The first stage of any recruitment process involves planning. Club officials should draw up a role profile, which highlights the main areas of an identified voluntary role. They should also decide upon the skills and experience that an individual would need to fulfil the requirements of the role and draw up a person specification. The club recruitment process must be developed in such a way that they treat every applicant in a fair and consistent manner.
Advertising
In order to attract new volunteers it may be necessary to advertise outside the club itself, for example, on a sports hall notice board, a local school, shop/community hall or newspaper.
The advertisement should reflect the club’s Child Protection Policy and it should contain the skills and experience required and the duties to be undertaken. However, it should not discriminate in terms of age, race, gender or disability.
Application Form
Clubs should use application forms to collect information on each applicant. The Volunteer Application Form can be adopted for club use. Each applicant’s information is then collected in a consistent way.
More than one official should look at the application forms to ensure that a fair and equitable scrutiny is completed. It’s very important that clubs ask for identification documents to confirm the identity of the applicant, for example, a passport or driving licence.
Meeting/Interview
It is highly recommended that club officials meet with all applicants prior to any recruitment decisions being made. More than one official should be present. The meeting/interview will enable the club to explore further the information provided in the application form. The questions to be asked should be prepared in advance and should provide the applicant with the opportunity to recount previous experiences and give examples of how they have or would handle situations.
Whilst it is important to elicit information regarding an applicant’s technical capabilities it is also necessary to explore his or her attitudes and commitment to child welfare. Listed below are examples of questions that could be used to discover this information:
- Tell us about any previous experience you have working with children or young people.
- Give a child related scenario and ask the applicants what they would do. For example, ‘It is a winter evening and the training session has finished. A parent has not arrived to pick up their child. What would you do?’ The applicant would be expected to say that they would stay with the child and contact the parents to find out where they were.
- Is there anything we should know that could affect your suitability to work with children or young people?
References
At least two references should be requested from individuals who are not related to the applicant.
One reference should be associated with the applicant’s place of work and if possible one that demonstrates the individual has been involved in sport, particularly children’s football previously.
References should be followed up prior to any offer of appointment being made. If the references raise any concerns you are dvised to contact The FA Child Protection department for advice and guidance.
Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) Disclosures CRB checks are another tool in the recruitment procedure.
A CRB Enhanced Disclosure tells The FA about a person’s recorded offences. It can indicate that a person is not a suitable person to work with children, for example if they have a history of sexual offending.
It may also tell The FA that further investigations are required, for example if the person has a history of drug dealing or racist offending.
Volunteers and others in football should be assured that The FA will take into account the Rehabilitant of Offenders Act and only consider offences which are relevant to the care, supervision and training of children.
The FA is not allowed to tell the club or County FA about the actual offending and so applicants can be assured of confidentiality. The FA will however tell the club and County FA whether or not the person is considered suitable to work with children.
Applications for CRB checks should be dealt with by the club’s designated person for Child
Protection. If an applicant claims to have an FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure the club should
seek advice from The FA CRB Unit or the Goal website on how to proceed.
Further information can be found by visiting www.TheFA.com/Goal
Recruitment Decisions
Clubs should consider all the information they receive via the application form, confirmation of identity, the outcome of the take up of references and the FA CRB Unit Enhanced Disclosure. This information should then be considered alongside the outcome of the meeting/interview to make an informed decision as to whether or not to accept the applicant into their club.
Post Recruitment
It is important that once a new volunteer has been recruited follow up action is taken, for example:
- Any qualifications should be substantiated, for example, requesting photocopies of coaching certificates
- That new volunteers are made aware and sign up to the club’s child protection policy and procedures, best practice guidelines and any codes of conduct
- That any training needs are established and actioned statement of the roles and responsibilities of the new volunteer is prepared
- Initially, a period of supervision/observation or mentoring could be introduced to support the new volunteer.
Summary
Child protection is about putting in place the best possible practices and procedures; this will protect not only the child but also you, the adult, in football. If you have any comments on this guideline or require any further support or guidance relating to children and young people, please contact
The FA Equality and Child Protection Department
The Football Association
25 Soho Square
London W1D 4FA
Telephone: 0800 085 0506
goal@TheFA.com
www.TheFA.com/Goal
Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association. Registration Number DYD00535
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