A local figure skating club based out of Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena has been placed on probation by U.S. Figure Skating after officials ruled the club violated the national organization’s bylaws and its own club rules.
Lincoln Center Skate Club, which has long been a staple in the Columbus athletic community, was put on one year of probation starting July 1 by U.S. Figure Skating.
The U.S. Figure Skating panel determined in May that club officials had, among other things, failed to “properly investigate incidents of misconduct perpetrated against club members,” failed to comply with SafeSport requirements, failed to conduct background checks on all club volunteers and denied a 10-year-old skater membership in the club because of the board of director’s “displeasure” with the skater’s mother, according to hearing documents.
The decision came after the skater’s mother, who is also a former club president, Andrea Tinsley, filed a formal complaint against the club, according to the panel’s decision.
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Under the terms of the probation, all members of the club’s board of directors must participate in a club education seminar, the club is required to appoint a SafeSport chair who is not a board member, all board members and officers must be SafeSport compliant by July 31, among other directives, according to USFS.
If the club complies with all of the terms of the probation by Dec. 31, USFS officials can lift the club’s probation, according to the panel’s decision.
The Lincoln Center Skate Club is currently the only operating figure skating club on probationary status with U.S. Figure Skating in the nation, according to a list on the U.S. Figure Skating website.
U.S. Figure Skating’s SafeSport program seeks to provide a safe environment free of misconduct and harassment for skaters, coaches and other people involved in the sport, according to its website.
While on probation, the club is barred from hosting U.S. Figure Skating-sanctioned events, according to the decision. Currently, it is unclear how the disciplinary action will affect the local club’s annual Ice Show, which has been a USFS-sanctioned event, or other club competitive events.
“We’re taking it seriously,” said Devon Collins, who has served as club president since May. “We have a set of directives we’re following. …We do have a meeting with U.S. Figure Skating this week to go over how to run the board and everything, start our training. And I believe after that, we’ll potentially be in compliance and hopefully have (the probation) lifted.”
As of Monday, club officials said they had not informed club members of USFS’s disciplinary action, said Carrie Martin, secretary of the club’s board of directors.
“Probation just started July 1, so we’re still trying to figure out what we’re supposed to be doing,” Martin said. “We have a meeting with U.S. Figure Skating this week so we can continue to find out how we can lift our probation. And once we have what we need to know, we can properly inform our members for next season of where we are.”
A USFS spokeswoman declined to comment on the record about the hearing or the panel’s findings.
The complaint
The disciplinary action came in response to a formal grievance filed on Aug. 21, 2018, by Tinsley on behalf of her daughter, Rachael, the decision states.
According to the decision, Tinsley resigned as club president in September 2017 after being confronted by Beverlee Williams, volunteer and mother of Kimberly Hampton, who at one point was club president, at a board meeting on Aug. 8, 2017. In her grievance, Tinsley characterized the confrontation as physically threatening.
After resigning, Tinsley raised “various matters” to the board’s attention, “including not following club bylaws properly,” the decision states. On June 13, 2018, Tinsley filed a formal complaint with the Lincoln club, alleging that the club’s board of directors violated U.S. Figure Skating bylaws and SafeSport policies by permitting “individuals to harass, intimidate, threaten, bully and exhibit poor conduct towards other club members without any corrective action,” according to the complaint.
Tinsley specifically asserted in her complaint to the club that the club’s board of directors failed to address her concerns about Williams’ alleged conduct, and that club officials failed to comply with SafeSport policies during a U.S. Figure Skating-sanctioned event by allowing adults who were not the parents of the skaters into the changing areas “with no background checks on file.”
The complaint further states that not all volunteers underwent background checks and that cellphones were used in the dressing rooms during the club’s annual Ice Show. “Photos were taken, and Instagram and Snapchat social media platforms were utilized,” according to the complaint.
The club’s board of directors held a special meeting on June 25, 2018, and then notified Tinsley that they had “concluded that the bylaws in place at the time of the complaint were not breached to best of their abilities and that no future action needs to be taken at this time,” according to a letter to Tinsley from the board.
Several days later, Tinsley received a letter dated July 8, 2018, notifying her that her daughter, who was 10 years old at the time, was denied membership in the club. The letter offered no reason for the denial.
“I was distraught, obviously, because I was thinking that my daughter was being punished for something that’s really me that’s been trying to fix some problems,” Tinsley told The Republic.
On April 8, a U.S. Figure Skating hearing panel held a grievance hearing via teleconference in which several club officials testified on the club’s response to Tinsley’s complaint, background checks on volunteers and other alleged violations of U.S. Figure Skating bylaws and club rules, according to the panel’s decision.
During the hearing, the club’s attorney, Jennifer Auger, told the panel that Tinsley’s daughter “was denied membership because there was a lot of tension between the board of directors and Ms. Tinsley,” according to the decision documents obtained by the Republic.
Martin testified that the board “had the right to deny membership for no particular reason” and that “it was because of Ms. Tinsley’s behavior leading up to the application that caused the denial,” the decision states.
Background checks
Club officials also testified about background checks for club members in the U.S. Figure Skating inquiry into the complaint.
During the hearing, club officials acknowledged that not all volunteers had undergone background checks, according to the decision. The panel found that one particular volunteer, Williams, was allowed to handle money while volunteering at a concession stand despite having pleaded guilty on two occasions to theft-related charges.
Martin, however, said Williams never handled club funds while she volunteered at the concession stand. Instead, she only handed out food, Martin said.
“She did not handle any money,” Martin said. “I personally worked back there (at the concession stand) at that time.”
After hearing testimony from both sides, the hearing panel issued a decision on May 3, unanimously finding that club officials failed to follow SafeSport and club policies “specifically concerning completion of SafeSport training and compliance for all event volunteers, monitoring of dressing rooms, allowing use of cell phones and social media in dressing rooms and posting of SafeSport information,” according to the decision.
“Locker rooms were not monitored by persons who were SafeSport compliant,” the decision states.
Additionally, the panel determined that club officials “did not thoroughly or objectively investigate Ms. Tinsley’s formal complaint against Beverlee Williams,” denied Tinsley’s daughter club membership “because of the board’s displeasure with Ms. Tinsley’s behavior and conduct” even though the girl did not “commit any actions that would warrant a denial of membership” and allowed Williams to volunteer at a concession stand and handle club funds without undergoing a background check.
The hearing panel also stated in the decision that it “strongly recommends” club officials offer Tinsley’s daughter membership in the club. Tinsley said the club has not approached her to offer her daughter membership as of yet.
Martin said she “didn’t like” the fact that things had escalated to the point that Tinsley’s daughter was denied membership. The girl is “welcome to fill out another application,” but that the club doesn’t typically extend invitations to skaters, she said.
“She’s welcome to fill out another application,” Martin said. “We don’t go out and search for people and say, ‘do you want to come to (the) club?’”
“That was just a recommendation,” Martin said of U.S. Figure Skating’s statement “strongly recommending” that Rachael Tinsley be extended club membership. “That wasn’t a requirement,” Martin said of the U.S. Figure Skating’s ruling.
Typically, the standard procedure is that members need to be recommended by coaches, and invitations are not sent out for skaters to join, Collins said.
Tinsley said the club eventually returned the check she provided for club membership with her daughter’s application.
Collins and Martin said the club plans to continue as normal and is currently compliant with U.S. Figure Skating rules. Later this week, club officials will undergo training via webinar with U.S. figure skating officials, Martin said.
“We’re all volunteers, the board is all volunteers,” Martin said. “We do the best we can. We don’t have any training. I’m glad that U.S. Figure Skating is helping us.”
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Lincoln Center Skate Club is a not-for-profit “dedicated to promoting and developing the sport of figure skating in Columbus” and “aims to encourage an environment of good sportsmanship,” according to the club’s website. The club was first recognized as a U.S. Figure Skating member club in 1968.
Last year, approximately 40 skaters were members of the club, said Devon Collins, club president.
Visit lcsccolumbus.org for more information about the club. The website currently has some blank sections which state it is “under construction.”
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Founded in 1921, U.S. Figure Skating regulates and governs the sport of figure skating in the United States.
USFS establishes the rules for figure skating competitions, promotes interest in the sport and other figure skating-related activities by assisting members clubs and skaters, according to its website.
USFS is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is recognized as the official governing body of the sport by the United States Olympic Committee.
There are nine U.S. Figure Skating member clubs in Indiana, according to the national organization’s website.
Visit usfigureskating.org for more information.
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While on probation, Lincoln Center Skate Club is barred from participating in U.S. Figure Skating-sanctioned events, potentially affecting the eligibility of current club members who may have hoped to compete in the Indiana State Figure Skating Championship or the annual ice show, which are USFS-sanctioned events.
Under the terms of the probation, all members of the club’s board of directors must participate in a club education seminar, the club is required to appoint a SafeSport chair who is not a board member, all board members and officers must be SafeSport compliant by July 31, among other directives. If the club complies with all of those terms by Dec. 31, U.S. Figure Skating officials may terminate the club’s probation, according to the hearing panel’s decision.
U.S. Figure Skating maintains a list of clubs and individuals who have undergone disciplinary proceedings.
The list, which is current as of June 5, is divided into different sections and includes figure skater Tonya Harding, who was given a lifetime ban by U.S. Figure Skating in 1994 after she pleaded guilty to attempting to cover up an investigation into an attack on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan.
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The U.S. Center for SafeSport is an independent nonprofit committed to ending all forms of abuse in sport. This includes bullying, harassment, hazing, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual misconduct and abuse. The center is the first and only national organization of its kind.
The center provides services to sport entities on abuse prevention techniques, policies and programs and provides a safe, professional and confidential place for individuals to report sexual abuse within the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movements.
The center provides education and outreach to create safe and respectful sporting environments free of abuse and harassment, according to its website.
To learn more, visit SafeSport.org.
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