Making Sure An Existing Club Is Suitable

There are literally thousands of clubs throughout the UK; some (probably the majority) will be run very well by adults who really care about the kids and put them first. There will also be a few who are poorly organised or, perhaps, run by a manager who is in it for himself rather than the kids.

All national football associations have guidelines that they want clubs to meet in providing grassroots football. To improve standards, the FA introduced a number of criteria that clubs have to meet. If they meet these levels of provision they are awarded Charter Standard status. This is, effectively, a 'kitemark' that says that the club is run very well.

If the club you are interested in for your child has this award, you can be very confident that it is run very well; however this certainly doesn't mean that clubs who don't have the marque should be avoided. The award does take some time to achieve so the club may well be run on a very sound basis while it makes its award application. There will also be well run clubs that just haven't applied to be recognised, but would still be a great environment in which your child would enjoy their football.

A simple way of assessing the merits of a club is to use the Charter Standard guidelines as a benchmark. Even if the club doesn't have the award, you can still assess their suitability by 'ticking off' their performance in the key areas.

FA Charter Standard (other national associations will have similar schemes)

• Qualified Coaches- There are different coaching levels, but anyone running a junior team should be qualified to Level 1. This demonstrates they will know about coaching, child protection and they will also be a qualified first aider.

• CRB checked-Everyone who has any involvement with children must be CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checked. This is a must.

• Constitution/Code of Conduct/Child Protection Policy – All well run clubs will have these policies in place and will be happy to provide copies. (Click here for typical examples).

• Affiliated to a County FA. It is expected that all clubs are affiliated to their regional governing body.

• Committee (including CPO). Ask for details of who runs the club.