Welcome to the USFCA Ethics Committee Page
The United States Fencing Coaches Association (USFCA) strives to ensure that its members uphold the highest ethical principles when coaching athletes and professionally managing fencing programs and clubs. The organization has a responsibility to establish, educate, and enforce such standards for member fencing coaches. This is to earn the trust of athletes and their families, and ensure that the fencing coach’s profession in the United States be respected and credible to society.
The USFCA Ethics Committee is an advisory committee for the USFCA Executive Committee (EC). Its primary role is to develop procedures and training for promoting ethical principles and encourage compliance by member coaches. Its secondary role is to review possible reported ethical misconduct (ethical non-compliance) by member coaches on behalf of the EC and make recommendations regarding how to address the issue in the context of the USFCA bylaws.
Current members of the USFCA Ethics CommitteeÂ
John Krauss (Chair)
Lisa-Campi Saprey
Tony Alvarez
Paul Sise
Ethics Documents, Training Courses and Procedures:
The Ethics Committee encourages all member coaches to review the principles and
standards stated in detail in the USFCA Code of Ethical Conduct & Appendix A & B: Standards of Responsible Conduct
USFCA Online Ethics Training for Coaches (In Development):
List of USFCA Ethics Training Courses: (In Development)
• Ethics for Fencing Coaches (In Development)
• Ethics for Coaching Leadership (In Development)
Reporting and Reviewing Ethical Non-compliance:
In the interest of encouraging and promoting an ethical culture within the organization, a process of reporting and reviewing incidents of ethical non-compliance in a confidential and considerate manner has been developed:
- Should the Ethics Committee be presented with a report of ethical non-compliance regarding a member coach that should be properly investigated by SafeSport, Law Enforcement, or other investigation authorities, it will be forwarded to those appropriate authorities. The Ethics Committee has no authority in cases that are under investigation by the above organizations, but may only in certain cases serve as mandatory reporters. The USFCA, however, in compliance with these organizations, and according to its bylaws, may take action on a coach’s USFCA membership.
- Should the Ethics Committee be presented with a report of ethical non-compliance (Ethics Non-compliance Report – ENR) regarding a member coach that is within the committee’s purview to review, and based upon the USFCA Bylaws and the USFCA Code of Ethical Conduct & Appendix A & B: Standards of Responsible Conduct, the Ethics Committee will intake the report, screen, review and formulate recommendations to the Executive Committee (EC) for any necessary action.
- An Ethics Non-compliance Report (ENR) form may be filled and submitted online by anyone concerned with the ethical conduct of a member coach. Review also the procedures the committee uses to review an ENR:
For questions about the USFCA Ethics Committee and its procedures, contact:Â
John Krauss
USFCA Ethics Committee, Chair
207-974-8461
