​Link to downloadable Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures

​

​

​1. Walsall Junior Youth Football League acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of every child
and young person who has been entrusted to its care and is committed to working to provide a safe
environment for all members. A child or young person is anyone under the age of 18 engaged in any Youth
League football activity. We subscribe to The Football Association’s Safeguarding Children - Policy and
Procedures and endorse and adopt the Policy Statement contained in that document.

2. The key principles of The FA Safeguarding Children Policy are that:
• The child’s welfare is, and must always be, the paramount consideration
• 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 orientation
• All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately
• Working in partnership with other organisations, children and young people and their parents/carers is
essential.

We acknowledge that every child or young person who plays or participates in football should be able to take
part in an enjoyable and safe environment and be protected from poor practice and abuse. Walsall Junior Youth
Football League recognises that this is the responsibility of every adult involved in our league.

3. Walsall Junior Youth Football League has a role to play in safeguarding the welfare of all children and young
people by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and from neglect or bullying. It is noted
and accepted that The Football Associations Child Protection Regulation (see The FA Handbook) applies to
everyone in football whether in a paid or voluntary capacity. This means whether you are a volunteer, match
official, helper on club tours, football coach, club official or medical staff.

4. We endorse and adopt The FA’s Responsible Recruitment guidelines for recruiting volunteers and we will:

• Develop a role profile
• Request identification documents
• As a minimum meet and chat with the applicant(s) and where possible conduct interviews before
appointing
• Request and follow up with 2 references before appointing
• Require an FA DBS Unit Enhanced Disclosure where appropriate in line with FA guidelines.

All current Youth League members with direct access to children and young people will be required to complete
a DBS Enhanced Disclosure via The FA Disclosure team. If there are concerns regarding the appropriateness of an
individual who is already involved or who has approached us to become part of The Youth League guidance will
be sought from The Football Association. It is noted and accepted that The FA will consider the relevance and
significance of the information obtained via The FA Disclosure team and that all decisions will be made in the
best interests of children and young people.

It is accepted that The FA aims to prevent people with a history of relevant and significant offending from having
contact with children or young people and the opportunity to influence policies or practice with children or young
people. This is to prevent direct sexual or physical harm to children and to minimize the risk of ‘grooming’ within
football.

5. Walsall Junior Youth Football League supports the FAs Whistle Blowing Policy*. Any adult or young person
with concerns about a colleague can ‘whistle blow’ by contacting the following:

 

•Staffordshire FA email: Support@staffordshirefa.com Phone 01785 256994

•The FA Safeguarding Team email: safeguarding@TheFA.com phone 0800 169 1863

•NSPCC helpline number 0808 800 5000

•Child Protection in Sport Unit via cpsu@nspcc.org.uk

​

You may also wish to escalate to the Police or your Local Authority Children’s service’s

6. Walsall Junior Youth Football League has a Youth League Welfare Officer (YLWO) in line with the FA’s role profile
and required completion of the Safeguarding Children and Welfare Officers Workshop. The post holder will be
involved with Welfare Officer training provided by The FA and/or CFA. The YLWO is the first point of contact
for all league committee members regarding concerns about the welfare of any child or young person. The
YLWO will liaise directly with the CFA Welfare Officer and will be familiar with the procedures for referring any
concerns. They will also play a proactive role in increasing awareness of Respect, poor practice and abuse
amongst CWO and their members and League Committee members. In addition to this League Committee
members will complete the on line safeguarding for Committee members course in line with the FA
safeguarding policies.

7. We acknowledge and endorse The FA’s identification of bullying as a category of abuse. Bullying of any kind is
not acceptable at our league. If bullying does occur, all players or parents/carers should be able to tell and
know that incidents will be dealt with promptly. Incidents need to be reported to the relevant CWO or YLWO
or alternatively in cases of serious bullying we may contact the CFA Designated safeguarding Officer.

8. Respect codes of conduct for Players, Parents/ Spectators, Officials and Coaches have been implemented by
Walsall Junior Youth Football League. In order to validate these Respect codes of conduct the league has clear
actions it will take regarding repeated or serious misconduct at club level and acknowledges the possibility of
potential sanctions which may be implemented by the CFA in more serious circumstances. All registering clubs
will be required to adopt the Respect codes.

9. Reporting your concerns about the welfare of a child or young person:

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility if you are worried about a child, it is important that you report your
concerns – no action is not an option.

i.      If you are worried about a child then you need to report your concerns to the YLWO.

ii.     If the issue is one of poor practice they will either: deal with the matter themselves or - seek advice
from the County FA Designated safeguarding officer.

iii.    If the concern is more serious – possible child abuse they will where possible contact the County FA
Designated safeguarding Officer first, then immediately contact the Police or Children’s Services.

iv.    If the child needs immediate medical treatment take them to a hospital or call an ambulance and tell
them this is a child protection concern. Let your County FA Designated safeguarding Officer know what action
you have taken.

v.   If at any time you are not able to contact your YLWO or the matter is serious then you can either: contact your
County FA Designated safeguarding officer via email support@staffordshirefa.com or call The FA/NSPCC 24
hour Helpline for advice on 0808 800 5000 or contact the Police or Local Authority Children’s Services. 

NB - The FA’s Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures are available to view on the FA website (click on the
‘downloads’ under Policy and Procedures), these outline in detail what to do if you are concerned about the
welfare of a child and includes flow diagrams to describe this process.

10. Further advice on Safeguarding Children matters can be obtained from:

​

• Staffordshire FA Designated safeguarding officer email support@staffordshirefa.com
• The Football Association (The FA) Wembley Stadium, PO Box 1966, London, SW1P 9EQ Tel:
0844 980 8200 Email: info@thefa.com

• Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) National Training Centre 3 Gilmour Close, Beaumont
Leys, Leicester, LE4 1EZ. Tel: 0116 234 7278 Email: cpsu@nspcc.org.uk www.nspcc.org.uk
• Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) 33 Vauxhall Bridge Road London, SW1V
2WG

​

​