USA Baseball unveils 'Pure Baseball' initiative

USA Baseball, the national governing body for amateur baseball in the United States, announced Thursday the introduction and implementation of a new program called "Pure Baseball" for the 2019 amateur baseball season and beyond, involving focused training, practices, policies and procedures to prevent the abuse of minor and amateur athletes involved in the sport.
The Pure Baseball initiative involves four elements: reporting, background checks, education and training, and minor athlete safety policies. The standards and best practices were developed in collaboration with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the U.S. Center for SafeSport, with guidance according to Senate Bill 534, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017, which was passed into law in February.
"The USOC has been very clear that the policies, the programs and the solutions we're bringing forward are very much a requirement of us as Team USA," said Rick Riccobono, chief development officer of USA Baseball. "Our goal is to be on the very front end of that. When you think about abuse awareness in sport, we want baseball to be thought of as one of the safest sports out there. We feel like we're taking a major step in launching this program."

As part of the reporting element, every adult involved in baseball is a mandatory reporter and must report known or suspected abuse to authorities. In addition, USA Baseball will establish a banned and suspended list of bad actors that will be shared with USA Softball.
"It's a call to action to the amateur baseball and softball community," Riccobono said.
Riccobono states that a major pain point has been that not every adult in amateur baseball was subjected to a background check last year. He noted that there will be "significant changes" as a result, with USA Baseball instituting a comprehensive background check for all covered individuals and providing assistance with background checks to organizations that do not currently have such a system in place.
In the area of education and training, USA Baseball worked with retired MLB catcher David Ross to create free, baseball-specific instructional courses for adults and minors that will be required for participation in baseball.
Finally, USA Baseball has created specific safety policies that aim to curtail, to the greatest possible extent, one-on-one interactions between minors and adults, which is when the majority of abuse occurs. Riccobono acknowledged that the current state of amateur baseball presents challenges due to the prevalence of travel ball, electronic communication in coaching, and private academies, among others.
While he understands that organizations will likely need to make changes to longstanding protocol to comply with the new federal regulations and standards, Riccobono is making clear that USA Baseball will stand by to provide whatever resources, help and solutions are necessary to smooth the transition.
"It's just too important. We've got to get there," he said. "The important thing to remember is that we're going to help kids. That's what this is about. If this is going to save one kid, then for me, the whole thing is worth it.
"This isn't a finish line. This is step one of many to improving our game."