Is Sarah Willson an active USEF member?
I agree about the camps… I actually had a non horsey parent friend ask what I thought about RCF camp vs two other popular options for kids in the area. She got an earful from me and chose accordingly…
3 Likes
It’s hard to say if she’s a USEF member, but public records say that she sold Alcohol to a Minor in 2001 and has a large pile of charges from about a decade ago for various offenses including carrying a concealed weapon, shoplifting, assault, concealing merchandise/goods, attempting to obtain burglary tools, multiple DWI/DUI arrests, and a few more things here and there. She’s definitely someone you don’t want in your barn.
2 Likes
Apparently she just got married? Sarah Willson Kressler now? I assume the shows involved are part of the Southern States Purcellville series running at Morven right now?
Those are indeed recognized shows. But I am not sure if it’s a SafeSport violation if she is the RCF “coach” taking students to these shows.
What is clear is that Tom Navarro is working to try and find work around with respect to that SafeSport ban…
1 Like
Holy Moly. Nice research.
1 Like
SafeSport would likely find it a violation of the A&A policy, as Recognized shows are affiliated with the USEF affiliates and therefore under USEF jurisdiction and oversight, after a fashion. Though he is not there coaching, he coached the riders and trained them before a show, so he is in effect still considered a coach and she herself is acting on his behalf, as a Participant (USEF Member) defined in the SafeSport code. Remember what I said above. She herself is a prime candidate for being banned due to her selling Alcohol to a Minor, her Assault charges, and the many property crime-related charges.
1 Like
Beverly Equestrian just posted on their Facebook and Instagram accounts that they adhere to and abide by USEF SafeSport policy.
7 Likes
According to a People Search on the USEF website, Sarah Willson is a USEF Life member. It also says: “ Ineligible - SafeSport Training Overdue, allowed on competition grounds”.
So she cannot compete until she brings her SafeSport training up to date.
1 Like
Well… she was acting as trainer for multiple riders from RCF at the Morven Show on July 18… it’s verifiable. Morven seems to have dropped the ball…
She’s allowed to be on the grounds, but cannot compete. If she is competing, she is in violation of the USEF rules and the show organizers are at fault for not denying her entry, which can lead to fines and punishment on their part.
1 Like
She was the trainer of record for 7 different riders at that show .
1 Like
The Morven Park schooling shows are not USEF rated. They are VHSA associate shows and you are not required to be a USEF or VHSA member to enter.
1 Like
Ok.
But then it’s a new grey area as they are VHSA shows. Doesn’t VHSA recognize SafeSport? Or are persons banned by SafeSport allowed at VHSA shows?
I think this can get fairly complex/confusing.
First, the trainer in question at the Morven shows is not banned or suspended by by Safesport or USEF. Her training is not up to date, which for a lifetime member is about as close as you can get to not renewing a yearly membership. The only other alternative is to ask USEF to remove your lifetime membership (a la Bernie Traurig’s somewhat questionable move after prominent BNTs were banned).
VHSA can and should prevent any banned/suspended USEF member from becoming a VHSA member - there’s provision for that in their rulebook. However, outside of possible championships or other invitationals, VHSA itself doesn’t run or host shows. They allow shows that meet certain standards and hold certain divisions to submit results so that VHSA members can gain points. I don’t know if VHSA even sees the show results for non-members. And on top of that, VHSA associate shows have different rules/standards than VHSA rated shows.
It could be argued that as part of the process to be VHSA recognized, the host show could be required to check entries against the Safesport list. That’s not without cost and complication for the host show. Since memberships are not required you can’t just look at membership numbers to verify. What if a common name like John Smith ends up on the list or someone uses a middle name or nickname to enter? How do you handle day-of entries? Does the overworked show secretary have time to check the rider/owner/trainer of each entry at 7am when they arrive at the show? If a large portion of the show’s clientele are not VHSA members, the show may elect to forego being recognized if the requirements are too onerous. And in this instance, I don’t know that any of these measures would help since TN himself was not at the show (that I’m aware of) and the other trainer hasn’t received any sort of sanction to date.
I definitely support local organizations adhering to Safesport suspensions, but it requires some thoughts on how that can effectively work for schooling shows. I think the best thing people can do right now is to bring their concerns to the attention of the show management and let them decide how to handle the situation. If the response isn’t one you support, than you can vote with your wallet and no longer support those shows.
8 Likes
Thanks for that post - very educational and practical.
It seems like it’s down to a matter of her triggering the aiding and abetting SafeSport clause then, merely by acting as an assistant trainer for Navarro. And I’d imagine that will impact her USEF status in some way…
I hear you on the impracticality of schooling shows or these VHSA associate shows monitoring the SafeSport list and checking against entries. But honestly, in this region… it’s Tom Navarro alone who is lifetime banned, and he is the person who runs River Chase Farm. It seems like local show management can be aware of that one name and farm. I can understand how Sarah Willson slipped under their radar though.
4 Likes
I run a VHSA Associate show series. There is no requirement to list a trainer on the entry form. If I don’t know a banned person by sight, how can I possibly prevent him/her from bringing students to my shows? Is my secretary supposed to check names on the form (rider, owner, trainer) against the SS list?
I agree that with just the one name in VA that doesn’t appear too difficult. But I wouldn’t know Tom Navarro if I tripped over him, so it’s just not that simple.
14 Likes
Thanks for sharing this perspective.
From what I understand, with the recent situation involving Beverly, once they became aware that Navarro was routinely attending their schooling shows, they directly reached out to him, and asked him to stop. Then they made a public statement about their commitment to promoting a positive, safe, respectful and equitable environment for sport, and upholding SafeSport guidelines in general.
I think that’s a great example of how to handle this stuff. I can understand from what you and @ghst13 are saying, that it’s potentially impractical and unreasonable to expect show managers to recognize some of these banned individuals on sight, and at lower level associate shows, screening trainers against the SafeSport list is also more of a challenge than folks realize. Once you both explained it from a different perspective… it makes sense to me.
But I guess the question becomes what should people do when they actually notice a banned person on-site (or an assistant trainer who is helping a banned person circumvent rules)? Is it worthwhile to report it after the fact?
In my opinion, the way the situation with Beverly played out is something to think about. Action was taken to marginalize the participation by a banned person, but no farm was fined or penalized for an honest mistake. Everyone in the local area is a little more aware and educated in the aftermath as well. To me… this seems manageable and positive.
Just a thought, but maybe someone at USEF can reach out to Morven, and alert them to Navarro’s banned status and Wilson’s shaky ground with respect to courting a SafeSport sanction of her own, given that she is acting as his assistant trainer… and then if RCF riders try to attend the NEXT show in the Morven summer series (I think it’s coming up in early August), show management is prepared. They can potentially contact these folks ahead of time and say, “Sorry… but we respect USEF rules and SafeSport and would prefer you folks don’t attend.”
Maybe if a few key local venues stepped up like this in close succession and told Navarro “Nope. Sorry - but we don’t want to be involved in your attempts to circumvent your ban” … well… maybe he would quit trying, and just keep to his own farm from here on out.
Just my perspective. I’m open to hearing from anyone actually involved in managing shows as to why that’s an impractical perspective though 
Regardless of what the guy does, at least this discussion has raised some awareness locally about his status. It’s clearly needed.
4 Likes
It’s an interest situation with Sarah Willson. I wonder how much she knows about Navarro’s situation and if she’s putting her own USEF membership in jeopardy. Maybe she knows and doesn’t care or if she hasn’t been active in USEF for a few years maybe she isn’t familiar with Safesport. I assume she could be reported for associating with his business now, although I would think that would just result in a warning and/or short term suspension. She might be better off getting her lifetime membership rescinded so that she doesn’t fall under Safesport jurisdiction and end up on any suspension lists herself.
I’m not a show manager, so I’m not sure what the best path is in these circumstances. I don’t think it’s up to USEF to reach out to a completely un-affiliated show to warning them that someone who has no current suspension is doing business with someone who is suspended. USEF would never be able to track what unrecognized show series every banned individual may or may not be attending.
I personally think the best path forward for local shows is for the local horse community to express their concerns to show management. A show is likely going to give a lot more weight to the feedback of their existing customers when they have concerns.
1 Like
Well - I’ll respond to this first. I think there is ZERO excuse for anyone who is acting as a trainer to minors these days to still be ignorant with respect to SafeSport. I understand there are lots of ignorant folks out there… but in my opinion, that is no excuse. If they want to accept payment as a “trainer” when coaching others… then they need to be qualified. Furthermore… she has made the choice to be an assistant to Tom Navarro. MAYBE she decided to take on that role without doing even MINOR research about her new boss and his farm… maybe not. But again… ignorance is no excuse. Last… does it matter if she gets her USEF membership rescinded? I would think they can place her on a SafeSport ban (albeit likely temporary) list anyways, simply because she is pretty clearly violating the aiding and abetting provision of the code.
Oh - I don’t think it’s reasonable or feasible for USEF to proactively police unaffiliated shows either. But if concerned people notify USEF of these situations when they pop up, then I do think it’s pretty straightforward and reasonable for someone from USEF to make a few phone calls reminding everyone of SafeSport code, clarifying any questions about who is or isn’t currently on the banned list, and advising on what the best course of action is for these situations if/when they happen. A little bit of extra communication might really help everyone better understand rules going forward, and avoid these sort of headaches.
I hear what you are saying. But with so many people on social media these days, these situations are often going to be identified after the fact when brazen people who are banned, or affiliated with a banned person post pictures of themselves proudly attending this or that local show, etc etc. That’s what happened with this latest situation. Folks who see it can certainly email show management and say, “Hey - what gives? That guy is banned for life by SafeSport!” But if they go that path, they won’t have any expectation of being anonymous. So… another option is for concerned onlookers to use the safesport@usef.org address and report the situation. USEF can then ascertain whether the situation does or doesn’t actually constitute a SafeSport violation (because as is abundantly clear at this point… there is a LOT of grey area), and then they can follow up with the relevant parties, and hopefully in the process of doing so, provide some clarity to show management that might be useful in future situations.
2 Likes
I would expect that if she rescinded her USEF membership prior to USEF or Safesport investigating or taking any action, then it’s unlikely any action would be taken against her. Some people believe this may have been why Bernie Traurig dropped his membership - to avoid any potential investigations. Note, I have no knowledge of specific allegations against Traurig, just some of the speculation that arose at the time. USEF doesn’t have any jurisdiction over non-members.
I guess it just doesn’t seem that straight-forward to me and maybe it’s because there are so many gray areas and specific details that are needed to make a determination on whether a violation is occurring in regards to aiding and abetting rules, especially in any situations where the show organizers are not USEF members themselves. Hopefully USEF can help answer questions if people contact them with Safesport concerns, but I can certainly see USEF declining to contact show management if the organizers have zero USEF association (not only is the show not recognized but the organizers aren’t members either). For those completely un-affiliated shows, you have to rely on the moral and ethical will of the organizers to take feedback and ban participants. If someone really wants to message the show organizers anonymously, they could easily create a separate email account and send a message. But, it’s still my personal belief that the message is more impactful coming from known clientele.
2 Likes
