Built for SafeSport
Every USRowing club with minor athletes has to follow USRowing's Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP). BoathouseOS is built so the everyday tools your club already uses (chat, announcements, the roster and paperwork) follow those rules on their own, and so you can show it.
Below is what the 2025 USRowing MAAPP asks of a club, and what BoathouseOS does about it.
Messages between adults and minors
| Topic | What MAAPP asks of the club | How BoathouseOS helps |
|---|---|---|
| Open and transparent messages | Adult to minor messages must copy a parent, another family adult or another adult in the club | Parents of rowers under 18 are added to their chats automatically. The app refuses an adult-and-minor chat that has no parent or second adult in it, and says why |
| Team messages | Messages to a team or group of minors must include another adult or the parents | Coach announcements to a squad always go to the rowers' parents too. Team and lineup chats follow the same chat rule |
| Only open platforms | Use only platforms that allow open and transparent communication with minors | There are no hidden or private one-to-one chats with minors. Rowers under 18 never get text messages themselves; their parents do |
| Parent requests to stop | A parent can ask in writing that adults not message their child, and the club must honor it | A parent turns on "No messages" on their rower's profile. The rower is taken out of adult chats and the parent stays in their place |
| A record you can review | Clubs must be able to look into a report | A copy of every chat message is kept, even ones deleted from the chat. Only board members can open the log, and each look is recorded |
Training and background checks
| Topic | What MAAPP asks of the club | How BoathouseOS helps |
|---|---|---|
| Adult training | Adults with regular contact with or authority over minors, and board members: SafeSport Trained Core, then a refresher every 12 months | Paperwork tracks each adult's SafeSport training and its expiry date, and reminds them before it runs out. Admins pick who needs it (coaches, board, adult rowers, drivers...) |
| Background checks | Adults in a position of authority or with regular contact with youth athletes: every two years | Tracked the same way, with reminders before each one expires |
| Training for minor athletes | Offer abuse prevention training to minor athletes every 12 months and record how it was offered | A yearly log on Coach → Paperwork, with a nudge when it's due again |
| Training for parents | Offer abuse prevention training to parents every 12 months and record how it was offered | A second yearly log for parents, side by side with the athletes' one |
Reporting and records
| Topic | What MAAPP asks of the club | How BoathouseOS helps |
|---|---|---|
| A way to report | Clubs must have a way to accept reports of policy violations | Report a Concern: any member can send one to the board, with their name or without. The page also links straight to the U.S. Center for SafeSport |
| Showing your work | Clubs should be able to show what they do | The SafeSport report: one page for admins, coaches and the board with who's trained and checked, training offered this year, and the messaging protections. Print it or save it as a PDF for USRowing, your insurer or a parent who asks |
The fine print
The U.S. Center for SafeSport doesn't certify software, and no app can make a club compliant on its own. Your club is responsible for following MAAPP: adopting the policy, getting adults trained and checked, and handling reports. BoathouseOS gives you the tools and the records to do that. MAAPP also covers one-on-one meetings, locker rooms, travel and lodging, which happen off the app.
Read USRowing's full policy on the U.S. Center for SafeSport's MAAPP site. To report abuse or misconduct, go to uscenterforsafesport.org.