sports coach UK Develop Your Coaching Workshop–

Safeguarding and Protecting Children

Handout 3– What Action Would You Take?

Identify what action you would take in the following scenario:

  1. You are Simone’s coach. Simone is 14 years old and she confides in you:

‘My step dad got into my bed last night when my mum was on night duty. He said he could not sleep because he was cold. He said that he was just getting to know me better, and that I should not tell mum as she would not believe me. He said that I would be put into a home if I told her. I am scared and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to tell anyone, especially not my mum. She took an overdose when her last boyfriend left.’

  1. You are a coach at the local club and work alongside Tom when coaching the junior squad. You and Tom have known each other for over 10 years and are great friends. Carla, one of the 13-year-old players from the squad, asks to speak with you, and confides:

‘Can I talk to you – I am scared and I don’t know what to do. Tom gives me a lift home in his car from coaching each week. Last night he tried to kiss and cuddle me. He told me not to tell, that it would be our secret and that I was someone special and really talented, and I’d be thrown out of the club if I told anyone. You won’t say anything will you?’

  1. You are Jane’s coach. Jane is 14 and she confides in you:

‘You must promise not to tell anyone – but I think I am pregnant. I’m really scared. My dad will kill me if he finds out. I feel like running away – I don’t know what to do. Don’t tell anyone, will you?’

  1. A new coach arrives in the area and has come along to the club to ask if there are any opportunities to coach at your club. The club have a recruitment policy, part of which requires that all new volunteers/coaches complete a self-disclosure form. The coach is a little hesitant, but agrees to complete the form. On the form, he indicates that he has a conviction for unlawful sex with a minor, and possession of drugs. His references indicate that he is reliable and a very good coach. What do you do?
  1. You have heard that the coach of the under-13s team has been showering with the players after training and matches. What do you do?
  1. Within your role as Welfare Officer, you receive a letter of complaint from the parents of one of your female players, Joanna. The letter details a number of different incidents when the coach has sworn and shouted at Joanna for not training hard enough and talking when she was meant to be training. What would you do?
  1. One of the coaches within the club asks to speak to you in confidence, in your capacity as Welfare Officer for the club. She explains that she has been watching Derek, one of the senior coaches in the club, and that she is uneasy with some of the methods he is using when coaching the under-13s. She explains that she has seen him make some of the young people do press-ups and run around the playing area, she believes, as punishments. She is very concerned and considers this inappropriate. What would you do?
  1. You are the Welfare Officer at your club. You receive an anonymous letter telling you that Sophie (one of your 15-year-old players) is seeing John (20-years-old), who is one of your coaches. John is one of your star coaches who you have mentored for over two years. What would you do?
  1. Your club’s under-14 side has just won the league after playing in a nail-biting final against its long-standing rivals. After the match, you are all in the clubhouse celebrating and awaiting the presentation of the trophies. Terry, coach to the winning team, has just bought the team a round of beers/lagers, and is encouraging the team to drink them in one. Terry has coached the team for the last two years and has been a coach at the club for 12 years, and a friend of yours for over 20 years. What do you do?
  1. You are Treasurer of the club and one of the club’s female players, Jenny, asks to speak to you in confidence about her brother Fred, who is one of the club’s star players. Fred (aged 15) is very worried about coming to training, but realises that if he doesn’t, then he will not be eligible for selection for the team for Saturday. Fred has told Jenny that Dave (the Club Chairman) tried to kiss him. Dave told Fred that if he told anyone, he would be dropped from the team and even banned from the club. What would you do?

sports coach UK Develop Your Coaching Workshop Safeguarding and Protecting Children