ALBANY COUNTY — Karen Ziegler has secured a $10,000 grant to protect young gymnasts from abuse.

“This is a brand-new grant, a pilot project,” said Ziegler, director of the county’s Crime Victim and Sexual Violence Center.

The grant is sponsored by The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which was founded in 1875, the first child protection agency in the world.

The application for the grant says, “The Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal sent shock waves through the sports community and the United States.”

Nassar, a former gymnastics national team doctor, was accused of assaulting over 200 young women and girls including Olympic and women’s national gymnastic team gymnasts; he admitted to 10 of those accusations. In 2017, he was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to child pornography. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual abuse and was sentenced to additional time in Michigan state prison.

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy, in introducing Ziegler during Friday’s county press briefing, said of Nassar’s behavior, “That was disgusting, shocking, and eye-opening.”

The “Athletes are Children First” grant will allow the Crime Victims Center and the county’s Department for Children, Youth and Families and the Children’s Advocacy Center to offer training to club staff, coaches, and parents on best practices to prevent abuse, as well as providing outreach and support.

“We will be working together to train all the local gymnastics clubs,” said Ziegler.

The timeline for the program has been pushed back because of coronavirus restrictions.

Training will take place in the fall with rollout in 2021, Ziegler said. “We’re going to be providing education, outreach, resources, and support for all involved,” she said.

Ziegler went on, “We don’t believe we should be training children to protect themselves. What we want to do is educate children on what safe behaviors are and really work with the adults to protect the children in our community from sexual abuse, from any kind of child abuse.”

After the pilot program is over, it could continue, Ziegler said. “We’d like to offer this training to other sports,” she concluded.