Wellbeing & Protection

Child Wellbeing Information for Parents and Carers

Every child has the right to play and take part in a wide range of activities. Parents and carers play a pivotal role in encouraging and supporting this right to participation, success and fun, especially within football. Taking simple steps as a parent/carer can help encourage and support their participation, such as:

• Speak with your child about their involvement in football;
• Understand why they are participating in football;
• Talk to them about why you, as a parent/carer, want them to be involved in football;
• Set out some shared goals and create a shared understanding of your child’s participation in football.

The video below has been created by the NSPCC to help identify how parents/carers can be involved within their child’s sport and encourage them to enjoy participating:

The Scottish FA understands that your involvement is important and as a priority is working to make sure that the wellbeing and protection of your child involved within the game is the upmost priority, whatever role they have within the game. With this in mind, the Scottish FA has its own wellbeing and protection policy, Child Wellbeing and Protection in Scottish Football. This policy sets out the Scottish FA’s commitment, standards, expectations and procedures within the game to ensure that children and young people are safe when they get involved and develop in football.

The Scottish FA’s policy can be found by clicking here.

How to raise a concern

Should you as a parent or carer have a concern regarding your child, another child involved in the game or have a concern regarding the conduct of an adult towards a child, it is important that this is reported as soon as possible. You can either:

• Speak with your club’s Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer;
• Report it to the Affiliated National Association that your child’s club is registered with;
• Contact the Wellbeing & Protection team here at the Scottish FA at childrenswellbeing@scottishfa.co.uk or 0141 616 6133.

If you have an immediate concern for the safety and wellbeing of a child or young person, please contact Police Scotland on 101, 999 in an emergency, or children’s social care in your area without delay.

Child Wellbeing Standards & Expectations for clubs

The Scottish FA has standards and expectations when it comes to child wellbeing and protection practices within clubs in Scottish Football. These standards are in place to ensure that any child or young person who is involved in the game has an experience where they are safe, respected and have the right to be heard.

You can find out more information on these standards on the information for clubs page here.

Safeguarding in Sport's 10 questions 

Safeguarding in Sport, a function of Scotland’s National Children’s Charity – Children1st, have developed a parent’s guide which outlines 10 questions that parents can ask any sports club so they are able to familiarise themselves with child protection processes within that club, reduce any anxieties and build confidence that their child will be safe and enjoy the benefits of sport, including football.

Parents should look to answer these questions before their child gets directly involved in football. To access this guide,  please click here. 

Players who are in the national team

If your child is selected for one of the Scotland national teams, their safety, wellbeing and protection is our utmost priority and therefore the policy stated above along with its procedures are applicable for any national team activity. When squads are announced for the national team, each squad has an identified Child Wellbeing & Protection Officer which is identified within the squad letter that you will receive upon selection into the squad. This person will be the point of contact with the squad for any concerns that are raised by yourself or your child during the trip. Contact details for the Head of Wellbeing and Protection based at Hampden will also be included in the letter and they can also be contacted before, during or after any national team activities.

Registration Process

It is important that parents/carers understand the registration process and what it means for a young person participating in football before registering with a professional club.

To help you with this, the Scottish FA has produced ‘Registration; a guide for children and young people playing within Club Academy Scotland Programme’ to ensure that you and your child are aware of the Scottish FA registration procedures, how to go about seeking the cancellation of a player registration and information about the reimbursement of training costs between clubs.

Please note that children and young people should only be registering with the Scottish FA if they become involved with Club Academy Scotland. Any other registration will be handled by the appropriate Affiliated National Association. Any other registration enquiries should be directed through them. Contact information for the Affiliated National Associations can be found here.

For guidance on what to consider if you are thinking about engaging the services of an intermediary (Football agent) please take time to read Information for Parents and Carers on the role of intermediaries.

Useful Links

For more information on further national support services and resources for wellbeing & protection, please click here.