WHAT’S A LASSO SAFE CERTIFICATION?

Lasso Safe Certification is a safe sport community rating program. It operates under the umbrella of the Lasso Safe: Standards Division, a non-profit coalition of sport industry leaders. The goal of the rating system is to encourage and reward safe design across several metrics—athlete support, media and marketing, documenting and recording, multi-sport complex, blue print and design, among others—all while improving organization profitability and employee well-being.

The Lasso Safe rating program is a four-tiered credit-based system that awards points based on compliance with different aspects of safety and safety profitability. The levels of certification generally follow these thresholds:
Certified: 100-132 points
Bronze: 133-165 points
Silver: 166-199 points
Gold: 200+ points

Two hundred possible credit points are distributed across ten credit categories. Up to twenty more points can be earned for innovation in design. Points are allocated based on potential for good—more points go for actions with the greatest risk reduction and most human benefit.

Credits come in many different flavors, some more involved than others. Safety teams select the credits that fit best with their organization, so that the organization is strategically positioned to reach their desired Lasso Safe certification.

HOW DOES THE LASSO SAFE RATING SYSTEM WORK?

There are a few concerns facilities may have before exploring the Lasso Safe accreditation. For example, at first glance some say that it is too difficult, it reduces community safety to mere checklists, it is overly structured and it is too limiting in creativity. Listed below are solutions to these concerns.

First, there are many benefits to Lasso Safe, which is why it is preferred and incentivized by leagues, organizers, athletes and more.

1. Lasso Safe offers true, third-party verification of safety implementation and achievement.
2. In the absence of Lasso Safe, a safety team designs safety measures and management implements it. The public, and most importantly, the Owner, have no way of knowing if the community has been banned-aided or if it is truly a safe community. Without measuring performance against some baseline or without clear metrics, how can we identify which communitys are safe, or answer the question, “how safe is it?”? Without verification, the Owner has no way of knowing if they are truly getting the high-performance community that they have invested in.
3. Lasso Safe brings value to safe communitys in many ways, in particular, Lasso Safe:
4. Creates market demand, increasing availability of elite staff, high performance athletes, technology and education while bringing down cost.
5. Creates a common language to facilitate the discussion around sport safety.
6. Creates common metrics so that performance can be measured and verified.
7. Creates clear performance thresholds so that communitys can pursue safety goals and levels of certification appropriate for the community budget, sport division, schedule and scope.
8. Verifies safety policies and procedures with third-party review.

Second, Lasso Safe is quite flexible if safety teams understand how it works. The Rating System is a set of Prerequisites and Credits, organized into specific categories. While all Prerequisites must be achieved to be eligible for Lasso Safe Certification, not all Credits have to be attained. It is important that safety teams identify Credits that make the most sense for their specific community. It is okay to opt not to pursue certain Credits if they are not practical for the community’s budget, schedule or program.

Third, Lasso Safe is not intended to be the beginning or the end of sport safety. It is not intended to limit the progress of sport safety or to represent all facets of safety. It is intended to provide a manageable framework that helps bring the sport community industry forward and improves the baseline of sport community safety practices. Safety teams should not feel as though a safety strategy is not worth pursuing just because a Lasso Safe Credit is not awarded for that strategy.

Lasso Safe does have limitations, and safety strategies that make sense for a particular community should be pursued on their own merit. However, Lasso Safe also provides opportunities for Innovation and Design (the last section in the Rating System). Although there are many pre-approved compliance paths for achieving Credits, every safety team is encouraged to develop new strategies that can demonstrate clear, safety benefits. These new strategies can be verified through the Innovation and Design process, or submitted with normal Credit documentation where feedback and opportunities to refine the approach will be given.

Beyond requiring compliance with the Lasso Safe Rating System, Certification also requires the establishment of community and media relations, including affiliates, city councils and digital, local and national media.

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL LASSO SAFE APPLICATION

The following suggestions were provided by the Lasso Safe Board of Directors: Standards Division to give organization leaders their best shot at a successful application.

1. Set a clear target for the Lasso Safe certification and pursue it, adding one stretch goal as well, to stimulate creativity.
2. Designate a clear and adequate budget. Aiming for Lasso Safe Gold will naturally require more financial investment. Stick to both the budget and the Lasso Safe certification goal.
3. Engineer for life cycle value rather than first cost value. Evaluate investments over the life of the organization, as well as in relationship to other features that may have a symbiotic relationship and result in higher impact.
4. Hire Lasso Safe-accredited professionals. These folks know Lasso Safe rating systems and the application process; they will be able to suggest ways to stretch your dollar, to offset expenses with savings in other areas, and to earn credits without extra costs.

While the application process can be both time consuming and expensive, companies that view the investments over the life cycle of the organization will find that not only will their actions be good for sport, but good for their pockets as well.

Companies are encouraged to draw upon the many supportive resources to pursue accreditation, include Lasso Safe’s personally-assigned engagement directors and managers as well as Lasso Safe-accredited professionals; supportive materials include the Playbook, Phase Kits and more – available at www.lassosafe.com.

Scorecard selection guide
Yes, credit already exists
Yes, would like to implement credit
Maybe
No

*Refer to addendum

LASSO SAFE ADVISORY BOARD: STANDARDS DIVISION

This overview was created by the Lasso Safe Advisory Board in the USA. The overview was written in conjunction with the design and implementation of safety strategies by Living Life Counseling and Coaching, a Lasso Safe certified youth trauma recovery ranch in San Diego, CA. Authors and contributors include:

Pamela Minix, Lasso Safe Co-founder
Luis Hernandez, Lasso Safe Co-founder
Sandee Beal, LMFT, Lasso Safe Policy Leader, Youth Trauma Specialist
Luke Bodensteiner, OLY, Lasso Safe Collaborative Safety Advisor, Chief of Sport Development Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation
Athletes Soul, Lasso Safe Collaborating Partner
FSQ Consulting, Lasso Safe Collaborating Partner
Jaimi Moser, R.D., Lasso Safe Policy Advisor, Junior Olympic Diver
Shai Larkin, Lasso Safe Law and Policy Advisor

Special thanks to the 300+ Donors who have made the supporting research possible as well as:

Isophit – Brad Thorpe
LuisHDZ Coaching

SUPPLEMENTAL DOCUMENTS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN ADDITION TO THIS CREDIT KIT

1. The Playbook
2. Registration Kit
3. Prerequisite Kit
4. Certification Kit
5. CO Phase Kit