Safeguarding - Open Age Football with 16/17 year olds

Modified on Thu, 11 Jun, 2020 at 10:57 AM

There are four things we are asking adults clubs with 16/17 old playing to do

1) Adopt & implement The FA Club Safeguarding Children Policy - Resource 1.4: Safeguarding Policy and Procedures: Club Template: http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding/section-1-footballs-safeguarding-framework

2) Identify coaches/managers & medics for teams with 16/17 yr olds - FA Safer Recruitment and DBS Check guidance: http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding/section-3-safer-recruitment-and-dbs-checks

3) Ensure coaches/managers & medics for teams with 16/17 yr olds are FA DBS checked - same link as above

4)Distribute FA guidance to 16/17 yr olds - We want to ensure that 16/17 yr old players in open-age adult football are clear about what to do if they have a concern. The FA has developed some guidance, in consultation with teenage players. We’d encourage clubs to host this information on their website and include this in any ‘welcome packs’ or other information intended for new players (U18). This can be accessed via the link provided on the slide. http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding/section-7-children-and-young-people-under-18s - in particular making 16/17 years olds aware of the Know your rights resource.

Finally, there is a lot of information and downloads available for safeguarding and these can be found here - http://www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance/safeguarding

In terms of courses, we would recommend The FA level 1 coaching course. There is a First Aid and Safeguarding element to this course and The FA's approach to coaching. This will greatly help the captains / coaches / managers and provide an understanding of safeguarding. Alternatively, taking the Safeguarding Children Workshop by itself would be beneficial.