Parent and Carer Guidance
Let's make sure football is fun for all children
Everyone involved in football should promote the highest-possible standards of behaviour, so we can pass our great game on in good shape to future generations.
This applies as much to parents/carers as anyone else. No doubt we’ve all heard – and perhaps seen – over-zealous parents behaving badly at children’s matches. Sometimes unwittingly, they can create a climate of intimidation that stops children wanting to play.
Ensuring parents/carers behave appropriately at youth team matches is codified into ‘Respect’, an ongoing FA drive to improve everyone’s standards of behaviour.
In fact, there’s a code of conduct for parents/carers which you will be asked to sign up to if you have a child playing for a youth team.
Equally, apart from parents/carers behaving responsibly themselves, you may also witness inappropriate or threatening behaviour from a fellow adult towards a child or young person.
It can be difficult to confront this, so football has set up various confidential ways you can report your concerns.
In addition, as well all know, today’s younger generation are actively engaged in the digital world. This could be by visiting websites, engaging in social media, or receiving texts and/or emails.
As a parent/guardian you should be aware of how your child(ren) are being contacted by their club via digital media – and the general guidance that surrounds young people’s use of social networking sites.
Ultimately, we want to make the game as safe and enjoyable as possible for everyone – and that’s where we can all play a part. More information on all of these areas can be found via the respective links on the boxes below.
It'S EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY
If you feel that an adult connected to your league or club (e.g. a referee, coach or a volunteer) is mistreating someone under the age of 18, there are various confidential ways you can report this.
By ‘mistreating’, we mean behaving towards under-18s in a physical or verbal way you believe is threatening or makes the young person feel scared or bad.
Find out more and watch a short film The FA has produced explaining how to report your concerns. Of course, everything is completely confidential.
Respect
The FA's Respect programme provides a series of tools for leagues, clubs, coaches, players and parents from grassroots to elite football - to help ensure a safe, positive environment in which to play the game.