Club Requirements

In order to be recognized as a Member Club the following criteria must be met.  This criterion is designed to satisfy the compliance requirements of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the US Center for SafeSport.

The Club Owner must be a Coach or Official Member in good standing

• SafeSport Training required annually
• NCSI Background check required every 2 years with an automatic annual recheck
  • Results must be clear or overridden as defined in the background check policy 

All Staff, Board Members of member clubs or individuals that are involved in the training of any athletes or in a position of authority over any athletes must be identified to the federation and have completed a background check and SafeSport Training. The definition of training includes instructors and class leaders who coordinate the drills/exercise and make corrections to students.  This would not include the occasional student who leads a drill infrequently.

• The Club Owner may establish a Club account with NCSI and that account information can be shared with USA Karate to track background checks for compliance. This is not required.
• Individuals must be Athlete, Coach or Official members of USA Karate or registered as a member Club Participant or Regional Referee
  • Club Participant is a new participant member class with no membership voting rights but allows for the tracking of compliance with USA Karate SafeSport Policies. 
    • The fee for this membership is $10
• Individual must complete
  • SafeSport Training required annually
  • NCSI Background check required every 2 years with an automatic annual recheck
    • Results must be clear or overridden as defined in the background check policy 

USA Karate highly recommends that at a minimum adult participant of clubs, who are not members, club participants or regional referees of USA Karate and have regular contact with minors complete the SafeSport training. Ideally all adult participants should complete SafeSport training. SafeSport training is available for a small fee from the US Center for SafeSport at uscenterforsafesport.org.  

USA Karate defines regular contact with minors to be individuals that are involved in the training of minor athletes or in a position of authority over minor athletes. This also includes individuals who regularly train as a participant/student in classes that include adults and minors. 

Club must agree to abide by and enforce at the Club level the USA-NKF Minor Athlete and Officials Abuse Prevention Policies in their dojo or training center and any registered event. 

• In particular ensuring that adults and minors are not using a changing space/locker room at the same time and that the there is no 1:1 contact between an adult and minor that is not a family member.
• Club will need to submit an annual affidavit of compliance with the provisions of the USA-NKF Minor Athlete and Officials Abuse Prevention Policies
• Clubs may be audited for compliance by an auditor from USA Karate, US Center for SafeSport or the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee

The Club Owner must register the club to be associated with their membership.  The fee to register a member club is $200 exclusive of club participants fees. 

Member Clubs that satisfy the above requirements will receive:

• 24X36 in Club Banner for display in their facility
• Certificate of Club Membership suitable for framing and display
• Listing of their club on the USA Karate website
• At Signature Events – Tournament in a Box charting software attempts to avoid competitors from the same member club from competing against each other in the 1^st round of competition