Policy Statement

Every child and young person (under the age of 18) who plays football at Hall Road Rangers FC should be able to participate in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from abuse.
This is the responsibility of every adult involved in football
We at Hall Road Rangers recognise, however, that child abuse is also a very emotive and difficult subject. It is important to understand the feelings involved but not allow them to interfere with our judgement about any action to be taken.
Hall Road Rangers and the Football Association recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and from neglect or bullying.
This football club is determined to meet its obligation to ensure that those teams providing opportunities for children and young people do so, to the highest possible standard of care.
Clear practices and procedures will ensure that everybody knows exactly what is expected of them in relation to the protection of children and young people within our club.
It is essential that those children and young people attracted to and participating in football are able to do so in a quality, safe and enjoyable environment.

The key principles underpinning this policy are:
1. The childs welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration.
2. 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 identity.
3. All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

Child Protection Designated Person

We at Hall Road Rangers have a moral and legal responsibility for the safety and protection of children and young people within our football club. However there are designated people at every level of the game to take additional responsibilities for child protection with the aim of making football as safe as possible for all concerned.
All football clubs, County Football Associations and football activities need to have a point of contact for child protection.
The umbrella term 'designated person' refers to the individual nominated or appointed by each club.

The designated person for Hall Road Rangers FC is:
Mr Richard Nichols

The designated person for Hall Road Rangers FC is know as the child welfare officer (CWO)

Our Responsibilities

We are not trying to become an expert in child protection or a social worker involved in child abuse issues.
We do however work, or intend to work, with children, and as such we are in a trusted position and, as a result, need to become aware of the following:

1. Our moral and legal responsibilities when involved with children on and off the pitch as well as in their life outside football.
2. What is meant by best and poor practice in football and what might need to change so that our players always experience best practice.
3. The signs that a child welfare may be threatened.
4. What to do if we have concerns about the welfare of a child or the behavious of an adult towards a young person.

Moral and Legal Responsibilities

If you are directly involved in childrens football in any capacity, leader, coach, scout, referee, car driver, first aider, in charge of kit or refreshments or have any other type of involvement, you need to be aware of your legal and moral responsibilities.

Yor responsibility and those of Hall Road Rangers FC are determined by the following legislation:

Police Act 1997
Sex Offenders Act 1997
Human Rights Act 1998
Crime and Disorder Act 1998
Childrens Act ammended 1990
Protection of Children Act 1999
Sexual Offenders Act 2003
Youth Evidence and Crime Evidence Act 2003
And government guidance, such as Working Together to Safeguard Children 1999, which outlines the duties of all agencies working with children.

We all at Hall Road Rangers FC have a duty of care to place the welfare of children before anything else, to make sure that players are safe at all times and to help make football an enjoyable, safe and fulfilling activity for every child.
A duty of care is relevent to all people within the club for whom we have some responsibility, even if they are over 18 years of age.

Best Practice

If you work or intend to work with young people, you are automatically placed in a position of trust that carries both authority and status alongside power and responsibility. We as adults must be positive role models displaying high moral and ethical standards.
Unfortunately it is also possible for adults in football to do a significant amount of harm by neglecting or abusing children and young people or by failing to respond to concerns they may have.
Our responsibility at Hall Road Rangers FC is to provide a duty of care.
This is the duty to make sure all reasonable steps are taken to ensure any person involved in any activity is safe. This duty of care is extended by a moral responsibility to develop a culture within the club in which all young people can take part in football in a safe and enjoyable environment.

There are of course plenty of examples of good practice at the club:

1. The parents and volunteers who give up many hours of their time to give young people a chance to play football.
2. The club values fair play before the "win at all cost" attitude.
3. Our managers take time to get to know their players making sure their needs and welfare are paramount.
4. Our coaches praise effort as highly as success.
5. The club ensures that players and club members refrain from using any form of offensive, insulting or abusive language.
6. All club members are approachable and friendly.
7. The designated person is approachable and stands for the rights of young people.

Examples of Best Practice

All adults involved at Hall Road Rangers FC should:

1. Avoid spending too much time alone with one child away from the others.
2. Avoid taking children to their home where they will be alone with the child.
3. Never take part in rough, physical or sexually provocative games including horseplay.
4. Never share a room with a child.
5. Never allow or take part in any form of inappropriate touching.
6. Never allow children to use inappropriate language; always challenging this behaviour.
7. Never make sexually suggestive comments in person or by any other means to a child even in fun.
8. Never use aggressive shouting to make a point or reduce a child to tears as a form of control.
9. Never allow allegations made by a child to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon.
10. Never do things of a personal nature for children or vulnerable adults that they can do for themselves.
11. Never invite or allow children to stay with them at their home unsupervised.
12. Never accept bullying, rule violations or the use of prohibited substances.
13. Never alcohol or illegal substances.

This list is by no means exhaustive.

Poor Practice

Unfortunately there will no doubt be poor practice in childrens football. Some of this poor practice will be by word, making sexist or racist comments, disapproving, sarcastic or highly critical remarks for example. Some poor practice will be by actions, for example using physical exercise as a punishment or by pushing players beyond their capabilities for their development stage during training, or simply by omission, the failure to do something, which would or could prevent harm to a child or young person.
Some less obvious but highly damaging examples of poor practice occur behind the scenes - in selecting and excluding players, training, bullying and harrassment.
We as adults, especially coaches and managers, often find ourselves in positions of considerable influence, power and trust.
Anybody in a position of authority can unknowingly abuse his or her position of power and trust. This can threaten the childs well being and in extreme cases can be abuse.
Hall Road Rangers FC will not tolerate poor practice in any way, and it is the responsibility of all club members to report any suspected incidents immediately to the CWO.

Signs and Indicators

Not every child will tell somebody when they are being abused, so it is essential that every adult is aware of the possible signals that indicate a childs welfare or safety may be at risk.
It is important to realise as members of Hall Road Rangers FC it is not our job to decide whether or not a chils is being abused. Its is our responsibility to share our concerns with the designated person within the club.
It is or responsibility to raise concerns if there is a combination of nexplained changes in a child or a young person over a period of time.

There are flow diagrams highlighting signs and indicators and how to deal with poor practice that are available by contacting the CWO.

Reporting Procedures

These guidelines are relevent whethere you are informed directly by a child or young person or via a third party or through your own observations.
The following procedures in conjunction with the flow chart (available from the CWO), must be adhered to, by all personnel working with children and young persons within Hall Road Rangers FC.

1. Ensure the immediate safety of the child or young person.
2. If the child or young person needs immediate medical treatment, take the child or young person to hospital or telephone for an ambulance, inform doctors of your concerns and ensure that they are aware that this is a Child Protection issue.
3. Report the concerns to the designated person within the club immediately, details can be found earlier in this document, unless the concern is about the individual.
4. If the designated person is not available, or the concern is about this person, report your concerns directly to the local social serices, the local police or the FA child protection help line, on telephone number 0808 800 5000.
5. These agencies will advise you whether a formal referral to social services is necessary and what further action yo might need to take.
6. If you are required to make a formal referral make it clear to social services or the local police that this is a child protection issue.
7. If the concern is about somebody involved within a football setting and you are unable to contact the designated person, you should contact the FA Ethics and Sports Equity Department on 0207 745 4914, informing them what action you have taken inline with this policy.

End of Policy