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SALT LAKE CITY -- You must prove your age to play Utah Youth Soccer. However, some parents fear the current policy puts their kids' identities at risk.
It's not fair when a 16-year-old steps onto the soccer field to play against the 12-year-olds. So, the Utah Youth Soccer Association scans birth certificates into a restricted database that the leagues can access.
To me, [the] risk just isn't worth it, to be collecting that kind of personal information.
–Richard Hamp, Assistant Utah Attorney General
Some parents say the policy collects too much information, and an assistant attorney general agrees.
Sandi Haskell understands why parents need to prove their kids' age for competitive soccer, but she's worried about how that information is stored and who might access it.
"I don't want to jeopardize their safety, because I feel like I have got my back up against a wall because we have been told if we do not provide this they cannot play," Haskell says.
When parents register their kids for Utah Youth Soccer, a birth certificate, or comparable ID, is scanned into a restricted database. A couple of parents fear a breach by criminals.
"Not only to people who are interested in child identity theft, but also any Internet predators that could be looking for children's information online," explains another mother, who did not want to be identified.
With the soccer management system, coaches or league officials can access the information on a laptop on the sidelines if disputes arise. Utah Youth Soccer actually devised the plan for better security and says few parents object.
"You have to have a given name and password to log in and find that information," says Andrew Hiatt, executive director of the Utah Youth Soccer Association.
Parents can only access their child's information; coaches can only access their team's and are given criminal background checks. Six state officials have access to the entire database.
Hiatt says the system also keeps birth certificate copies from floating around in folders.
"I feel that the online registration system is much safer than any hard copy paper that's ever been done in the past," he says.
But an identity security expert with the the Utah Attorney General's Office says the risk is too great for the purpose.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Richard Hamp says it's important to weigh the risk of identity theft against the purpose for collecting and storing the data.
"It appears to me, the only legitimate purpose they're using it for is whether a couple of kids are cheating an age factor on a soccer game" Hamp says. "To me, that risk just isn't worth it, to be collecting that kind of personal information."
Hamp says a letter from the child's school should suffice for the purpose of making sure the children are playing in the right age groups.
The parents suggest blacking out everything on the certificates except the child's name and birth date.
"I don't want to have the parents' names, the mother's maiden name, the grandparent, the county they were born in, the hospital -- all that information I don't believe is necessary to maintain on file," Haskell says.
The Utah Youth Soccer Association says it will consider that solution and offers any concerned parent an opportunity to come in and see the security of the system.
"We don't want to cause problems," Haskell says. "We just want our kids to play soccer, we want them to have fun and we want them to be safe."
E-mail: jboal@ksl.com
