Coaching web site tries to shift conversation about sex abuse
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado—It’s one task to compile a list of banned coaches, quite another to identify all the good ones. While Olympic overseers struggle to compile a comprehensive list of bad actors in the wake of a wide-ranging sex-abuse crisis, an entrepreneur with a passion for youth sports is embarking on what could prove to be an even more meaningful task: helping families discover which coaches are not only certified, but best qualified to work with their kids.
Former pro moguls skier Bill Kerig, who founded the rallyme.com web site built to help athletes and teams raise funds, is launching a new platform designed for coaches to post their qualifications, for parents and athletes to review the coaches, and for anyone interested to hold a no-holds-barred discussion of the good and bad in youth sports— sort of a LinkedIn, Angie’s List or Rate My Professors for coaching and sports.
The web site, greatcoach. com, represents a rare attempt at a concrete solution in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal, which, almost daily, exposes the shortcomings in the US Olympic system’s ability to confront the crisis.
Unlike RallyMe—which has helped Katie Uhlaender, Jaelin Kauf, Brittany Bowe and dozens of others on their road to AP
this year’s World Cup and was in charge of the country’s preparations for several years.
Last year, he stepped down temporarily as RFU president after the International Olympic Committee imposed the lifetime ban. But Mutko still remained closely linked with Russian soccer and attended national team training. AP