[vincesanity82]

Betsey Hasselbeck, the mother of Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and Giants backup quarterback Tim Hasselbeck and the wife of former NFL tight end Don Hasselbeck, is spearheading a campaign to promote background checks for youth football coaches.

Hasselbeck, who has been around football her entire adult life, says this has long been a concern of hers.

"As a mother, I'm looking at the coach and I'm thinking 'I don't know about this guy.' He, to me, looked shady, I know that's judging him, but that's a mother's intuition," Betsey Hasselbeck said.

The campaign, which has the support of members of Congress including former Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler, involves a $500,000 contribution from USA Football, a nonprofit organization founded by the NFL and the NFL Players Association.

USA Football recommends that all youth coaches be screened via a national criminal database search, all available state sex offender registries, and a federal terrorist database search.

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[Lefty Noob]

Good for her. I'd like to see this program put into place.

[Bette]

Sounds like a good idea. I admire people who coach the kids, but I know of at least two people in this area who were cited for molesting the kids they were supposedly coaching. Also, they frequently look up to their coaches. What kind of ideas are they putting into these kids' heads if the coashe's agenda isnt in the best interests of the kids?

[EmpireWF]

There aren't already? If an organization (any kind) hires someone to teach/coach/lead children, they should do all checks possible to ensure the safety of the kids.

[Bette]

I was thinking about volunteers, not hired coaches or whatever.
Actually, thats a good question. I know our church does for Sunday School. I am going to check into that.

[vincesanity82]

Originally Posted by Bette

I was thinking about volunteers, not hired coaches or whatever.
Actually, thats a good question. I know our church does for Sunday School. I am going to check into that.

they do background checks to teach sunday school? wow..

[Bette]

Originally Posted by vincesanity82

they do background checks to teach sunday school? wow..

Its a strange world out there. But those are the kind of places those types of people go to.

[azrael492]

I would have thought this was SOP. I would not want a guy coaching my kids unless he was well checked out.

[alex83]

this is good and bad...good that they are trying to do it but bad that its not being done, or not being done properly already i mean do you want your kids being coached by someone who 'isnt right for the job' if you know what i mean?

but in my opinion anyone who has to deal with kids during extra curricular activites who are under the age of 16 lets say, should be checked out throughly be it coaching sports coaches, sunday school teachers, ice cream men, who ever, if they deal with kids i wanna know if they have any skeletons in their closet

[vincesanity82]

POP WARNER ALREADY CONDUCTS BACKGROUND CHECKS by Michael David Smith

On Monday we noted that Betsey Hasselbeck, who has two sons in the NFL and a husband who's a former NFL player, is urging youth football leagues to conduct thorough background checks on all coaches. Hasselbeck has the support of members of Congress including former Redskins quarterback Heath Shuler, and the initiative got a $500,000 contribution from USA Football, a nonprofit organization founded by the NFL and the NFL Players Association.

A reader wrote in to point out that Pop Warner, by far the country's largest youth football organization, already requires background checks of any adult who has contact with children in its organization. That includes everyone from football and cheerleading coaches to team photographers and the people who run the concessions at the games.

Pop Warner's partners include the NFL, the union and USA Football, so those organizations presumably knew that Pop Warner already has background checks in place and donated the $500,000 in the hopes that other youth football leagues would follow Pop Warner's example on background checks.

There's nothing wrong with any of this, but the reader who alerted us to Pop Warner's background checks raised the point that getting Congress involved sounds a little bit too much like an attempt to capitalize on the combination of two things that stir people's passions -- sports and "protecting the children."

None of this is to question the motives of Betsey Hasselbeck. She raised two young men, Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and Giants quarterback Tim Hasselbeck, who have found success in the game of football, and she just wants to make sure youth football is a positive experience for other mothers' sons. But when Pop Warner is already getting the job done, and the NFL and the players' union are willing to donate the money to expand background checks to other youth leagues, why should Congress get involved?



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