§220524 General Duties of National Governing Bodies

Summary

National governing bodies must run and grow their sports across the United States. They must reduce schedule conflicts with other groups, keep athletes informed and include athletes’ views when making rules, and quickly share rules and rule changes from national, international, Olympic, Paralympic, and Pan‑American organizations. They must let an amateur athlete compete in an international amateur event unless they have evidence the event organizer fails to meet the requirements in section 220525. They must support women’s programs and, where men’s and women’s programs are separate, provide equivalent (equal) pay, benefits, medical care, travel, and expense reimbursement from money the body gives the athlete, while allowing consideration of merit, performance, seniority, or play time and permitting better terms to address income gaps, weak programs, or documented need. They must work with athletes to push international bodies to equalize prizes and funding, encourage sports for people with disabilities, share technical training and safety information, and support research in sports medicine and safety. They must have policies that stop employees or agents from helping members who violated the Center’s sexual‑misconduct rules or were convicted of sexual crimes with a minor find new jobs (except routine file transfers). They must promote a safe, abuse‑free environment, act on temporary measures from the Center, report any suspected child abuse of a minor athlete to law enforcement immediately, and have reporting procedures that follow the Center’s rules under sections 220541(a)(1)(C) and 220542(a)(2)(A). They must also still meet any state law or common‑law duties of care.