Child Protection Policy

“Sport plays a key part in the positive development of physical, emotional, social and personal skills amongst young people. Moreover, sport should be fun, enjoyable and take place in a safe environ. In all sports and physical activities, sports coaches and clubs have an important role to play both in developing young people and their sporting skills, but also in creating a safe environment.”
Steve McQuaid, Coaching Development Officer, The National Coaching Foundation

Child Protection Policy Statement

Liss Athletic Football Club is committed to creating and maintaining the safest possible environment for children and young people to practice Youth Football.

We do this by:

• Recognising that all children have the right to freedom from abuse.
• Ensuring that all our staff and volunteers are carefully selected and accept responsibility for helping to prevent the abuse of children in their care.
• Responding swiftly and appropriately to all suspicions or allegations of abuse, and providing parents and children with the opportunity to voice all concerns they may have.
• Appointing a Child Protection Officer who will take specific responsibility for child safety and act as the main point of contact for parents, children and outside agencies.
• Ensuring access to confidential information is restricted to the Child Protection Officer or the appropriate external authorities.
• Reviewing the effectiveness of our Child Protection Policy and activities each year at the Annual General Meeting.

Our Child Protection Officer is Mrs. Julia Little

Good Practice in the Care of Children

It is possible to reduce situations for the abuse of children and help protect volunteers by promoting good practice. The following are more specific examples of care, which should be taken when working within a sports context.

Always be publicly open when working with children. Avoid situations where a coach and individual child are completely unobserved.

Always treat players in an open environment or if treatment is required within a close area always ensure parents are aware of this.

Where appropriate, parents should take on responsibility for their children in the changing rooms; always ensure coaches work in pairs. Encourage an open environment. (No secrets).

Where there are mixed gender teams, they should always be accompanied by a male and female coach/official.

When working with girls/young women teams, male coaches must agree with parents /careers when or if it is appropriate to enter the changing area. It may be prudent to set a time i.e. 10 minutes before a game, when the coach could enter the room accompanied by parents etc

Everyone should also be aware that as a general rule it DOES NOT MAKE SENSE to:

• Spend excessive amounts of time alone with children away from others.
• Take children alone on car journeys, however short.
• Take children to your home where they will be alone with you.

If cases arise where these situations are unavoidable, they should only occur with the full knowledge and consent of an officer of the club or the child’s parents.

Adults Should Never

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

Listening to the Child

Remember that the child’s welfare is paramount and this must be the most important consideration.

Listen carefully to any complaint or allegation by the child, tell and show the child that you are taking them seriously.

If a child’s behaviour or your observations give rise to concern, then talk to the child sensitively to find out if there is anything worrying them.

Keep questions to a minimum, but make sure that you are absolutely clear about what the child has to say so that you can pass on this information to professionals who are trained and experienced in investigating possible child abuse.

Acknowledge how difficult and painful it must have been for them to confide in you and reassure the child, stressing that they are never to blame.

Stay calm; don’t take hasty or inappropriate action.

Don’t make promises, which you may not be able to keep.
Don’t take sole responsibility; consult an Officer so that together you can begin to protect the child and also so that you can get some support for yourself in what could be a difficult situation.
As soon as possible after talking with the child, make a written record of what the child said, how they were behaving and what you did in response.

Talking to Parents

Always discuss your concerns first with an Officer; contact with parents could be delayed until you have sought advice from one of the professional agencies who have been notified.
There may be circumstances, however, when it is not appropriate for parents to be notified immediately of the concerns you have, as this may prejudice any investigations and may place the child at even greater risk

Responding to Child Abuse: What to do if you arc concerned
Remember it is not your responsibility to decide if child abuse has occurred, but it is your responsibility to take action, however small your concerns.

Inform an Officer who will take responsibility for seeking any additional advice for contacting the Social Services Department, the Police or the NSPCC who are trained to deal with such situations and have the necessary legal powers to protect the child.

If an Officer is not available, or concerns for the child remain, then you should contact the local Social Services Department, the Police or the NSPCC yourself
The Agency receiving your referral will take responsibility for ensuring that appropriate investigation is undertaken and the child protected.

What to do if there are any Allegations of Abuse against a Coach Volunteer
Again, remember it is the child’s welfare, which must be of paramount importance.

Follow the guidelines in the section dealing with “Listening to the Child”

Refer the matter to an Officer so that appropriate child protection procedures can be followed. The Officer must inform the Social Services Department, the Police or the NSPCC.

If your concern is about an Officer, then seek advice from another Officer who should ensure that the child protection procedures are implemented and the Social Services Department, the Police or the NSPCC are informed.