• Be aware that situations may occur when, in order to teach or coach certain techniques, it is necessary to make contact with the player. In those circumstances, the following must apply:

o Parents and young people must be made aware of situations in which this may happen.
o Physical handling should only be used for safety reasons, when there is no other way of coaching the technique.
o There is to be no contact or touching which is in any way inappropriate or aggressive or not directly related to the coaching context, and there is zero tolerance to any such contact or touching.

• If groups are to be supervised in changing rooms, to always ensure that individuals work in pairs and that gender is appropriate. Young people must not change at the same time or in the same place as adults.

• Where mixed teams compete away from home, they should always be accompanied by at least one male and one female adult.

• That volunteers and professionals must respect the rights, dignity and worth of all; everyone is to be treated with equality.

• Coaches must place the wellbeing and safety of the player above the development and performance. In particular, coaches should:

o Respect the rights, dignity and worth of every child and young person with whom they work and treat them equally.
o Place the physical and emotional wellbeing of all young players above all other considerations, including the development of performance.
o Ensure that all activities undertaken are appropriate to the age, maturity, experience and ability of the players.
o Encourage young players to accept responsibility for their own behaviour and performance.
o Clarify with the young players (and their parents/carers) what is expected of them - both on and off the field (as per the Players’ Code of Conduct) - and what they are entitled to expect from their coaches.
o Avoid overplaying of players (particularly talented players). All players need and deserve equal opportunity to play.
o Work in partnership with other club officials (Chairman, Safeguarding Officer, Wellbeing Lead, First Aiders, etc.) to ensure the wellbeing, safety and enjoyment of all young players.
o Promote the positive aspects of the sport (e.g. fair play, no violations of the Laws of the Game, no behaviour contrary to the spirit of the Laws of the Game or relevant regulations and no use of prohibited techniques or substances which are never to be condoned).
o Recognise that young players should never be exposed to extremes of heat, cold or unacceptable risk of injury.
o Develop an awareness of nutrition as part of an overall education in lifestyle management.
o Recognise that it is illegal for young players under 18 to drink alcohol and that young people should never be allowed to drink alcohol or encouraged to drink alcohol if they are under the legal age to do so.
o Ensure that their knowledge and coaching strategies are up-to-date and in line with RFU philosophy and expectations.
o Ensure they are aware of, and abide by, the policies and procedures outlined in the Safeguarding Policy.
o Recognise the importance of fun and enjoyment when coaching young players. Most learning is achieved through “doing”.
o Appreciate the needs of the players before the needs of the sport.
o Be a positive role model.
o Keep winning and losing in perspective and encourage young players to behave with dignity in all circumstances.
o Respect all referees and the decisions they make (remember it could be you refereeing next week!) and ensure that the players recognise that they must do the same.

• Provide positive verbal feedback in a constructive and encouraging manner, to all young players both during coaching sessions and games.

• Coaches should hold current RFU coaching awards or a recognised award.

• Coaches must consistently display high standards of personal behaviour and appearance.

• Coaches should never overtly criticise players or use language or actions which may cause the player to lose self-esteem or confidence.

Practices to be avoided:

At SRUFC coaches must be aware that it does not make sense for a coach to:

• Spend amounts of time alone with any children away from others.

• Take children alone on car journeys, however short.

• If it should arise that such situations are unavoidable, they should only take place with the full knowledge and consent of someone in charge in the club/governing body and/or a person with parental responsibility for the player.

• If a coach accidentally hurts a player, or causes distress in any manner, or the player appears to respond in a sexual manner to your actions, or misunderstands, or misinterprets something the coach has done, the incident is to be reported to a colleague supported by a written Safeguarding report of the incident as soon as possible. Parents/carers should also be informed of the occurrence.

Practice that is prohibited by SRUFC:

Individual staff or volunteers should never:

• Take young people to their home or other secluded places where they will be alone.

• Engage in rough, physical games, sexually provocative games or horseplay with young people.

• Take part in any dynamic games or training sessions with young people. If there is a need for an adult to facilitate learning within a coaching session through the use of coaching aids (e.g. contact pads, this should be done with the utmost care and with due regard to the safety and wellbeing of the young players).

• Share a room with a young person unless the individual is the parent/guardian of that young person.

• Allow any form of inappropriate contact or touching or contact not specifically related to the coaching of the game.

• Make sexual or sexually suggestive remarks to a young person.

• Use inappropriate language or allow young players to use inappropriate language unchallenged.

• Allow allegations by a young person to go unchallenged, unrecorded, or not acted upon.

• Do things of a personal nature for a young person that they can do for themselves, unless you have been requested to do so by the parents/carer. It is, of course, recognised that some young people will always need help with things such as lace tying, adjustment of tag belts, fitting head guards etc.

• Depart the rugby club until the safe dispersal of all young people is complete.

• Cause an individual to lose self-esteem by embarrassing, humiliating or undermining him/her or similar.

• Treat some young people more favourably than others.

• Agree to meet a young person on their own on a one-to-one basis.