All-Star Background Checks And References

[NJ Coach]

Question for all you gym owners. Is it common practice for you to run a background check for new coaches you are thinking of hiring? Do you call previous employers for a reference check? I'm curious about this. I've had to get a background check when I coached for pop warner, but never for all stars. I mean they could've google searched me, but that isn't exactly the same. Just curious what others do to protect their business and their kids.

 

[DJ]

Saw this topic thread and thought to myself..
"GAGA oooohlala"

Here comes the storm, this has been a topic Ive been sitting on and talking about with friends..

 

[ztaprincess]

I want to say that it was brought up not too long ago here on the board but there wasn't tons of discussion about it.

I don't own a gym but if I did I would absolutely do a background check. When it comes to having employees working with minors I feel it is important to know if that person has a clear background. I would do it not only to protect the athletes at my facility but also to protect my business since it could ruin a business if it came out an employee did not have a clear background.

 

[MissBee]

I would require the same things as teachers/child care workers.....state police background check, child abuse check and FBI fingerprint check. Ends up costing the person about $100, but if they aren't willing to pay, then they aren't willing to put in the commitment I expect.

 

[NJ Coach]

As I said before, the only background check I ever had for coaching was through Pop Warner. When I first started with allstars, I was a co-worker with one of the owners, and was a bonded employee at my day job. They never did any kind of check. Same with the current gym I'm with.

I wasn't sure what other gyms did. In the industry we are in, I would think some kind of check would be standard. A reference check with previous employers probably won't gain you more than confirmation that they worked there and the dates of employement. Do gyms do standard background checks? Are there certain red flags that would automatically make you not hire someone. Are there things you are willing to overlook?

 

[Katybugmom]

I think background checks should be required especially if gyms have a "no Watch" practice policy. I would not feel comfortable leaving my child in a gym alone with just anyone who has great coaching skills.

 

[CheerCoach84]

Every All Star organization that I have ever worked for, (as I am not an owner) I have had a background check, drug testing, Child abuse checking, and pretty much everything, as you are working with kids, and I would want to be checked just for that reason, as I would do the same thing if anyone would be working for me. Just like with childcare, or teaching, it should be done in this day and age.......

 

[cheerislove8]

This is a very good point to bring up. Unfortunately, this is something serious in our world today and it only seems right that all star gym owners take this seriously and perform these checks on new coaches. This also leads me to think about all the perverted people on facebook that tag themselves in pictures of "cheerlebrities" and make them fake playboy covers. Ew.

 

[Hungry]

Our gym is USASF certified and I believe all the coaches had to have background checks done as part of our certification.

 

[Deleted member 15]

We ran background checks on all of our employees using NCSI (ncsisafe.com).

 

[imrichhowboutu]

I asked a few people about this and I have never, nor have any of my friends, had background checks for any programs they worked with.

I've had people call references or speak to colleagues etc.

 

[cmpayne]

I'm not sure if we do, but we only have 2 coaches/owners of the gym and they're married. They don't hire coaches but when they do hire people to teach little classes for kids not on allstars, they only have older people on seniors who have been cheering there/cheered there for a while.
But I don't see why someone wouldn't want to get a background check on their coaches. I mean, let's say you just hire someone w/o a background check and god forbid they hurt someone and you find out they had some kind of record, for one, means it could have maybe been prevented, but it's also gonna look bad for you.
If I were a coach, I would want no doubt in my mind that all of my athletes would be safe. Being a part of a gym is like being in a family, you have to watch out for everyone and make sure everyone is safe and having fun.

 

[cupieqt]

We are fingerprinted by the state police and background checks and listed references are called (plus we call ppl u mention in the interview but may not have used on your app--church yth director, etc). We have a staff of 30+ and hundreds of little kids running around. You betta believe we are checking u out : )

 

[KikiD22]

I'm going to speak from the perspective of an HR manager here (my "other" job aside from cheer mom) and say that I do not understand why a gym would not background check all of their new hires. It is probably the easiest way to show due diligence on the part of the company should a problem arise. Should an incident occur, if the company can show that they conducted background investigation and it came back with no reason for concern, that is a big step in reducing the company/gym's potential liability. I know that cost is sometimes restrictive, especially for a smaller program, but would you rather invest $100 per new hire to run background checks or spend thousands on litigation if an incident occurs?
*Stepping down from soapbox*

 

[NJ Coach]

@KikiD22 That's the thought process I'm currently having. If you don't provide any kind of check on new hires, and something happens...wouldn't you be liable as the owner? Your negligence provided an opportunity for an issue to happen. If I was a parent (I'm not) I would not want my child at an organization that hired someone with a questionable background. As an owner, you have a responsibility to not only protect your business, but to protect the children who make up your business.

Why aren't some form of background check an industry norm?