reporting route, bring that gap to the responsible leader before relying on the room.
Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: 2025 MAAPP Manual-Locker Rooms and Changing Areas
Choose another permitted place for the ordinary photograph
Our practical choice for a routine team picture is to move the proposed photo to an appropriate location where recording is permitted, subject to the actual permissions and audience rules. Do that before anyone records. Moving the camera does not by itself approve publishing the children’s images. Keep the program’s image permissions, the people shown and the intended use part of the separate photo decision.
The MAAPP includes a formal exception for approved media and championship celebrations when all policy conditions are met. Do not create that exception with a coach’s quick assurance that everyone is dressed or a child’s enthusiastic yes. Obtain the actual required approvals and conditions through the responsible organization if that exception is being considered. For an ordinary spontaneous photo, another suitable permitted location avoids making the celebration depend on an unconfirmed exception.
Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: 2025 MAAPP Manual-Locker Rooms and Changing Areas
Respond to an actual concern through the proper process
If recording has already occurred or someone reports a concern, stop further recording and follow the actual safeguarding and reporting procedures promptly. Do not circulate a concerning image to ask the parent group what it thinks. Do not treat deleting something from one phone as proof that every copy is gone or that required reporting is unnecessary. The proper route depends on the actual facts and applicable rules.
In a hypothetical pre-event discussion, athletes plan a group selfie in the designated changing room. Staff explains the policy and identifies a permitted photo location before the event. No recording is needed to test the boundary. Use these notes for the rule reference, teaching plan and response route. Keep individual incidents in the appropriate restricted process; the blank worksheet should not become a record of children’s images or allegations.
Source: U.S. Center for SafeSport: 2025 MAAPP Manual-Locker Rooms and Changing Areas
Move the Team Photo Out of the Changing Area - working notes
- Check the applicable recording policy and which spaces are designated for changing.
- Teach the actual rule and confirm the responsible adult response.
- Choose a permitted location for an ordinary photo and check image permissions.
- Use the safeguarding route for an actual recording concern.
Move the Team Photo Out of the Changing Area - working notes
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See a worked example
Hypothetical example: Before an event, athletes propose a group selfie in the changing room. Staff explains the policy and identifies an appropriate permitted photo location without starting a recording.
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