The Problem with Taylor Swift

I am sure everyone at some point in time has been mistaken as someone else based on their name. If you are one of the lucky ones, don’t take it for granted. While having the same name as Taylor Swift might seem like a pretty cool thing the first couple of times, hearing the “I bet you get this all the time” followed by a “hilarious” joke about how you have the same name as her can get old.

You are probably wondering what Taylor Swift, SportsEngine, and background screenings have to do with one another. I am here to tell you just that.

When a background screening doesn’t look at all aspects and levels of a person, it may fall victim to mistaking someone as not who they really are. When attempting to background check Mr. Taylor Swift, a local banker about to coach a U11 baseball team in his hometown, the screening could actually be assessing a famous pop star.

I understand this is an extreme case and seems pretty unlikely to happen to the famous musician Taylor Swift, the underlying story holds true.

In order to eliminate risk for your organization, make sure you are running background screenings that check off all the possible boxes, not just the cheapest box possible. Your athletes deserve safe, qualified coaches and volunteers.

Boxes that should be checked when thinking about background screening options:

• County, state and national registries are screened

• Identity verification

• SSN validation

• Criminal database

• Sex offender registry

• Screens against watch lists, fugitives and terrorists lists

Check out what SportsEngine and NSCI is doing to keep kids safe and check all the boxes to give your organization peace of mind.