Section 1 - Introduction

•  Anyone under the age of 18 within the club should be considered as a child for the purposes of this document.
•  The welfare of all children is paramount.
•  All children whatever their age gender, culture, ability, language, religious belief, racial origin, and/or sexual identity should be able to enjoy the game in a fun environment safe from abuse of any kind.
•  All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
•  All individuals within The Club who work with children will be made aware of good practice in order to ensure that they are not placed in situations where unmerited accusations are made.
•  The Club will work with parents/carers to ensure all youngsters within the club enjoy the game within a safe environment.
•  The Club recognises the statutory responsibilities of social services and the police to ensure the welfare of young people and is committed to complying with the Football Association Ltd “Child Protection Procedures and Practices Handbook”.
•  The Club has a designated Child Protection Person who has attended the Football Association's child protection workshop. In addition each team will have a designated manager/ coach who has successfully attained the The FA Level One Coaching Certificate in Football (FA1CCF) , which also incorporates child protection training.
•  All managers/coaches will be subject to CRB disclosure.

Section 2 - Recognising Abuse And Poor Practice

It is not always easy to differentiate poor practice from abuse, albeit intentional or unintentional. It is not, therefore the responsibility of the adults in The Club to determine whether or not abuse is taking place. It is however their responsibility to identify poor practice and possible abuse and to act if they have a concern about the welfare of a child. The five main types of abuse are:

Emotional Abuse

In a football situation emotional abuse may occur when:
•  Coaches /managers provide repeated negative feedback.
•  Repeatedly ignore a young players effort and progress.
•  Repeatedly demand performance levels above these of which the young player is capable over emphasising the winning ethic.

Abuse by neglect

In football this may be when:
•  Young players are left alone without supervision.
•  A young player is exposed to unnecessary heat or cold without fluids or protection.
•  A young player is exposed to an unacceptable risk of injury.

Physical Abuse

In a football situation physical abuse may occur when:
•  Coaches/managers expose young players to exercise /training which disregards the capacity of the player's immature growing body.
•  Coaches/managers expose young players to overplaying, overtraining or fatigue.

Sexual Abuse

The close proximity of coaches and others to young people provides opportunities for potential abusers to exploit their position of trust to sexually abuse.

Bullying

Bullying is not always easy to define, and will not always be an adult abusing a young person. It is often the case that the bully is the young person.

There are three main types of bullying:
•  Physical eg hitting, kicking, theft.
•  Verbal eg racist or homophobic remarks.
•  Emotional eg persistent negative feedback

All these will include deliberate hostility and aggression towards a victim in one or more of the following forms:

•  A victim who is weaker and less powerful than the bully or bullies.
•  An outcome, which is always painful and distressing for the individual.
•  Other forms of violence.
•  Sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing, tormenting, ridiculing, humiliation.
•  Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures.
•  Unwanted physical contact or abusive offensive comments of asexual nature.

The competitive nature of football makes it a potential environment for the bully. This may manifest itself in some of the following ways:

•  A parent who pushes too hard.
•  A coach who adopts a win at all costs philosophy.
•  A player who intimidates others.
•  An official who is over officious.

Section 3 - Roles And Responsibilities

Coach's / Managers 

•  Be familiar with and adhere to club Child Protection Policy and Best Practice guidelines.
•  Undertake any relevant training provided by the club.
•  Undertake CRB disclosure.

Parents

•  Ensure the club has relevant details relating to their child.
•  Share any concerns initially with the club Child Protection Officer.
•  Be involved in club activities.
•  Assist in the supervision of young players when able and when appropriate.

Child Protection Officer

The Child Protection Officer is not an officer of the committee and can be approached directly and confidentially.

• The Child Protection Officer will take all allegations of child abuse seriously and without prejudice take appropriate action where necessary with outside agencies as laid down within.

The Football Association Child Protection Policy

These may include:-

N.S.P.C.C.
Social Services
The Police

If a young person needs medical attention an ambulance must be called and/or a Doctor informed. All incidents reported to the Child Protection Officer will be recorded via a written report using an incident referral form. If an allegation is then reported to the police or social services they will give guidelines and advice in relation to contacting the child's parents/guardian's should the allegation relate to them.

“Non action is not an option in Child Protection”  

(The Football Association 2000)

The Committee

The Club Secretary and / or the Club Chairperson will deal with any referrals, which are deemed to relate to poor practice and not child abuse. The Child Protection Officer may be included in an advisory capacity but would not be part of any disciplinary action, which may be deemed necessary by the Club Secretary/ Chairperson. All officers of the committee at an E.G.M would discuss any such action, in support of a final decision managed by the Club Secretary

If a coach/manager or parent is found to be guilty of poor practice they may be subject to suspension from any involvement with the club.

Positions Of Trust

All adults who work with young people are in a position of trust, which has been invested in them by the parents, the sport and the young person. This relationship can be described as one in which the adult is in a position of power and influence by virtue of their position. The relationship is no different to that between a schoolteacher and the pupils in their care.  

Code Of Conduct Concerning The Abuse Of Trust

•  Any behaviour, which encourages a physical or emotionally dependent relationship to develop between the person in a position of trust and the young person in their care, must be avoided.
•  All those within the club have a duty to raise concerns about the behaviour by coaches/officials/volunteers or administrators, which may be harmful to young people in the club without prejudice to their own position.
•  Allegations relating to a breach of code of conduct will be investigated according to Football Association disciplinary procedures.

Practices To Be Avoided

Everyone as a general rule should be aware that it does not make sense for a manager/coach to:

•  Spend amounts of time alone with young people away from others.
•  Take young people alone on car journeys however short.
• If it should arise that such situations are unavoidable they should only take place with the full knowledge and consent of someone in charge in the club and/or someone with parental responsibility for the player.

Practice That Is Prohibited

Adults should never:  

•  Allow or engage in rough physical or sexually provocative games, including horseplay.
•  Share a bedroom with a child or young person.
•  Allow or engage in any form of inappropriate touching.
•  Allow children or young people to use inappropriate language unchallenged.
•  Make sexually suggestive comments to a child or young person even in fun.
•  Allow allegations made by a child or young person to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon.
•  Do things of a personal nature for children or young people that they can do for themselves.
•  Invite or allow children or young people to stay with you at your home unsupervised.

Section 4 Anti- Bullying Policy

The Club does not accept any form of bullying; IT WILL be prepared to:-

•  Take the problem seriously.
•  Investigate any incidents.
•  Talk to the bullies and victims separately.

It will then decide on appropriate action, which may include some/all of the following:

•  Obtain an apology from the bully(ies) to the victim.
•  Inform the parents of the bully(ies).
•  Insist on the return of any items borrowed or stolen.

Any incidents of bullying must be reported to team manager/coach and/or the Child Protection Officer.

Monitoring And Self-Evaluation At Cadbury Athletic Juniors F.C.  

As part of our on going commitment to improve practice and to continue to develop as a club, we are implementing an annual review form. These forms are available from your team manager. There are three separate forms in respect of:

•  Coaches /Managers
•  Players
•  Parents

Parents of younger players would need to help their child to fill this in and obviously relate the questions in a format that is applicable to their child's age and level of understanding.

The committee values your comments and suggestions and will use these to evaluate what needs to be done to continue to develop the club for existing future players.