US Lacrosse had adopted a detailed anti-harassment and discrimination policy that includes recommended steps for leagues, events and lacrosse organizations to follow when there are violations of the policy.
“The goal of this resource is twofold,” said Eboni Preston Laurent, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for US Lacrosse. “First, we wanted to create a strong anti-harassment and discrimination policy for all US Lacrosse events so we can lead by example. We don’t stand for harassment, discrimination or intimidation in any form and we want to make it a point of emphasis that it won’t be tolerated at any USL event.
“The second piece of this, is that we wanted to provide other leagues, lacrosse organizations and tournament directors with a template they should replicate and incorporate into their own programming.”
US Lacrosse recommends that lacrosse organizations embed the policy into each participant’s code of conduct, share the policy prominently and encourage that families review the policy against harassment, intimidation and bullying with their children.
The corrective action plan associated with the policy is designed to forgive a mistake, but also protect student-athletes, provide education and firmly address chronic misbehavior.
“As consumers, parents and players should hold their local lacrosse organization accountable and require their leadership implement an anti-harassment and discrimination policy and corrective action plan,” said Preston Laurent. “This shouldn’t be an option. This policy will allow families to know they are protected and that their local lacrosse organization has a plan in place in case an issue does arise.”
To read the full policies and the respective corrective action plans, please visit the following links:
