CHILD PROTECTION is being placed high on the Guernsey Football Association’s agenda of key issues to tackle. The GFA has fully embraced the FA’s Goal programme which is aimed at having a responsible person at every club in the country, whether it be a Premiership side or a Sunday morning team, aware of child protection and best practice.

The GFA’s development officer, Chris Pringle, backs it all the way.

‘Goal is about doing things the right way and doing things properly. It’s about allowing children to enjoy the game without the risk of abuse of any kind.

‘That means bullying, physical, emotional or sexual abuse and neglect. The FA, quite rightly, believes that football can have a powerful influence on children and that everyone involved in the game, therefore, must take responsibility for looking after children that want to play the game.’

The GFA have completed their first and most urgent task, which was to have all senior clubs’ and affiliated bodies’ child welfare officers appointed and screened by the Criminal Records Bureau by 30 June and they are now embarking on the next, larger task of having CRB checks undertaken for everybody involved in the local game who might come into contact with children aged under 18.

This potentially includes club and island coaches and team managers, club officials and committee members, as well as the GFA’s directors and staff.

The GFA are looking to complete this exercise by 1 August and have been supporting local clubs by providing full training to CWOs by organising child protection seminars for key club personnel and providing FA authorised in-island identity document verifiers to assist with the inevitable paperwork.

Sara Mallett, the GFA’s child protection officer, said: ‘This is one of the most important initiatives that the GFA has embarked upon recently and, with our very prominent youth following in Guernsey football, we must do all we can to safeguard the best interests of our stars of tomorrow.

‘Although, thankfully, incidents of serious child abuse are rare, we are also keen to address those forms of abuse that can inadvertently occur in local football, such as injury caused by overburdening our young players with too many games.’

Chris Schofield, the GFA’s director of youth and football development, said: ‘This is a large and onerous task that we are now tackling within our local game, but quite obviously a crucial one.

‘Once the initial task of bringing our rules into line with the Best Practice guidelines expected by our national governing body, the FA, has been completed, though, we are confident that the ongoing monitoring thereafter will be relatively painless. If it means that one child is protected from harm, today or in the future, it will be worth it.’

* Further details of child protection training are available from Chris Pringle, football development officer, on 200443.