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:
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County, state and national registries are screened
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Identity verification
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SSN validation
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Criminal database
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Sex offender registry
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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.
About Marie Fitzgerald
Marie Fitzgerald is a Director, Product Marketing & Content Strategy at NBC Sports Next. She currently works to ensure the customer's voice is ever present in the way we build, communicate, and improve the SportsEngine platform. She is also the co-host of the For the Love of Sport podcast, celebrating the stories and people who make youth sports happen.
Marie grew up playing soccer and basketball, and you can find a Bucky Badger bobblehead, a Chicago Cubs W flag, and a Man City scarf proudly displayed on or around her home desk in Whitefish, Montana. Marie was recently named to the Augsburg Women's Athletics All-Decade Team for the 2010s.
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