Our team just returned from sponsoring an event with the US Center for SafeSport, the SafeSport NGB Summit, where national governing bodies from across the USOPC gathered to tackle one of sports’ most critical challenges: keeping athletes safe from abuse.
For us, it was an honor to be in that room to listen, learn, and reaffirm our commitment to the reason JDP exists in the first place.
What We Learned
Across conversations, we heard about the real challenges NGBs face in building effective athlete protection programs:
- They’re integrating new tools to better track the screening process for coaches, mentors, media personnel, and anyone who has contact with athletes. They’re looking beyond background checks to increase accountability throughout the entire credentialing lifecycle.
- They’re working to connect systems that often don’t talk to each other: background screening platforms, abuse prevention training providers, credential management systems, and more. The goal is comprehensive protection, but the reality is often a patchwork of disconnected tools.
- They feel the urgency from both the US Center for SafeSport and the USOPC to have effective programs in place, but there is a real burden in having to vet multiple technology partners and piece together compliance solutions, sometimes without the resources to do it as fully as they’d like.
The commitment and urgency has always been there. But it’s an uphill battle against insufficient infrastructure to find ideal solutions.
The Infrastructure Problem
As a screening company deeply invested in child protection, this is exactly what we need to understand. The tools available to them weren’t built for the interconnected, real-time demands of modern athlete safety.
When critical systems don’t integrate fully, gaps emerge. And those gaps leave kids vulnerable.
We see ourselves in a privileged position: as a technology provider with deep investment in child and athlete protection, we have the opportunity to look at the infrastructure that’s inhibiting full integration and rebuild it for the modern era.
Our Vision: Living Credentials for Safe Sport
At the event, we shared our vision for a different approach—a dynamic, living screening infrastructure where credentials are no longer static, one-off checks, but verifiable proof of safety and readiness.
Imagine a system where all the credentials the USOPC deems necessary for safe contact with athletes, like background screening, identity verification, abuse prevention training, SafeSport Central Disciplinary Database check, and CPR Training—are maintained in real time, automatically updated, revocable if needed, and verifiable by anyone who needs to confirm them.
- This means safe people can be welcomed into a community immediately. We never have to skip vetting when we’re short on volunteers or coaches.
- This means qualified people have the freedom to move between sports organizations. A coach who has earned their credentials through proper vetting and training shouldn’t have to start from zero when they want to help with a different sport. They’ve done the work. They’ve earned that trust. The system should recognize it.
- This means organizations can focus on athletes, not paperwork. When the infrastructure handles verification, updates, and compliance automatically, governing bodies can dedicate their energy to what matters most: creating environments where young people can thrive.
The Right Every Athlete Has
Our children and athletes deserve safety as a fundamental right.
They deserve to train, compete, and grow in environments where every adult with access to them has been properly vetted, trained, and held accountable. Where credentials aren’t just checked once and filed away, but maintained as living proof of continued qualification and safety.
Moving Forward Together
The conversations at this event reminded us that we’re not alone in this mission. The national governing bodies, the US Center for SafeSport, the USOPC—everyone in that room shares the same deep commitment to athlete safety.
What we can offer is infrastructure worthy of that commitment. Technology that closes gaps instead of creating them. Systems that make safety seamless, not burdensome.
Our athletes are counting on us to get this right. That’s why we’ll keep showing up, keep listening, and keep building toward a future where trust is the foundation.
JDP is reimagining athlete protection through technology that serves the safety and dignity of every young person in sport. To learn more about our vision for integrated credential management and real-time athlete protection, reach out to our team.
