South Central Soccer Academy in Bargersville has admitted to a multi-year safety breakdown: recreational coaches were not run through the state-mandated criminal background checks for as long as a decade, a gap that left thousands of children coached by adults who had not completed required screenings. The disclosure led to a midseason scramble to vet volunteers and a one-week pause in the recreational schedule while officials rushed to process the backlog. Parents who raised red flags at board meetings say they were repeatedly assured that vetting was handled, and now families and the state association are demanding answers.
State rules and the club’s scale
Indiana Soccer requires every adult who has contact with youth players to have a current background check on file and to complete SafeSport and CDC “Heads Up” concussion training, according to Indiana Soccer. The association also directs clubs to designate a Risk Management Director by name and to keep a written risk plan on record.
State registration data lists South Central Soccer Academy with about 2,002 youth players for the 2024–25 year, a number that highlights how many children may have cycled through recreational teams while coaches were not properly vetted (Indiana Soccer).
Board meeting, timeline and state review
Parents and volunteers pressed club leaders at a recent board meeting after sending detailed questions by email, and public records from that meeting show officials conceding that their procedures had not been consistent. As reported by WIBC, Recreation Director Harvard Vine told those in attendance he was “embarrassed that SCSA had not been doing background checks for 10 years.”
WIBC also reports that Indiana Soccer risk management staff audited the club’s rosters and found 0 percent compliance among recreational coaches on the required criminal screening, SafeSport and Heads Up items, while travel coaches had been vetted.
SCSA’s public materials and staffing
On its own website, South Central Soccer Academy lists Harvard Vine as Recreation Director and names Cody Graman as a club operations and safety officer on the South Central Soccer Academy page. Program materials for the recreational division tell families that coaches “will be background checked by the Indiana Soccer Association,” wording that now clashes with the state audit’s finding of zero compliance for those volunteers.
What happens next
Parents say they are looking for a formal apology, a clear accounting of which seasons and teams were affected, and written changes to how the club tracks and enforces compliance. WIBC reports that Indiana Soccer is now working with the club to bring all requirements into line immediately and that under association rules, when a club fails to designate a Risk Management Director, those responsibilities default to the organization’s top official, a detail officials say is central to determining who is ultimately accountable.
Legal and safety implications
Indiana Soccer’s risk management rules link membership to baseline safety measures such as background checks, SafeSport training and concussion education, and they give the state association authority to insist that clubs fix lapses. While the breakdown in Bargersville appears to be administrative rather than criminal, it raises uncomfortable questions about insurance coverage, internal oversight and whether broader reforms are needed so parents can easily see that safety rules are actually being followed.
For now, the club says it has submitted coaches’ names for screening and restarted games after the brief pause, but families and local officials say they plan to keep a close eye on whether South Central Soccer Academy provides clear, public proof that every adult on the sideline has finally been vetted.
