Safety of our Membership

Yankee Volleyball loves and treasures the New England volleyball community. We want any of our Members to feel safe at our events. The safety of our Membership is of paramount importance to USA Volleyball and Yankee Volleyball as the Adult Department of the New England Regional Volleyball Association. 

There are resources available to help our members report incidents that make them feel unsafe or unwelcome. Yankee Volleyball strives to modify and improve our resources to fit the needs of our community as those needs inevitably evolve. Your feedback is always welcome and necessary to make Yankee Volleyball the best, most enjoyable and safest place it can be

USA Volleyball has a ZERO Tolerance for abuse and misconduct. This includes not only on-court safety, but also off-court safety in any part of USA Volleyball’s programs. 

Violation of the Code of Conduct that EVERY Yankee Volleyball Participant signed and agreed to upon signing up for a USAV Membership, both a full season or a single event

For full information on what is included in the code of conduct, click the links below. This is also be found when you log into your Sports Engine Account

Code of Conduct:  English Version

Espanol Condio de Conducta:  Version en Espanol

Are You A Victim of a Crime or Violation of the Code of Conduct?

Report to law enforcement immediately if you are aware of criminal activity. If abuse includes sexual misconduct, report to both law enforcement and the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

SafeSport is the best option for a full investigation and long term solution. However, membership should know; once a SafeSport report is filed and the Yankee Board is notified of an investigation beginning, the Yankee Board is not allowed to discuss the case at all or take any action until the SafeSport case is complete.  Therefore, if there is a situation where you feel there is an immediate threat to your safety that needs to be addressed, it may be better to file a report with the Board or NERVA, Lindsey Desjardins first as we can take Temporary Actions (such as a suspension of membership) before the SafeSport investigation begins.

Out of respect for the importance of this issue and to encourage honest and effective reporting, knowingly making a false or malicious report will not be tolerated and may be a violation of USA Volleyball’s Code of Conduct. USA Volleyball strictly prohibits staff/regions/clubs from charging filing fees for Safe Sport reports.

Here are your options about how to report in Yankee Volleyball

All reports may be submitted anonymously, but all reports must be in writing for board / region action.

Submit a New England Region Volleyball C.O.P.S. Form : COMPLIMENT or a COMPLAINT regarding, Coaches, Officials, Players, or Spectators (COPS) at a NERVA/USAV sanctioned event, which goes to NERVA who will distribute the information to the board : https://forms.gle/aQpPhjdWnpnhtWBv5

Report to a Tournament Director (a TD)

  • What a report to the TD entails: 
    • First there is a determination if the incident is a violation of SafeSport: if yes a report is made as well as a submission of the report is moved to the Board and the Board along with support of NERVA can put into place temporary actions that can be made (such as a suspension) prior to an investigation starting.
    • If there is a determination if the incident is not a violation of SafeSport: the TD is required to submit a report to the Board; then there is a discussion, follow-up request for statements from the individuals involved/and or witnesses to then determine if there is a violation of the Code of Conduct. If there is a violation, then sanctions or suspensions can be applied based on the offense.

Report in writing to a Yankee Board Member

  • What a report to the board entails: 
    • First there is a determination of it is a violation of SafeSport: if yes a report is made and temporary actions can be made prior to an investigation starting.
    • If there is a determination if the incident is not a violation of SafeSport: the Board has a discussion, follow-up request for statements from the individuals involved/and or witnesses to then determine if there is a violation of the Code of Conduct. If there is a violation, then sanctions or suspensions can be applied based on the offense.

Report to Directly to Safesport https://usavolleyball.org/safesport/ 

Report to NERVA SafeSport Coordinator, Lindsay Desjardins, at (508) 808-3778!

Go to the NERVA Website (Yankee is the Adult Branch of the NERVA region), and review all your options there as well https://nevolleyball.org/nerva-safesport/

Survivor and Crisis Resources

Yankee Volleyball strives to modify and improve our resources to fit the needs of our community as those needs inevitably evolve. Your feedback is always welcome and necessary to make Yankee Volleyball the best, most enjoyable and safest place it can be

If you know of additional organizations and survivor resources to add to this list, please send a note to the Board so we can continue to update these resources.