There may be warning signs that a child is being abused, and as an official/volunteer coming into contact with a child regularly you may notice these signs. Although the following don’t always mean that abuse is happening, common signs in children may include:  

• Unexplained changes in the behaviour or personality.  
• Becoming secretive.  
• A child becoming withdrawn and / or seeming anxious.  
• Becoming uncharacteristically aggressive.  
• A child displaying poor social skills and having few friends.  
• A child displaying a poor relationship with their parent / carer.  
• Knowledge of adult issues inappropriate for their age.  
• Running away or going missing.  
• Unexplained injuries  
• A child who self-harms.  
• A child wearing clothes which cover their whole body at times when it is too warm to do this.  
• Talk of a new, older friend and unexplained money or gifts.  
• Children in sport are at increased risk of the emotional abuse if they are put under too much pressure or receive excessive chastisement for poor performance. Coaches in particular need to be mindful of this type of abuse.  

If you spot any of these signs in a child, we recommend you take advice from your club Welfare Officer, the Nottinghamshire FA Safeguarding Team or contact children’s services.

A child may choose to make a disclosure to you about a problem they are having. It can be hard to know what to do and how to respond. The NSPCC have some advice here: What to do if a child reveals abuse | NSPCC

After the disclosure, make a note of what the child has told you in as much detail as you can remember.

Please do not talk to the abuser about the child’s disclosure as it could make the situation worse for the child.

Report abuse immediately to club Welfare Officer or, if they are not available, to Nottinghamshire FA’s Safeguarding Team. If it is an emergency contact the police and / or Children’s Services team.

Poor Practice is behaviour which falls below the standard required by a club as set out in the Code of Conduct. Some poor practice is categorised as misconduct and these incidents must be referred to the County FA’s Discipline Team to deal with. However, some poor practice may be regarded as a safeguarding concern. 

Whilst the behaviour may not be immediately dangerous or intentionally harmful it does set a poor example and if it were to continue, and it might lead to harm or put a child in danger.

To allow poor practice to continue unchallenged may result in an environment developing in which abuse may be able to take place. It normalises behaviour which is unacceptable and should not be condoned. It may also lead to other people having suspicions about an individual’s motivations, even if there was no intention to harm.

If it is decided that the matter is one of poor practice and is to be dealt with by the club then it will need to be referred to the club safeguarding committee (which could simply be the Club Chair, Secretary and Welfare Officer depending on the club constitution) to be dealt with as quickly as possible. It is important that club rules refer to poor practice to enable such issues to be dealt with through that process.

• Failure to provide effective supervision for coaching sessions which should be properly planned;

• Putting performance over the wellbeing and safety of players;

• Having a win at all costs mentality and failing to be gracious in defeat;

• Having favourites and not treating all children fairly and equitably;

• Overtraining and exerting undue influence over players;

• Using punishments that humiliate or harm children 

• Not holding required FA coaching qualifications for the role being carried out;

• Providing one to one coaching without any supervision or the presence of other adults;

• Inappropriate use of social media;

• Failure to encourage children to accept responsibility for their own performance and behaviour;

• Engaging in, or tolerating, offensive, insulting or abusive language or behaviour;

• Failure to challenge poor practice in others;

• Allowing allegations of abuse to go unchallenged or unrecorded and failing to report these to the DSO;

• Failure to record incidents or accidents;

• First aid being administered without others being present other than in an emergency;

• Not referring more serious medical incidents to the club first aider;

• Not having access to a telephone to be able to immediately contact emergency services if necessary;

• Not working as part of a team to ensure the safety of children in their care;

• Failing to address the additional needs of disabled players or other vulnerable groups;

• Allowing confidential information to be shared inappropriately;

• Failure to respect and listen to the opinions of children and consider the rights and responsibilities of children;

• Smoking and consuming alcohol during coaching sessions;

• Spending excessive time alone with children;

• Taking children to their own home;

• Not adhering to guidance when transporting children including travel abroad.

The above list is not an exhaustive one but it should give an idea of the type of behaviour which constitutes poor practice.