At BenchApp, keeping players, families, and coaches safe is one of our highest priorities. Youth sports rely on trust, transparency, and secure communication and we’re committed to building tools that protect every member of your team.
This page outlines what we already have in place today and what we’re actively working toward as we align BenchApp with modern Trust & Safety standards inspired by SafeSport, UCCMS and MAAPP guidelines.
What's already in place
BenchApp already includes several foundational safety features designed to protect minors and support transparent communication between coaches, parents, and teams:
Age Tracking for Every Player
Coaches, managers, and parents can enter a player’s date of birth. This helps teams organize their rosters properly and lays the foundation for age-based protections in future updates.
Parents Can Add and Manage Their Children
This ensures minors do not need to manage their own profile or communication settings. A parent can fully control their child's attendance and communicate with the coach without the child needing to log into the app or website.
Dedicated Parent-Only Group Chats
Coaches can create separate chats for parents only, without including children. This keeps communication focused, appropriate, and tailored to adults.
Secure, Invite-Only Teams/Groups
Ensuring only approved participants can join team chats or communication channels.
Block Individuals
Any user can block certain individuals from messaging them privately.
What We Are Actively Working Toward
We’re committed to significantly expanding BenchApp’s Trust & Safety toolkit. These planned enhancements will offer stronger protections for minors and clearer oversight for parents, coaches, and youth organizations:
One-on-One Adult/Minor Messaging Restrictions
Any time a child is added to a conversation by the coach, their parent(s) would be automatically added to the chat. A minor would be unable to communicate with a coach without supervision by a parent or guardian.
AI-Powered Photo & Image Moderation
Automatic detection of inappropriate photos or media, with admin alerts for flagged content. This will allow coaches, managers and league officials the oversight without having to monitor each message manually.
Built-In Anti-Bullying Detection
Automatic detection of bullying, name-calling, and inappropriate or harmful language. When concerning behavior is detected, coaches, managers, and league officials receive alerts — giving them the oversight they need without having to read or monitor every message manually.
Parent/Guardian Oversight Tools
Parents will be able to view all messages involving their child, including group chats, team and private chats.
Admin Visibility Across All Conversations
Coaches and organization administrators will be able to view and review communication for safety and compliance.
Coach Training & Certification Tracking
Tracking of coach training, certification, and safety-standard compliance for both U.S. and Canadian organizations. This includes major programs such as U.S. SafeSport Training, MAAPP requirements, the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), Respect in Sport, and provincial or state-level Safe Sport certifications.Teams, clubs, and leagues will be able to see at a glance which coaches and managers are fully certified, who needs renewal, and which training requirements are still outstanding — helping organizations maintain compliance and keep athletes safe.
Our Commitment
Trust & Safety is an ongoing commitment. As the expectations of youth sports evolve, BenchApp is evolving with them. Our goal is to make BenchApp one of the safest, most transparent, and most trusted platforms for coaches, parents, and players.
If your league or association has specific requirements, we’re always open to collaborating to meet them.
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