Travelling Overnight and Abroad

These should be fun as well as safe for children. These trips should give the group a chance to experience a different environment and allow them to grow in confidence as well as self esteem and of course social skills and football experience.

All parents and carers are concerned about their young ones on such away trips and it is the responsibility of the club to ensure that careful planning and proper preparation has taken place to safeguard the group. Individual needs have to be taken into consideration as well as obviously the potential dangers.

Essential Planning – When planning to Stay Away

As many more clubs organise trips abroad to take part in festivals/tournaments or go on a tour the demands to ensure that the whole event is successful grow greater and greater. As these trips often include an overnight stay there are different responsibilities placed on the organisers. The properly planned trip or tour can often be the highlight of the club year and very rewarding for all. There are a number of things to take account of when booking hotels or hostels.

• Is there a current fire certificate?
• What is the locality like?
• Is there secure parking?
• Can varied dietary needs be met?
• Can valuables be stored safely?
• What are the night-time security arrangements?
• Are there en-suite facilities or separate facilities for children and adults?
• Remember all beds must be single and staff and players must not share a room.

All this information will require confirmation with the hotel or hostel staff and always try to have this confirmed in writing or on a brochure. If you are staying at a venue not usually known as accommodation for such groups as yours then attempt to get as much information as possible. In an ideal world you would visit the accommodation before booking, but this is not always possible. So can you check with another club who have used this accommodation before or check with the local Tourist Information or visit their website? Has a risk assessment been carried out where someone has checked travel, venue, staffing, weather and environment. What staffing is needed, this will depend on the age of the players: one member of staff to 10 players aged 11 and over but more staff for younger age groups, as well as a minimum of one male or female member of staff to all groups travelling irrespective of the gender of the group.

Essential Planning – When Going Abroad

• Make sure that your insurance covers you when abroad, you may need to take out additional cover, e.g. medical.
• Check if you need visas and for some trips, you may need vaccinations, or to take pre-trip medication such as anti malaria. Don’t forget the E111 Forms although these are currently being replaced by individual cards.
• Check the weather, what precautions are needed?
• Make sure passports and return tickets are stored in a secure place.
• Other important considerations should be made for example checking the cultural traditions of the country. This may have an implication on what clothes you ask the
  group to take e.g. Muslim communities.
• Also consider the implications of communication barriers where countries are not English speaking.
• Special consideration needs to be given to the use of remote supervision when utilising host families.

Football for Everyone

Football is an inclusive sport and should be open to all. If you have young people with additional health needs/disability you need to consider if any children with additional health needs/disabilities need extra helpers? And will these helpers need any extra training e.g. asthma medication/diabetes management? Is accommodation suitable and has suitable access for players/supporters with a disability. It is also worth remembering that volunteers from various ethnic groups don’t only provide positive role models, they provide knowledge of language/diet/prayer needs. You may also need to be aware of dietary needs of children from different ethnic groups. This includes fasting times linked to religious traditions. Some activities may not be permitted with a mixed gender within some cultures e.g. not all teenage girls will be allowed to attend mixed swimming sessions.

Your planning team should consist of more than just you - the trip will require a great deal of preparation and individuals may be required to undertake certain responsibilities and often more than just one.

Roles and Responsibilities

Itinerary - dates of departure, arrival, contact number of accommodation, return times, games, trips out and the rules for each child and parent. These have to be decided before leaving so a planning session with the players and parents should establish rules for the trip (and what will happen to those who break them). If self-catering, who will do the cooking? Are there any special dietary needs? Agree the menu before you travel. Are parents helpers aware that they are going to be responsible for a number of children therefore the trip is not designed for them to spend propping up a bar or visiting local landmarks on their own. Free time will of course be timetabled in to allow some R and R for helpers. However remember that the more structured your itinerary is the less chance that players have to become bored and find themselves looking for more exciting things to do. There should be strict rules regarding players being unsupervised, especially at night, so adults may be assigned a small group that they are responsible for. Careful consideration should be taken over the makeup of the group and their relationship with the adults. Groups can join together for activities and explore the local area. Access to alcohol, cigarettes and possibly drugs must be monitored. There are serious Child Protection implications for adults not taking every effort to deny access to these dangers for their players. Ideally the players should have a structured day from waking up to going to bed, a good itinerary will have various activities that can be regarded as ‘fillers’ in that they can be introduced when ever there is a unscheduled break or gap that needs to be filled. Quizzes, table tennis, talent competitions, diary writing of the trip for the local paper, almost anything that can occupy young players can be used to offset the dreaded ‘boredom’ statement.

Finance Person which may include fundraising / sponsorship / collecting money etc. This person may also organise Insurance because with trips away, the children may take part in non football activities for example swimming – make sure your Event Specific Consent Form and Insurance covers such non-football activities.

Name the designated person for child protection for the trip and ensure the group is aware who this person is.

Someone from the Club who is not going away needs to be identified as a Home point of contact, they should have a list of who is on the trip and their contact details (including the leaders/ helpers).

Preparation of Child Away cards for distribution to each member of the party.

Awareness of any Special Needs or dietary needs of players including any illnesses that the leaders should be aware of.

Information pack distribution- details of entire programme, schedule for safeguarding monies, asthma pumps, etc. It’s a good idea to provide the younger children with a scaled down version of the pack. An information pack should also include: dates, what you are doing, where you are going, rules, kit list, pocket money, medical care needs.
As many parents / carers will have concerns especially if they cannot travel with the group it is a good idea to have a meeting with parents/carers and players and run through the trip’s programme of events and address any questions or concerns. You can address arrangements for phoning home, possible homesickness etc.

Once away other important considerations:–

• Ensure all helpers have a copy of the Emergency Procedures.
• When you arrive at your accommodation, check that all windows and doors are safe.
• Remember to check the rooms for any damage and report any you find or you may end up with a bill!
• Check if there are any no smoking rooms – this is very important for anyone who has asthma.
• If there is a bar, what rules will you have in place?
• Is there a social area, what is there for children to do when not playing football?
• Some children have enuresis (bed-wetting) ensure that the hotel can deal with this discretely.
• Ensure that you have your staff bedrooms spread out, for example if the group is over 3 floors, there should be at least one adult room on each floor.
• Agree who is sharing with whom before you go, however, be ready to change this as friendship groups with children can change very quickly!

Essential planning – Whilst you’re away

On Arrival

• Distribute ID cards to children – these can be tags with the name and address of the hotel with a contact number should players become detached from the group.
• Check all rooms (are there the correct number of beds?).
• Ensure there is no access to alcohol in the rooms.
• Ensure movie access is appropriate or indeed not available in the rooms.
• Ensure that everyone is aware of fire exits and emergency procedures.
• Store money and valuables in a safe place, preferably with the hotel or building manager.
• Have a group meeting to review the programme and rules. Give out the safe away cards.
• Hold daily group meetings and a staff meeting – this an opportunity to discuss any issues or problems and solve them before they become a trip wrecker!
• Ideally children shouldn’t wear shirts or hats with their names on (as strangers know their names) but this is often difficult to address if the Premiership players can do it!!!

On Return
Ask the children and the staff what they enjoyed and what they would change, this will help with next years planning. If you feel you have been let down tell the company but also your Regional FA or governing body, you may be able to stop another team from going through the same ordeal.