Safeguarding Policy

Tough Leaders Academy LLC · 9891 Montgomery Road, PMB 181, Cincinnati, OH 45242 · mitch@toughleadersacademy.com · https://www.toughleadersacademy.com

Effective: October 16, 2026

Applies to: Tough Leaders Academy LLC ("TLA") and every TLA adult. A "TLA adult" is Mitch Allen and anyone else who works for TLA or on its behalf, paid or unpaid: staff, contractors, facilitators and volunteers.

Questions or concerns: mitch@toughleadersacademy.com

TLA builds leadership material for high school athletes, but our products are for the adults around them: coaches and parents. This policy is how we keep athletes safe in everything we do. It is our own rule. Where a school, club or the law asks for more, we do more.

Part 1. Our rules

  1. Who we serve. Our products are for adults. We do not sell to, market to, or open accounts for anyone under 18. We do not collect personal information about athletes, except the fixed, non-identifying choices a parent picks in The Ride Home, a signed family recording release, and the records in Part 3 that we keep to protect a child. Our parent tools are only for parents of athletes 13 and older. Under 13 is a hard no.

  2. No one-on-one contact with a minor. In TLA work, no TLA adult communicates one-on-one with a minor. That covers in person, phone, text, email, direct message and social media.

  3. Live calls with an athlete. Any live call that includes an athlete needs a parent or guardian present or on the call. It also needs a second adult: either a second TLA adult or the parent. We never record a call that an athlete is on.

  4. Recordings. No athlete is ever filmed or photographed for TLA content, for any use, public or internal. With written consent from both the parent and the athlete, we may record an athlete's voice (audio only) and quote them in writing. Coaches who share video film themselves, after the session, in an empty room.

  5. Background checks and training. Every TLA adult who delivers live sessions with athletes completes a background check and training on this policy before their first session. Both are renewed every two years.

  6. Reporting concerns. Any concern about a minor's safety raised to TLA goes to Mitch Allen the same day. We report to the proper authorities where the law requires it, and we follow Ohio's mandatory reporting rules where they apply. Part 3 explains exactly what we do.

  7. Coaches run their own sessions. Coaches run The Captain's Practice under their own school's or club's policies. TLA provides the content only. TLA does not supervise athletes, and TLA never receives the athletes' Captain's Cards.

  8. When an athlete shares something heavy. The curriculum tells coaches this once, in module 2: if an athlete writes or says something heavier than the exercise asked for, don't handle it in the room. Find the athlete privately afterward and take it to whoever the school or club has for this, such as a counselor or administrator. School coaches may also have their own reporting duties (see Part 3).

  9. AI. No AI tool or chatbot from TLA talks to an athlete. We never enter athletes' names or details into AI tools, and we never use AI to make decisions about an athlete. Emails sent to TLA may be sorted, and replies drafted, with help from an AI assistant, and Mitch reads every reply before it goes out. Emails about a safeguarding concern are kept out of the AI assistant (see Part 2).

Part 2. How to raise a concern

If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. Do this first. You don't need to tell TLA before you call.

If you think a child in Ohio is being abused or neglected, you can report it directly to children services. You don't need proof, and you don't need TLA's permission.

  • Ohio statewide line: 855-O-H-CHILD (855-642-4453). It connects you to the children services agency or law enforcement in the county you choose.
  • Hamilton County (Cincinnati): 513-241-KIDS (513-241-5437), answered 24 hours a day.
  • Outside Ohio: call your local child protective services, or the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.

Under Ohio law, anyone who reports in good faith is protected from civil and criminal liability for making the report.

If your concern involves TLA, a TLA adult, or something you saw in TLA material, email mitch@toughleadersacademy.com with "Safeguarding" in the subject line. Emails with that subject line are kept out of our AI email assistant, and Mitch reads them himself. If your concern is about Mitch, go straight to the authorities above. You don't need to tell TLA first.

Part 3. What TLA does with a concern

  1. Same day to Mitch. Any TLA adult who hears a concern tells Mitch the same day.
  2. Danger first. If a child may be in immediate danger, we call 911 before anything else.
  3. We report. If we have reason to suspect a child is being abused or neglected, we report it to the public children services agency or law enforcement in the county where the child lives or where it happened. We do this whether or not the law requires TLA to.
  4. What the law says. Ohio Revised Code 2151.421 lists the professionals who must report suspected abuse or neglect of anyone under 18, such as teachers and school employees, health care workers and child care staff. A TLA adult is usually not on that list just by working for TLA. Any TLA adult who is on the list through another job, such as a teacher or school coach, follows that duty too. Our rule in step 3 applies to every TLA adult either way.
  5. We don't investigate. We don't question the child, confront the person involved, or try to find out what happened. That is the authorities' job.
  6. We don't promise secrecy. We tell people up front that we may need to share what they tell us to keep a child safe.
  7. We write it down. We record what was said, by whom, when, and what we did, in the person's own words where we can. These notes are kept private, are seen only by Mitch and the authorities, and are never entered into an AI tool. We keep them only to protect the child, for the period in our Privacy Policy.
  8. If a TLA adult is involved, that person stops all live work with TLA until the matter is resolved.
  9. We close the loop. Where it's appropriate, we tell the person who raised the concern that it was handled, without sharing private details.

Part 4. Review

Mitch reviews this policy at least once a year and after any concern. Next review: October 2027.