Freestyle Urban Soccer FC

Child Protection Policy

Freestyle Urban Soccer FCacknowledges its responsibility tosafeguard the welfare of every child and young personwho has been entrusted to its care and is committed toworking to provide a safe environment for all members.A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18engaged in any club football activity. We subscribe toThe Football Association’s child protection and bestpractice policy and procedures and endorse and adoptthe policy statement contained in that document.

The key principles of The FA child protection policyare that:

  1. The child’s welfare is, and must always be, theparamount consideration
  2. All children and young people have a right to beprotected from abuse regardless of their age,gender, disability, culture, language, racial origin,religious beliefs or sexual orientation
  3. All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
  4. Working in partnership with other organisations,children and young people and their parents or carersis essential.
  5. We acknowledge that every child or young person whoplays or participates in football should be able to takepart in an enjoyable and safe environment and beprotected from poor practice and abuse.

Freestyle Urban Soccer FC recognises that this is the responsibility ofevery adult involved in our club.

Freestyle Urban Soccer FChas a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people by protectingthem from physical, sexual or emotional harm and fromneglect or bullying. It is noted and accepted that The Football Association’s child protection regulation(see The FA Handbook) applies to everyone in footballwhether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This includesthose who are a volunteer, match official, helper on clubtours, football coach, club official or medical staff.

We endorse and adopt The FA’s child protection andbest practice guidelines for recruiting volunteers and will:

  1. Develop a role profile
  2. Request identification documents
  3. As a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s)and where possible conduct interviews beforeappointing
  4. Request and follow up with two references beforeappointing
  5. Require an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure whereappropriate in line with FA guidelines.

All current Freestyle Urban Soccer FCmembers with direct access to childrenand young people will be required to complete aCRB Enhanced Disclosure via The FA CRB Unit.If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an individual who is already involved or who hasapproached us to become part ofFreestyle Urban Soccer FCguidance will be sought from The FootballAssociation. It is noted and accepted that The FA willconsider the relevance and significance of the informationobtained via The FA CRB Unit Enhanced CRB Disclosureand that all decisions will be made in the best interests ofchildren and young people.

It is accepted that The FA aims to prevent people witha history of relevant and significant offending fromhaving contact with children or young people and theopportunity to influence policies or practice withchildren or young people. This is to prevent directsexual or physical harm to children and to minimizethe risk of ‘grooming’ within football.

Freestyle Urban Soccer FC supports The FA’s whistle blowing policy.Any adult or young person with concerns about acolleague can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting The FA childprotection manager on 0207 745 4771, by writing toThe FA case manager at The Football Association,25 Soho Square, London W1D 4FA or by going direct tothe police, social services or the NSPCC.Freestyle Urban Soccer Academy encourages everyone to know about it andutilise it if necessary.

Freestyle Urban Soccer FC has appointed Paul Maloney as the Clubs Welfare Officer(CWO) in line with The FA’s role profile and requiredcompletion of the child protection and best practiceworkshop. He will be involved withdesignated person’s training provided by The FA.The CWO is the first point of contact for all club membersand parents or guardians regarding concerns for thewelfare of any child or young person. They will liaisedirectly with the CFA CPO and will be familiar with theprocedures for referring any concerns. They will alsoplay a proactive role in increasing an awareness ofpoor practice and abuse amongst club members.

We acknowledge and endorse The FA’s identificationof bullying as a category of abuse. Bullying of any kindis not acceptable at our club. If bullying does occur, allplayers, parents or guardians should be able to tell andknow that incidents will be dealt with promptly.Incidents need to be reported to the CWO, a memberof the committee or, in cases of serious bullying contactthe CFA CPO.

Codes of conduct for players, parents or spectators,officials and coaches have been implemented byFreestyle Urban Soccer FC.In order to validate these codes of conduct the club hasclear sanctions to deal with any misconduct at club leveland acknowledges the possibility of potential sanctionswhich may be implemented by leagues or the CFAin more serious circumstances. All prospective memberswill be informed of these codes.

Further advice on child protection matters can beobtained from:

  • The County Football Association’s ChildProtection Officer, whose details can be found in theCountyHandbook
  • The Football Association/NSPCC Child Protection24-Hour Helpline 0808 800 5000
  • FA child protection team 0207 745 4649.