Coach and academy certification

The five coach credentials, in order

The order matters. The records screen runs the moment a coach is added, before any training or upload. What the screen searches, and what it cannot tell you, is set out on registration screening.

1. Records screen

   Runs the moment the academy adds the coach, on the coach's legal name and date of birth as they appear on their ID, against the public sex offender registries of all 58 US jurisdictions and state prison records. The result is back in about a second. Before it runs, the owner confirms in writing that the coach has been told about the screen and has agreed. A coach added without it shows as missing until they confirm their details on their own link, which runs it. Every coach is screened again each month.

   A returned record is compared with the coach by Safe Academy 360 reviewers before anything is decided, usually within two business days. What that review involves. A coach whose record is confirmed does not complete the credential.

   The coach submits

   Their legal name and date of birth, confirmed against their ID. Nothing to fill in and nothing to upload.

   Timing

   About a second, then again every month for as long as they coach.

   What is not published

   Anything about the outcome. No public surface shows an individual's screening result, including the fact that no record was returned.

2. SafeSport training

   Completed with the U.S. Center for SafeSport directly. Safe Academy 360 does not deliver the course and is not affiliated with the Center. The coach uploads the completion certificate.

   The coach submits

   The certificate of completion, uploaded through the platform.

   Timing

   Set by the provider. The program tracks it on an annual cycle.

3. Mandated reporter training

   Training in recognizing and reporting suspected abuse and neglect. Requirements differ by state, and some states run their own course with a fixed renewal cycle. The coach uploads the completion certificate.

   The coach submits

   The certificate of completion, uploaded through the platform.

   Timing

   Set by the provider, and by the state where the academy operates. The program tracks it on an annual cycle.

4. CPR and first aid training

   A current CPR and first aid certification. The coach uploads the card or certificate with its expiry date.

   The coach submits

   The certification, uploaded through the platform, showing the issue and expiry dates.

   Timing

   Set by the provider. Certifications are commonly valid for two years, and the program tracks it on that cycle.

5. Code of conduct, signed

   Each coach reads the academy's code of conduct on their own link, ticks that they have read it and agree to follow it while coaching, and types their full legal name as their electronic signature. The signature is recorded with the date, the time, the network address, and the version of the document they read, so nobody later argues about which rules applied.

   The coach submits

   The agreement and their typed legal name, on a phone or a computer.

   Timing

   Signed annually.

6. Upload, review, and the coach's certificate

   Each certificate is uploaded through the platform, from a phone at intake or later from the coach's own account. Each is reviewed as a document and recorded against the coach with its own expiry date. When all five items are complete, the coach receives their own certificate by email. It reissues each time a credential renews and lapses when one expires.

   The academy sees

   Each coach, each credential, its status, and its expiry date, in one place.

What the academy adopts

Alongside its coaches, the academy holds five requirements of its own: an abuse prevention training policy, a mandated reporter policy, a records screen of the owner, the adopted code of conduct, and CPR and first aid cover at the academy, meaning trained staff and an AED on site. It keeps the code of conduct where students and parents can read it. Certification is for the academy and its coaches together: the academy's certificate depends on every active coach's credentials, and the coaches' credentials sit under the academy's standards.

Each credential expires on its own clock

A one time badge is what most programs sell. Safe Academy 360 tracks an expiry date per certificate, not one date per coach. CPR certifications are commonly valid for two years. SafeSport carries its own refresher expectations. Mandated reporter renewal varies by state.

The platform shows each date ahead of time and warns the coach 60, 30, and 7 days before a credential lapses, so renewal is scheduled rather than discovered. The records screen is the exception: it is run again each month, so its date advances on its own. Why a one time safety badge is not enough.

Coach status and academy status

When any single credential expires, that coach's status shows lapsed until a current certificate is uploaded and reviewed. Lapsed is a neutral state: it says a date passed, not that anything went wrong.

The academy's certification depends on every active coach. When one coach lapses, the academy's status shows not current until that coach is current again: the worst status wins, and one expired credential cannot hide behind a certified academy. The website badge switches to a grey "status not current" mark, the verify page says not current, and the directory shows the academy as lapsed. Nothing about which coach, or which credential, is published.

On file, not issuer verified

Concerns about an academy

Certification describes whether an academy has met the program's requirements as of a date. The terms set out when it can lapse or be withdrawn.