LEXINGTON, Kentuck - Louis Stout, who sought to build a "culture of safety" when he took over as president of the Amateur Athletic Union, died Sunday at the age of 73, the youth sports organization said.
AAU spokesman Ron Sachs said Stout died Sunday morning at a Lexington hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for about a week for an unspecified illness.
Stout took over the presidency of the AAU, which oversees amateur and youth programmes in a range of sports across the United States, after former president Bobby Dodd was accused in 2011 by two former basketball players of molesting them as children in Memphis and other locations in the 1980s.
The AAU had never before faced any such abuse allegations, and Dodd has not faced criminal charges.
Under Stout's leadership, measures were implemented to protect athletes, including background checks required for adults involved in AAU activities. Policies and procedures were designed to ensure that young athletes are never left alone with an adult.
"The new recommendations are not because we suspect anyone, but rather because we expect everyone to do their part to create a strong, new culture of safety," Stout said in June.
AAU acting president Henry Forrest said Stout "will be forever remembered as the architect who established the highest standards for safety and protection at AAU and for ensuring our program's continued success."
Stout worked for decades in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. He became commissioner of the body governing high school sports in the state in 1994, becoming the first African-American to head a state high school associaiton.
source: abs-cbnnews.com
