CAHA Locker Room Policy

Capital Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) Locker Room Policy

Youth players are particularly vulnerable in locker rooms, changing areas and restrooms

due to various stages of dress/undress and because they are often less supervised than

at other times. Athlete-to-athlete problems, such as sexual abuse, bullying, harassment

or hazing, often occur when a coach or other responsible adult is not in a position to

observe – this is especially true in locker rooms. Adherence to a locker room policy

enhances privacy and reduces the likelihood of misconduct. Proper supervision of the

locker room areas also helps ensure that players that may have suffered an injury

during a game or practice have an adult present to confer with regarding such injury.

Locker Room Supervision

USA Hockey is concerned with locker room activities between minor participants; minor

participants and adult participants; adults being alone with individual minor participants

in locker rooms; and with non-official or non-related adults having unsupervised access

to minor participants at team events.

It is the policy of USA Hockey that all USA Hockey Member Programs develop a locker

room policy that entails responsible screened adults present and monitoring the locker

room during all team events to assure locker room safety. As a USA Hockey Affiliate,

CAHA has adopted the standard of acceptable locker room monitoring: having

Safesport screened locker room monitors in the locker room while participants are in the

locker room, or in the immediate vicinity (in the doorway) that regularly and frequently

enter the locker room to monitor activity inside. If the monitors are inside, then there

must be two monitors, both of which have been Safesport screened. USA Hockey would

consider it acceptable to have one (1) locker room monitor immediately outside the

locker room and regularly checking in on the locker room. If there are two (2) monitors

then they can monitor from inside the locker room. Having only one person inside a

locker room can expose that person to allegations, so a second person must be present

inside the locker room to protect one another from allegations. Please note that the

person(s) monitoring the locker room during periods of time that players are changing

clothing must be the same gender as the players being monitored. Once all players are

dressed they may all congregate in the same locker room under the supervision of any

combination of gender of the locker room monitor(s) as described above.

Any individual meetings between a minor participant and a coach or other adult in a

locker room shall require that a second responsible and Safesport screened adult is

present.

Further, said locker room monitors must also secure the locker room appropriately

during times when minor participants are on the ice.

As per USA Hockey CAHA has adopted the policy of prohibiting parents from the locker

room. In doing so the teams have been required to have properly screened adults

monitoring and supervising the locker room as required above.

For each team, the coach and/or team administrators shall be responsible for

compliance with the locker room supervision requirements of this policy. A coach and/or

team administrator that fails to take appropriate steps to ensure the Locker Room Policy

is adhered to, and any USA Hockey participant or parent of a participant who otherwise

violates this Policy is subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

Cell Phone/Technology Requirements

Cell phones and other mobile devices with recording capabilities, which includes voice

recording, still cameras, and video cameras, increase the risk for some forms of abuse

or misconduct. As a result, the use of a mobile device’s recording capabilities in the

locker rooms is not permitted at any USA Hockey sanctioned event, provided that it may

be acceptable to take photographs or recordings in a locker room in such unique

circumstances as a victory celebration, team party, etc., where all persons in the locker

room are appropriately dressed and have been advised that photographs or recordings

are being taken. CAHA will require that each team’s designated locker room monitor(s)

collect all cell phones and other mobile devices with recording capabilities (as described

above) at the doorway of the locker room to be kept in a safe and secure manner during

the entirety of locker room engagement/ice time. By bringing technology to the locker

room, players must understand that it will be stored by the locker room monitor as

described above; alternatively the players may leave devices at home or with a family

member.

Locker Room Music

Teams may play age appropriate locker room music free from profanity. Many locker

rooms are not sound tight which allows music to travel to other locker rooms where

other players may be which is another reason to be mindful of types of music/lyrics

played. The device used to play locker room music must be in control of the coaching

staff or locker room monitor and may not be in possession of a player in the locker

room.

Co-Ed Locker Rooms

The Co-ed Locker Room policy attempts to balance the social integration and

camaraderie of a team sport while providing a safe and respectful environment for all of

our participants. In recognizing that teams practice and play at variable arenas with

different facility options there may be variability in practices a co-ed team will adopt.

Listed below are some options for compliance with USA Hockey’s Co-ed Locker Room

Policy, it is up to the Team Manager, Coaching Staff, and Locker Room attendants to

assess the facility in which the team will be playing/practicing and develop the most

appropriate plan for dressing. No coaching or team messaging is to be done until

all the players are together in full gear or street attire which can be held before or

after the games/practices. This ensures that the entire team is able to remain

cohesive and hear the same messaging.

1) Have a minimum attire policy if sharing one locker room. All players should be

required to arrive at the rink wearing their hockey base layers or shorts and t-shirts (in

good condition - no holes or tears in clothing) under their street clothes. All members of

the team must have this minimum attire before entering a co-ed locker room so that no

player of one gender has the opportunity to see players of the opposite gender in a

state of dress/undress.

2) A second option is for the program to have boys and girls change/dress in separate,

supervised locker rooms. Then approximately ten (10) to fifteen (15) minutes before

each game/practice everyone is to be ready in gear in one designated locker room so

the coaching staff can address the entire team. If a player (whether boy or girl) is not

fully dressed by the time the coach arrives, then that player must go to a separate

locker room or bathroom to finish dressing. The onus is on the players being properly

dressed when the coaches actually begin preparing the team for the practice or game.

3) Another option is the alternate use of a single locker room. Players of one gender

dress in the locker room while players of the opposite gender wait outside. When the

one group is ready, then the players switch places and the players in gear wait for

players of opposite gender to get dressed. Taking turns is a means of reasonable

accommodation; neither gender group should be favored, nor should one group be the

group who always has to wait to change.

Revised 8/2024