As the schools we work in and mostly non-community schools, our Coaches take the role of mentor to these children and need to under-go the relevant training to be able to cope with these demands.
Child protection within the sporting environment is all about keeping the children safe from ANY form of abuse. This means keeping the actual environment safe as well as having “safe” people working with them. The environment needs to be a FUN and SAFE environment and at all costs children must be protected against neglect, physical and emotional abuse.
Where children feel safe to be heard and it is vital for Coaches to listen and refer the children if they suspect any form of abuse.
If all of the below happens – then a happy safe environment prevails and coaches can have fun teaching and children can have fun learning and Parents can feel secured that their children are in safe hands and in a safe environment.
1. The mains forms of abuse are:
- Physical – hitting, pinching, hurting physically
- Sexual abuse – kissing or touching inappropriately for your own benefit/gratification
- Emotional abuse – constantly downing on the child and mocking publicly
- Neglect – ignoring child constantly and not providing a safe, warm, respectful environment
- Bullying – unwanted aggressive behavior by other children, making threats and spreading rumours about children
- Child labour – forcing the child to work for money, exploitation and inappropriate behaviours
- Child trafficking – offering bribes in order to recruit for better opportunities to children
- Discrimination – ignoring child because you don’t like something about them
- Sexual grooming – articles or inappropriate footage of children for sexual exploitation
2. Our steps to Child Protection:
- Step 1 – develop our own Child Protection Policy which indicates and reaffirms the “Duty or Standard of Care” both along the legal lines and the safety concerns
- Step 2 – develop procedure and systems to respond to safeguarding concerns – this is a step by step guide on what to do in different situations and clarifies roles, responsibilities, as well as lines of communication and recording of issues.
- Step 3 – prevention – these are measures to minimize the risks of abuse to those working with children and include recruiting of staff, assessing suitability of coaches, travel guidelines and indemnity forms, operating standards and adequate supervision.
- Step 4 – Code of Practice – these depict the acceptable standards of behavior that will guarantee a safe, FUN environment, with the necessary disciplines and processes in place to sustain this environment.
- Step 5 – equity – children have equal rights to adults and each needs to treat eac other with respect and dignity and fairness. Zero tolerance for any offensive behavior.
- Step 6 – Communication – concerns consulting and listening to all parties especially regarding information on due processes, where to go for help, and a language that all can understand. Understand what kinds f listeners you are dealing with in order to gain maximum benefits.
- Step 7 – Education and training – opportunities to develop and maintain necessary skills and training opportunities for teachers, trainers and volunteers in order to keep the environment safe and FUN for the children.
- Step 8 – access to advice and support – create an environment where children feel safe to come to you especially if they are feeling vulnerable, so that the necessary support can be given.
- Step 9 – implementation and monitoring – make sure that actions are in place to ensure measures are in place. Be able to monitor and evaluate actions and effectiveness thereof. Outline all steps and who is responsible for what.
- Step 10 – Influencing –actions taken by an organization to influence, encourage and promote the adoption and implementation of such a policy by other organisations. Very important that larger organisations obligated to promote such measures and lead by example.
3. Physiological Considerations – Environmental/Medical considerations:
- Facilities should be maintained and kept in a safe conditions at all times
- Learners should be properly supervised on how to use equipment at all times
- modify equipment and rules and keep them age related
- cancel matches or practices if surfaces are unsafe or wet and slippery.
- Risk-Injury to athlete. Likelihood of an incident (high/Medium/low) *Strategy to reduce risk
4.Orientation for the Parents – laying rules and regulations in place
Can be avoided by making the learners part of the rules and conducts strategies of each environment
- Identify at risk situations and implement strategies to deal with factors which make the abuse of children and young persons more likely (doping, unwanted behaviour and the like)
- To identify children and young persons who are at risk and implement relevant strategies and safeguarding protocols
- To safeguard children or young persons who have suffered harm or are at risk of suffering harm
- To ensure that all reasonable efforts ae made to safely support children or young persons within the sporting environment
- To minimize the risk of secondary abuse once the risk is identified.
5. Take appropriate preventative measures to avoid spread of infections:
- Stop sharing drink bottles
- Removing or cleaning blood stained clothes/equipment
- Keep infected players away from training and the competitive areas
- Maintain strict personal hygiene standards.
6. STOP Guidelines for Coaches:
S – STOP – stop moving / keep players calm and not to panic
T – Talk – to injured players – ask questions about what happened and where does it hurt, have you injured this before? What sort of pain is it dull, throbbing, sharp pain?
O – observe – whilst talking to players observe their behaviour is it normal, confused and dazed, which area looks swollen / cut / does it hurt when moved / is there tenderness to the touch
P – prevent – further injury and decide on the following options: severe injury / less severe just soft tissue sprain / minor injury bumps or bruises.
7. How do you incorporate child safety requirements into the coaching environment?
- The role of the coach in the coaching environment is very important: The coach is seen as a “God “in the children’s eyes, and therefore have to give the correct guidance and appropriate advice. They also cannot give advice beyond their level of qualifications.
- Coaches are suggested to bring in partners to advise of Drugs, exercise etc if these are not within their scope of expertise.
- It is important to treat all people with respect – no matter their age or level of play and to not abuse their trust of the status they have given you as coach. Also important to be caring and prepared to listen to what they say. Nowadays, many parents don’t listen to their children anymore and the Coach plays an important confidant role at times.
- It is important to be mindful of the fact that every child is different and not to expect too much from them. Encourage them to achieve to the best of THEIR abilities and do not encourage them to compete against each other at all costs.
- Never advise players to take any forms of steroids or drugs. If you suspect a player of using substance then do drug tests on all the players so as to not pinpoint your accusations at any one person. Then get in a speaker who is qualifies in this arena to give information to your players.
- It is very important to check that the people that you employ have been verified and checked.
- They should produce a Police clearance certificate / come via referrals / have no criminal records and they should have a first Aid course and even Child Protection courses behind their names.
- It is also important that players form part of this “rule making” process as this will assist them in keeping to the rules and understanding why the rules are in place.
The school must get a learner information form in place which encourages the children to share their dreams and aspirations – as well as any allergies, diseases, past injuries and in-capabilities that they might have so that the school can be prepared for these at any time.
- The school must also follow the laws and know when a PDP licence is required and not take risks by allowing just anyone to carry the children to events.
- The coaching school should have a Policy / Code of conduct in place which covers all sensitive areas of working with children and the consequences of not complying:
- Rules and regulations about touching children
- Rules and regulations about not taking photographs and exhibiting them anywhere
- Rules about Child Abuse that coves all aspects of Physical / emotional and verbal abuses.
- There must be consequences put into place for the above which include dismissal and prosecution if found to be real.
8. Tennis specific coaching Philosophy:
- On court safety if even more important. Tennis, for example, is a game where racquets get swung around and balls get hit all over the place.
- It is very important that children have “court etiquette” and know how to behave on a court. No wild running around and swinging racquets in each other’s faces / at each other’s heads. Racquets to hang gently down to the ground – walk in a brisk manner and only run when instructed to by the coach.
- Keep eyes clear of any sharp metal fence pieces that might be broken and sticking out – for this reason court and equipment maintenance is also important.
- Keeping fences mended to avoid sharp slippery pieces which could impale into eyes.
- Cleaning and sweeping of sand off courts so that they do not become overly slippery especially when wet.
- Making the picking up of balls out of the playing area a fun game that promotes safety at the same time.
9. Parents play a very important role in their child’s development. They should:
- Not ever force their child to do something that they hate to do and they should be fair and realistic in their child’s development
- They should encourage and positively motivate the children to enjoy and have fun
- They should always keep the admin forms up to date with regards to allergies, injuries and contact details.
- Deliver their child punctually to sports and collect again timeously.
- Ensure that their children have the correct sporting wear and shoes and protective gear should it be required.
- Always inform the school if early pick-ups or alterative arrangements have been made for the collection of the child so that the coach knows he can release the child into safety
- Encourage the children to be fair and play by the rules and make sure that the children understand the code of conduct – this should be done by leading by example and being a fair and just Parent, and not embarrassing their child with poor inappropriate behavior from the sidelines – we all know children learn by watching adult behavior.
10.Responsibility lies with the following people:
- Administrators – have a legal duty to protect and care for the welfare of young children. Member Protection Regulations should be in place by the National body to screen the right people for the right roles. Discrimination in any form is prohibited and equal Promotion of equality is encouraged.
- Parents – have a right to be assured that their children are safeguarded during sports and should anything happen to the child – the Parent has every right to know about it. The Parent is the boss of the child and must be involved with all decisions as regards to their child – consenting to each and every deviation of the normal sports. They also have the right to speak to Coaches and schools about any concerns that they have without the child being victimized.
- The Players/ Athletes themselves have the right to be safe from any violence, abuse and neglect. For this reason, it is very important to create a safe and secure environment