Parents in Sports Week 2019
A national awareness raising campaign, Parents in Sport Week is a chance to showcase your organisation or club’s creativity and build positive relationships with
parents and carers.
“Parents, through their support, encouragement and understanding, play a pivotal
role in supporting their child’s participation, success and fun when playing sport. It’s
essential that sports clubs communicate regularly with parents so that both coach
and parent work towards the same goals.”
– Paul Stephenson, NSPCC CPSU
How Safe is your child’s golf club?
Below are five questions, with answers, that you should be asking your child’s golf club to ensure they have a safe and enjoyable experience.
Have the PGA professionals and volunteers completed garda vetting/ enhanced access NI check?
It is now mandatory for all those involved in any work or activity which is carried out by a person, on a continuous, regular and/ or ongoing basis with young people (U18) to complete garda vetting/ enhanced access NI check.
Have all those working with juniors in the club completed the appropriate training?
All those working with juniors are required to complete a Safeguarding 1 basic awareness workshop. All volunteers, coaches, juniors and parents should also sign the club’s codes of conduct annually. Codes of conduct are an essential framework for staff and volunteer interactions with children with regard to support and supervision, training needs and disciplinary actions.
Does the club have a safeguarding policy?
Every golf club must have a safeguarding policy in place to safeguard children. It should be available for all members to read either in the club or the club’s website.
What happens if there’s an accident in the club?
Ask the club if they have a first aider. They should also have your contact details in case of an emergency.
Who can you and your child talk to if there is a problem?
Everyone golf club must have a Club Children’s Officer (CCO) and Designated Liaison Person (DLP). Images of who these are in the club should be prominently displayed in the club so that juniors and adults know who to contact if they have a problem.
The CCO should be child centred in focus and have as the primary aim, the establishment of a child centred ethos within the club. S/he is the link between the children and the adults in the club. S/he also takes responsibility for monitoring and reporting to the Club Management Committee on how club policy impacts on young people and Sports Leaders.
The DLP is responsible for ensuring that reporting procedures within an organisation are followed so that child welfare and protection concerns are referred promptly to the Statutory Authorities. The Designated Liaison Person should record all concerns or allegations of child abuse brought to his/her attention, and the actions taken following receipt of a concern or allegation of child abuse.
For full role description of CCO and DLP read golfs safeguarding policy which is available on our website.
Featured Video
The below video highlights the important role that positive sports parents play in supporting their children to participate and engage in sport.
The following video emphasis the negative effects that sports parents can have on their child’s performance. First thing is for children is that sports should be fun, parents should be good role models and support fair play. This video provides advice on keeping children safe in sports and dealing with pushy parents to help anyone involved in sports activities with children and young people – including coaches, volunteer helpers, activity organisers and parents.
For videos on the importance of parents in sports CLICK HERE
Information for Parents
CGI represents Golf on the Safeguarding Children in Golf (SCIG) group. SCIG is the partnership of governing bodies and golf organisations in the UK and Ireland, and they have a website full of useful tips. There is information for parents about what they should expect and how to give young players essential advice and support. Are you giving your child the support they need to allow them to develop to a level at which they feel comfortable? To support your child in golf have a read of the step-by-step guide see “Supporting your child in golf” on the SCIG website, click here for this and additional information.
Useful Downloads
How aware of you about your child’s safety when using their mobile phones for text, web and social media?
As the golf day can be long and parents are not always near by it is a good idea to have contact with your child using their mobile phone but are you sure that it’s being used in a safe manner?
If there is something you are not able to find in relation to safeguarding please contact: fiona@cgigolf.org or phone 01 505 4272
