Grassroots football should be a place for children to play football freely, with confidence and a smile on their face.

More and more often we are seeing coaches thinking they are managing in the Premier League. Recently my child was forced to leave a club he loved playing for after 7 years because he could no longer put up with the manager’s frequent screaming and shouting. He felt scared, intimidated and worthless.

The club did nothing. The safeguarding officer did nothing and as a result my son was forced to leave and has now given up playing a sport he throughly enjoyed and was really good at. 

He is one example of children up and down the country being exposed to this emotionally damaging environment every week all because of a football game. It has to stop.

Parents would not permit school teachers, or other adult members of society to scream and shout to or in the presence of their children and football should be no different. The impact of being the subject of or exposed to this level of behaviour is damaging to children. It can affect their self esteem, frighten them, normalise such behaviour and is a form of very poor role modelling for a person who is in authority. Above all else, it is bullying. 

This petition is for all coaches at all levels and all age groups of grassroots football to wear body worn cameras  at all times whilst coaching our children.  They can then finally be held accountable for their behaviours and the emotional damage they inflict on their players.  The footage will prove invaluable when considering complaints and ensuring the welfare of children remains paramount. 

The prospect of recording children is a daunting one. All other levels of safeguarding such as other people being present or a competent welfare officer are only as strong as the people implementing them. I have seen other coaches and parents equally intimated and so they say nothing perhaps through fear their child will miss out on game time etc. 

The only way therefore is for some form of tightly regulated audio/visual recording. It is sad it has come to this but the safety of each child playing football every week must be paramount. 

In an era where children’s mental health is more fragile than ever, we should be encouraging safe spaces for them to express themselves through sport. The implementation of body worn cameras allows closer scrutiny of what happens outside the earshot of parents, and tougher sanctions can be imposed by the FA and/or the club to ensure our children can participate in football without fear or anxiety. 

I propose the FA are invited to implement the following rules;

 

1) All official coaches must wear and use body worn cameras from when the first player arrives for training/match until the last player leaves.

2) it must be recording at all times.

3) footage must be downloaded and stored electronically within 24 hours of each session and must be retained for a period of 3 months.

4) the costs of the body worn cameras must be borne by the football club.

5) failure to use body worn cameras and/or retain the footage can lead to the individual coach and/or the club being fined

6) clubs should participate freely in random spot checks and/or requests from parents or Guardian’s only for footage to be released.

7) parents or Guardians of players must be informed in advance of the use of body worn cameras.

8) footage must only be released to those persons with Parental Responsibility and/or a specified organisation such as the FA.

Please show your support for keeping kids safe in grassroots football by signing this petition, anonymously, if necessary. 

Thank you for your support