I’m a Netball Coach

As an England Netball Coach you are in a unique position to safeguard young people and adults at risk (those with care and support needs).

In particular you are the person who determines whether players keep coming back, whether they enjoy the sport, how they relay their experience to friends, family and loved ones. And you have the power to empower, build confidence and grow individuals and teams.

We hope this page helps you to avoid upsetting, disappointing, harming or abusing those who trust you.

As a minimum, to coach children you should have the following:

A current enhanced DBS check (refreshed every 3 years)
The necessary safeguarding training (also refreshed every 3 years)

Once those are in place you could consider the following:

Parents should be encouraged to ask questions and to contribute ideas to the club. This page has advice for parents involved in netball. Your club should have clear expectations of parents’ behaviour towards players and coaches during matches.

This page has some more ideas on how to improve parental involvement in your club:
Improve parental involvement in your club: recommendations for coaches (thecpsu.org.uk).

Safeguarding should be a subject that children, young people and adults at risk are familiar with, not just who the Safeguarding Officer is, but where to find out more information. Young people and adults at risk should be consulted with and listened to.

You could consider regularly seeking feedback during training session, 1:1 chats or surveys about your coaching style, competitions, team management etc.

See here for more ideas:
Involving children and young people in their sport | CPSU

As a coach, you are in a position of power: deciding who is in the team and who isn’t. You contribute to club success, player enjoyment and safety. With power comes responsibility. Good coaches understand that they work in collaboration with clubs, parents, players, children and volunteers. They understand that all those people are all in a bystander position. Coaches should encourage people to call out, challenge and intervene, not create a permissive environment/false consensus.

When things go wrong it is sometimes because the coach is too powerful; for fear of deselection, negative treatment or perceived as failing, people do not feel free to speak out or to question poor practice.

More ideas and guidance via the links below:

Safeguarding In Sport Course | (highspeedtraining.co.uk)
CIMSPA ‘Professional Standard- Working with Children’ CIMSPA-ps-working-with-children
Play Their Way – www.playtheirway.org
Tips for coaching girls – Play Their Way – Coaching Girls in Sport
Links relating to Neurodiversity in sport
Create a Psychologically Safe environment Creating a psychologically safe culture | CPSU
Safeguarding talented and elite athletes | CPSU
Paul Stewart – Podcast – Creating safer cultures in sport | CPSU
Or the wrong culture? Mary Cain’s story I Was the Fastest Girl in America – YouTube,

To view and download Guidance, Polocies and Guidance, please visit this page:
Safeguarding Policies and Documents

To raise a safeguarding concern, please visit this page:
I want to report a Safeguarding Concern