Sports Governing Bodies Editing and Proofreading Services

Bylaws are the compliance instrument for a national governing body, not the housekeeping around one. Section 36 U.S.C. 220522(a) reaches an organization eligible to be certified, or to continue to be certified. Paragraph (a)(3) has it submit an application in the form the corporation requires, "a copy of its corporate charter and bylaws," and any additional information "considered necessary or appropriate by the corporation."¹ Other paragraphs in the same subsection then ask the organization to demonstrate things, and the governing documents are where several of those demonstrations are made.

What the documents have to establish

Paragraph (a)(5) asks an organization to demonstrate "that it is autonomous in the governance of its sport, except with respect to the oversight of the organization."¹ The demonstration is broken into three parts. The first is that it "independently decides and controls all matters central to governance."¹ The second is that it "does not delegate decision-making and control of matters central to governance," and the third is that it "is free from outside restraint."¹

Paragraph (a)(13) reaches the composition of the board and the machinery that fills it, on guidelines approved by the corporation, the Athletes' Advisory Council and the National Governing Bodies' Council.¹ The organization demonstrates that its boards "have established criteria and election procedures for, and maintain among their voting members," individuals elected by amateur athletes.¹ Those individuals are either actively engaged in amateur athletic competition or have represented the United States in international competition, in the sport for which certification is sought.¹ Their voting power is "not less than 1/3 of the voting power held by its board of directors and other such governing boards."¹

Paragraph (a)(14) is one line long. The organization "provides procedures for the prompt and equitable resolution of grievances of its members."¹ Prompt and equitable are the only two adjectives the paragraph supplies, and both describe how a written procedure has to work.

The statute names the document a process must sit in

The same pattern runs above the governing bodies. Under 36 U.S.C. 220509(a), the corporation "shall establish and maintain provisions in its constitution and bylaws for the swift and equitable resolution of disputes."² Those disputes are ones involving any of its members and relating to complaints of retaliation, or to the opportunity to participate in named competitions.² The subsection specifies where the provisions live as well as what they are for.

Policies written by the Center, deemed part of a statutory duty

The United States Center for SafeSport maintains an office for education and outreach. That office develops "training, oversight practices, policies, and procedures to prevent the abuse, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, of amateur athletes participating in amateur athletic activities through national governing bodies."³ Subsection 220541(b) then does something with the output. Those policies and procedures "shall apply as though they were incorporated in and made a part of section 220524 of this title."³ Section 220524 is the list of a national governing body's general duties, so policy text written at the Center is read into that list.

Section 220542(a)(1) points the same material outward. The Center develops training, oversight practices, policies and procedures "for implementation by a national governing body."⁴ Paragraph (a)(2) then lists items the Center includes in its own policies and procedures, which is a duty on the Center rather than on a governing body.⁴

Two reporting duties, written differently

Section 220524(15) requires a national governing body to "immediately report to law enforcement any allegation of child abuse of an amateur athlete who is a minor."⁵ Paragraph (16) requires it to have policies and procedures to report immediately "any allegation of child abuse of an amateur athlete," without that limitation, and consistent with two external requirements.⁵ The first is the policies developed under 220541(a)(1)(C), and the second is a requirement in 220542(a)(2)(A).⁵

A separate statute reaches the individual. Section 34 U.S.C. 20341(a)(2) reaches a covered individual who learns of facts giving reason to suspect that a child has suffered an incident of child abuse, "including sexual abuse."⁶ That individual makes a report of the suspected abuse "to the agency designated by the Attorney General under subsection (d)."⁶ The report is made "as soon as possible," and paragraph (c)(12) defines that phrase to mean "within a 24-hour period."⁶

What never reaches an editor's desk

An allegation is reported, not edited. Confidentiality covers everything a client sends. Eligibility, selection, discipline, and any determination about a report belong to the governing body, to the Center, and, where the reporting duties bite, to law enforcement. Nothing in that list is an editorial question, and nobody here treats it as one.

The reading is about whether the documents do what they say they do. A member following a grievance procedure from the page needs a decision-maker, a deadline, and an outcome, and a procedure naming two of the three leaves that member without the third. The statute asks the organization to have established criteria and election procedures for athlete representation, and a bylaw is where a reader looks for them. A reporting policy restates a duty whose wording is published, and a defined term appears in a handbook more than once, carrying one meaning or two.