GILLS LOCKER ROOM POLICY

PURPOSE

The following guidelines are designed to maintain personal privacy as well as to reduce the risk of misconduct in locker rooms and changing areas.

FACILITIES

The locker rooms in the pool are for athlete use only. Under no circumstances may any adult use the locker rooms. Public restrooms are available for parents and spectators. A single person restroom is available in the swim office for coaches or officials.

Swimmers should come dressed for practice and to change and shower at home. Time does not allow for swimmers to change before and after practice so swimmers should only use the locker rooms for the restroom or in case of exceptional circumstances which will minimize opportunities for misconduct.

MONITORING

We conduct a sweep of the locker rooms before athletes arrive and after each practice or meet, a coach or board member will enter each locker room to ensure no swimmers remain before leaving the pool.

Coaches make every effort to recognize when an athlete goes to the locker room during practice and, if they do not return in a timely fashion, we will check on the athlete’s whereabouts.

Coaches and board members who are Illinois Swimming Non-Athlete Members in good standing may enter the locker rooms to monitor their usage. Only persons of the same sex will enter each locker room and each coach or board member will announce their entry prior to entering the locker room. When possible, two such people will enter together to be observable and interruptible. If two non-athlete members are not available, the coach or board member will knock and announce their presence, handle whatever matters necessitated their entry and leave as soon as practical.

We discourage parents from entering locker rooms and changing areas unless it is truly necessary. In those instances, it should only be a same-sex parent. If this is necessary, parents should let a coach or board member know about this in advance. If a parent is required to go into the locker room, a coach or board member will accompany them so that both adults are observable and interruptible.

At meets, a locker room monitor will be stationed outside each locker room for the purpose of being aware of locker room activity, prevent adults from entering the swimmer’s locker room and, if needed, go into the locker room to monitor. A woman will be assigned to the girls’ locker room and a man will be assigned to the boys’ locker room.

ASSISTANCE

If an athlete needs assistance with his or her suit, or an athlete’s disability warrants assistance, we ask that parents let a coach or board member know of the specific need in advance. Accommodations will be made based on the circumstances in order to limit the need for such parent to be in the locker room including but not limited to use of the single person coaches’ restroom.

USE OF CELL PHONES AND OTHER MOBILE RECORDING DEVICES

Cell phones and other mobile devices with recording capabilities, including voice recording, still cameras and video cameras increase the risk for different forms of misconduct in locker rooms and changing areas. The USA Swimming Athlete Protection Policies prohibit the use of such devices in the locker room or other changing area.