Two Principles underline ALL Child Protection issues:

1. The rights of all children and young people to be protected from abuse, regardless of their age, culture, gender, disability, language, racial origin, religious beliefs or sexual identity.
2. The child /young person’s welfare is always the most important factor.

It should be accepted that the safety of children and young people is the responsibility of all the adults involved in football regardless of role or position.

How do we make sure that all the adults in our club or team are aware of the risks involved with working with children and young people? By developing a policy that directly deals with the possible risks is the best way.

Many organisations both public and private have made great strides in the last five years to ensure that all coaches take the CP and Best Practice module as part of their coaching badges. If 4 million children play football and 750,000 adults are involved in some way then raising the awareness of these adults must be the sensible way to protecting all our young footballers.

DOES YOUR CLUB HAVE A CHILD PROTECTION POLICY ?

If the answer is yes then:-

If you are an affiliated club you are required to adhere to the FA’s Child Protection and Best Practice – Policy and Procedures.

You may have a designated CP person who has taken the course and can implement the policy. Make sure you and everybody else is aware of this person in the club.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CLUB DOES NOT HAVE A CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

We recommend that you ensure that 1 or more of your club officials take the relevant CP Best Practice course.

In order to make the introduction of a CP Policy as smooth as possible we have produced a template for your use until one of your club officials is sufficiently well qualified or experienced to develop your own club policy.

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY FOR INSERT TEAM NAME FOOTBALL CLUB

Insert Team Name F C is committed to providing a safe environment for all club members. It is understood that everyone under the age of 18 shall be regarded as a child or young person and that Insert Team Name F C is committed to its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all its members Insert Team Name F C accepts that every child or young person who participates in football should do so in a safe and enjoyable environment protected from any poor practice or abuse and that this is the responsibility of all the adults involved with the club.

We acknowledge the FA’s CP and Best Practice Policy and Procedures.

The key Principles of the FA CP Policy:-

• Maintaining the welfare of the child or young person is our main concern.
• All children and young people have a right to be protected from abuse regardless of their age, gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin, religious beliefs or sexual orientation.
• We will take seriously and respond quickly to any suspicions or allegations of abuse.
• We acknowledge that any partnerships with, other organisations, our members and our member’s parents is crucial to meeting our responsibilities to our members.

Insert Team Name F C accepts that the FA’s Child Protection regulations apply to everyone, paid or unpaid, (All volunteers, match officials, helpers, coaches, officials of the club or medical staff). Insert Team Name F C will make every effort to protect the children and young people from physical, sexual, emotional harm as well as neglect and bullying.

Insert Team Name F C maintains strict guidelines for the recruitment of volunteers and will adhere to the following :-

• Insert Team Name F C will require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure.
• Insert Team Name F C will request identification documents.
• Insert Team Name F C officials will meet, chat, conduct an interview with the volunteer.
• Insert Team Name F C will outline a basic description of responsibilities.
• Insert Team Name F C will request 3 references with telephone numbers to be acted on.
• Insert Team Name F C will expect the volunteer to be placed on a club probationary period perhaps with a mentor if possible.

* the link from here has been disabled, as this is as the user has limited access in this version .

In the full version, Coaches Colleague has been designed to assist individuals with their football (soccer) grassroots coaching and as a result contains over 2000 pages and in excess of 500 football (soccer) coaching sessions.

This version of Coaches Colleague is a restricted access version. In order to gain full, unlimited access to this football (soccer) coaching resource you will have to log in or sign up. To sign up please click here to navigate back to the front page. Sign up today to experience the complete service of Coaches Colleague - the most comprehensive football (soccer) coaching website available.