Safeguarding

We want players and parents to be secure in the knowledge that netball is a fun, safe and inclusive sport, which is why accessing important information around safeguarding is essential

Safeguarding is a hugely important part of running a netball club, but one that is sometimes not spoken about enough. It is vital that anyone running a netball club has a good understanding of their club’s safeguarding procedures, and where they can access support from England Netball should they need it.

Whilst it is rare, it is an unfortunate reality that some coaches choose to abuse their position of trust and power to bully athletes. This behaviour can include shouting and swearing at children, belittling their mistakes, and singling them out in front of teammates for showing emotion.

In some clubs this behaviour is able to continue because volunteers, players and parents might either be afraid of the coach or fearful of the consequences of speaking out – such as being deselected from the team.

This is part of the reason why it is so important that all netball clubs keep their DBS checks and safeguarding training up to date.

There are many questions to be aware of around the issue of safeguarding
• If you are a parent, do you know who is coaching your child?
• Have they been DBS checked?
• Do you know who your club safeguarding or welfare officer is?
• Does the club invite you in, or seek feedback about coaching style and training sessions?
• If you are a player, do you feel able to question how things are done?
• Do you know who you would go to if you were concerned, and do you trust them to take it seriously?

A safe, healthy club should feel fun, everyone should feel included and players’ voices should be heard. Players and parents should feel free to share any concerns they might have.

Here at England Netball, Dickon Turner is our Safeguarding and Welfare Manager, and Carolina Hutchinson fulfils the role of our Safeguarding and Compliance coordinator.

Over the last few months they have sent out safeguarding newsletters to registered netball clubs, and hosted online drop-in sessions to answer queries and offer advice. They are working with clubs to make sure safeguarding officers, DBS checks and safeguarding training are all in place.

Want to help us make netball even more fun, safe and inclusive?

We have improved our safeguarding webpages to make them easier to navigate and added new documents to help everyone work towards making our great sport as safe as possible for everyone.

Val Kindred, who volunteers in the East Midlands said: “The safeguarding section on the website gives clear guidance with examples, not just for welfare or safeguarding officers. It includes information for parents and coaches, young people, and volunteers about what being safe in netball should look like such as ‘safe club’ examples, documentation and other links.”

Shivani Patel, the Club Safeguarding Officer at Kingsway Power Netball Club, says: “I found the safeguarding pages easy to navigate with a wealth of useful information. This ranged from policies, procedures, role descriptions and information on the safeguarding drop-in sessions I subsequently attended. As a result, we are already implementing some changes to improve the general wellbeing of all club members at Kingsway Power. I would recommend that everyone involved in safeguarding in sports review this information to ensure safeguarding practices are followed.”

Check out our safeguarding web pages here