Teens are super aware of stranger danger from a really young age, but most of them have genuinely never thought about misconduct from known adults. Using SafeSport training as a springboard, Coach Libby Boghossian leads in-depth discussions with her Brookline High School rowers about team policies and the concepts of consent, power imbalance, and coercion. She’s helping to create a culture for her young athletes where everyone is enlisted in the effort to keep their rowing community safe.

QUICK LOOK

00:00 - Episode lead-in

01:54 - Rachel & Tara talk SafeSport, "when were kids," and "kids nowadays"

07:45 - Key point: the kids are crucial

08:40 - The Huddle: Get to know Libby in a minute

09:22 - Rowing Week on a scale of 1 to 10: 6

09:55 - Hot Seat Q&A

16:28 - Libby's rowing origin story is a doozie

24:25- Libby's first coaching gig while in college, and the quirks of coaching novices

33:07 - A (very) brief intro to SafeSport

34:26 - Why SafeSport and conduct are important to Libby and her rowing community in Boston

38:11 - SafeSport training for teens: making sure the whole team is on the same page

46:38 - Inside the teenage mind when determining unpleasant vs abusive treatment by coaches

49:07 - Kids are critical in terms of being on the front lines and seeing behaviors and activities first

50:13 - Red flags to look out for and a deep dive into Libby’s discussion for her junior athletes

58:27 - Feedback from rowers and parents about Libby's curriculum

1:03:10 - What Libby wished she knew as a teenager 

1:04:07 - Libby’s hope for the future of the rowing community

1:05:43 - Abuse can happen at all levels, getting kids involved in spotting and reporting incidents

1:08:22 - Resources

1:09:14 - Teenagers and maturity

1:10:00 - Sign off

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This episode was made possible in part by Breakwater Realty, Concept2, EB5 Investors, RowSource, and our Patrons.

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This episode was written, produced, hosted, and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering and is our sponsor coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper.