If any coach/leader has concerns that abuse may have taken place, these should be directed to a person of responsibility within the organisation, who shall report it to Social Services, the Police or the NSPCC. A full record of what has been said, heard and/or seen, including dates and times, should be completed and forwarded to this responsible person within the organisation.
In urgent cases when the responsible person within the organisation is not available, the coach/leader should be aware that the local Social Services or the Police should be contacted. Social Services will always be happy to discuss, even hypothetically, any concerns a coach/leader may have about child protection matters and advise on whether it is necessary to make an official referral.
Allegation against Coaches/Leaders
It is important that anyone dealing with children should be aware that not all child abuse occurs within the extended family setting. It is essential that all responsible adults must be vigilant and aware that any inappropriate actions may lead to putting themselves at risk.
Coaches/leaders should be aware that any allegations made against them will be taken seriously and will be investigated according to the steps outlined by the LTA
An individual against whom allegations/suspicions have been raised will be treated fairly and with respect, and is presumed to be innocent until held to be otherwise.
All allegations, suspicion, comment or complaint will be treated in the utmost confidence – this applies equally to the child, the person making the allegation or the person against whom the allegation is made. Should any person involved with the programme suspects that a colleague is abusing a child, this should be reported immediately to a senior member of the organisation involved and Social Services, the Police or the NSPCC.
3. Good Practice in the Care of Children
All coaches/leaders are expected to adhere to the following guidelines when dealing with players.
- Always be publicly open when working with children. Avoid situations where coach/leader and
individual children are completely unobserved.
- Manual support is rarely required in the sport of tennis. If a coach feels that it is necessary, the
reasons should be clearly explained to the child and, if possible, the parents/carers.
- Where possible, parents should be responsible only for their own child in the changing rooms.
Coaches/leaders 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 occur only with the full knowledge and consent of the child’s parents.
Coaches should never:
- Engage in rough, physical or sexually provocative games, including horseplay.
- Share a room with a child or enter a room without someone else present
- Allow or engage in any inappropriate touching
- Allow children to use inappropriate language unchallenged
- Make sexually suggestive comments to a child, even in fun
- Allow allegations of a child to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon.
- Do things of a personal nature for children that they can do for themselves
- Invite or allow children to stay with you at your home unsupervised
- Allow bullying or bad behaviour by children.
If you accidentally hurt a child and the child seems distressed in any manner, appears to be sexually aroused by your actions, or misunderstands or misinterprets something you have done, report any such incident as soon as possible to another colleague and make a brief note of it. Parents or guardians should be informed of the incident.
It is strongly recommended that a coach/leader does not work completely alone with groups of children and enlists the support of others – assistants, parents/carers. We are aware that there are many situations where coaches/leaders are responsible for groups. Also, there are situations such as training camps, residential tournaments and tours where coaches and leaders are placed in positions of trust. The following guidelines are intended to assist coaches/leaders not to place themselves at risk. For the well being of children in their care, coaches/leaders are asked to consider the following hockey-specific guidelines when planning/running sessions and events. Above all, we would appeal to its members to apply common sense when dealing with young people.
During Training Sessions or Matches, Coaches/leaders should ensure that:
- The facilities and surroundings are safe and well maintained and are large enough to accommodate
the number of players in attendance.
- If required, the floodlighting is adequate.
- There are adequate changing and showering facilities
- They are aware of the standard operating procedure of the centre being used, including emergency
facilities/telephone.
- All children complete medical and dietary consent forms
- All children have adequate breaks for the length of the day and the intensity of the practices/games.
- Children are not put in physical danger through inappropriate grouping.
- Adults take care when participating in games with young people.
- Children do not play more than is desirable for their age and/or ability
- All children are made aware of the importance of proper procedures for the intake of liquid and food
for the activity in which they are engaged.
- All children adhere to drinking and eating requirements during the day
- All children are adequately protected from the effects of the weather, particularly the sun.
- Parents are fully aware of start and finish times for a session.
- Only qualified and/or experienced coaches should be used and they should have adequate third party
liability insurance cover.
- Contact/medical information should be available for any child involved in an adult team.
Coaches/leaders should not:
- conduct meetings with children while they are changing
- be alone in a changing room with children while they are changing or showering
- deal with children’s injuries without having a first aid certificate and another adult present
- ask children to perform in training sessions or games whilst injured if by doing so they make the
injury worse. Coaches should advise players to seek appropriate medical help or advice concerning
injuries
- expose children to excessive extremes of weather during any session
- be alone with individual children in any situation particularly at the end of the sessions or in the
dark
- offer to take children home or allow others to take them home without the specific permission of the
parents/guardian.
Residential Training Camps, Tournaments and Tours
In addition to the above coaches/managers/leaders should ensure that:
- all residential facilities are adequate for the age and number of children,
- children and supervising adults sleep in separate rooms whenever possible. If coaches/leaders and
children need to share rooms this should always be with written parental approval,
- all information relevant to the course should be made available to parents/guardians including
address, emergency telephone numbers etc.
- all information about parents/guardians is collected prior to the event, including telephone numbers
where parent/guardians can be contacted at any time during the visit/event
- all children provide up-to-date health/medical Information.
- parents/guardians are aware of and approve all travelling arrangements and that where travel firms
are used they are members of recognised organisations for passenger protection
- all children are adequately supervised for the duration of the visit and that a responsible adult is
available for the group at all times
- children are fully aware of the regulations governing alcohol purchase and consumption in any
country or area visited and that children are not exposed to tobacco and any form of drugs.
- they display high standards of behaviour, individually and as a group, recognising that their behaviour
sets an example for the group.
Coaches/managers/leaders should not
- shower with children under any circumstances
- visit children’s rooms unnecessarily
- conduct individual meetings with children in their rooms
- leave children unsupervised or unaware of the whereabouts of a responsible adult during the
visit/event
- supply or encourage under-age children to purchase/consume alcohol or banned substances of any
sort or supply or encourage pornographic material. This is especially relevant to adult tours by
clubs/organisations.
Recruitment and screening processes should be followed before coaches/leaders are involved in work with children in tennis