The Scottish Youth FA Player Protection Policy & Guidelines

The Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA) is an organisation set up in 1999 to oversee grassroots recreation youth football. The objects of the Association are to legislate for, foster, develop and improve the game of Association Football amongst all classes of youth football clubs, leagues or associations of such clubs in Scotland.
 
The SYFA is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all players in its care. The SYFA recognises the responsibility to promote safe practice and to protect players from harm, abuse and exploitation.
 
SYFA Staff and all officials will work together to embrace difference and diversity and respect the rights of children and young people. The SYFA is fully committed to and recognises the importance of the volunteer sector without whom it would be impossible for football to function at grassroots level in Scotland.

This revised document outlines the SYFA commitment to protect all players. These guidelines are based on the following principles and are supported by our work and experiences over a number of years:

 The welfare of players is the primary concern

All players, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, socio-economic status, religious belief and/or sexual identity have the right to protection from all forms of harm and abuse

Player protection is the responsibility of all SYFA members

Players have a right to express their views on all matters which affect them and should be encouraged to do so in appropriate ways e.g. at club meetings

The SYFA shall work in partnership together with players and parents to promote the welfare, health and development of player.

Why protecting players is important to the SYFA Executive Committee
There are many reasons why the SYFA needs to address, plan and implement the protection of children and young people. It: 
Will help to ensure the governing body and member clubs fulfill legal and moral obligations for the care and protection of players

Sends a positive message to both players and parents about the value you place on players and their participation in your sport

Sends a positive message to staff and officials that you will support and guide them when they work with players and you will put safeguards in place to minimise risk to all

Sets the standards and expectations for everyone working in the sport and provides a benchmark against which practice can be measured and challenged

Builds a legacy for the future of the sport

Reduces the risk of successful legal action against the organisation by ensuring that all legal duties have been fulfilled and that all reasonable steps have been taken to safeguard and promote the health, welfare and development of players  

Part V of the Police Act 1997 is aimed at helping employers and voluntary organisations assess the suitability of applicants for particular posts and to make safer recruitment decisions in relation to positions of trust by widening access to criminal record information. To this end, the Act provides for the issue of criminal conviction certificates, criminal record certificates, and enhanced criminal record certificates. In Scotland, Disclosure Scotland will issue these certificates. Due to the flexible nature of the work carried out by our volunteers and the ability to have unrestricted access to children the SYFA will only carry out Enhanced Disclosure checks. 
 
The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 aims to improve safeguards for children by preventing unsuitable people from working with them. 

The Act provides for Scottish Ministers to keep the Disqualified from Working with Children List.

The Scottish Youth FA has a legal duty to make a referral to Scottish Ministers if an individual working with players harms a child or puts a child at risk of harm AND is dismissed or moved away from access to children as a consequence. In addition, a person working with players who harms a child or puts a child at risk of harm AND would have been dismissed if they had not resigned, retired, been made redundant or left at the end of a temporary contract, must also be referred to Scottish Ministers. The Scottish Youth FA will have committed an offence if it fails to make referrals to the list where the criterion for making referrals has been met. The List will include those convicted of an offence against a child, when the court considers them to be unsuitable to work with children.
 
Those who have been fully listed by the Scottish Ministers will commit a criminal offence if they apply to or work with children. It will be an offence for an organisation to knowingly employ a person to work with children if that person has been fully listed by the Scottish Ministers. The fact that someone is on the List, either fully listed or provisionally listed, will be released as part of a Disclosure Application available from Disclosure Scotland.

The List helps to strengthen the safeguards already in place to protect children.

The 2006 Accord for the Protection of Children in Scottish Sport presents a support framework to help organisations work towards recommended good practice in protecting children and to fulfill their responsibilities as part of the Scottish Executive’s Reform Programme.

To download the 2006 Accord for the Protection of Children in Scottish Sport, please click on the follow link:   2006 Accord

The SYFA has designed the policy statement listed at section 1 of this policy, which assists compliance with the various laws, both national and international, and must be implemented by all SYFA member officials, clubs, leagues, associations and regions.