[bkbjones]

In Washington (state), anyone who does school ball must submit to a background check. The fee is $30 (but I think it is going up). After one of the papers did a big expose on coaches who were predators and were found to be moving from one school to another, they are coming down much harder on folks around these parts.

BTW, in ASA, all JO coaches whose teams participate in championship play are required (well, they are supposed to...and a commissioner could lose their position for non-compliance) to complete "ACE" certification. Part of the "ACE" certification is proper conduct with regards to their players. The fee for this comes out of the coaches' pockets.

(Incidentally, part of the class also entails how to better deal with umpires. Since I taught the first-year coaches' class this year, we spent a little more time on the coach-umpire relationship. I don't know if it helped, but it couldn't hurt. You might want to pursue something like this in your area, too.)