A grassroots leader has urged everybody involved in children’s football to get behind this weekend’s Play Safe campaign. Play Safe is a nationwide initiative from the Football Association to focus attention on the vital importance of safeguarding across our national game.
“The Play Safe campaign, in my opinion, is the most important campaign in the game,” he said. “There isn’t another time when football unites all the way from the grassroots game to the Premier League. More importantly it is what Play Safe represents, what it stands for, and who it stands for.
“It’s a prompt for all of us in football to learn, perhaps for the first time, what safeguarding in football means, who can help and where you can get help and advice. Also it’s a perfect time for us to be reminded of the role we play within the game.”
Play Safe is endorsed by the NSPCC and will be supported this weekend across every level of English football, including the Premier League, EFL, Barclays Women’s Super League, Barclays Women’s Championship, National League and throughout the grassroots game. This year’s campaign focuses on the safeguarding role that everyone can play – coaches, players, parents, carers, spectators and volunteers – to keep children and young people safe, no matter what the football setting.
On the pitch, up and down the country, grassroots youth team captains will be donning Play Safe armbands, while youth team coaches will be wearing Play Safe pin badges in support of the initiative. The FA is promoting its free online Safeguarding Awareness Course for Parents & Carers to raise awareness around safeguarding and how to report any concerns. It gives pointers on the questions that should be asked to ensure the club or venue where children play football has the correct safeguarding policies, people and practices in place. You can find the course here.
The FA’s Head of Safeguarding, Sue Ravenlaw, said: “The central push behind the Play Safe weekend is to create awareness for the vital safeguarding role they can play in football. It really is about Everyone, Everywhere, Every Time.
“The Play Safe weekend is a fantastic way of highlighting the importance of safeguarding and putting this at the forefront of people’s minds, not just for the weekend, but throughout the season. This year, our campaign is for everyone to know their role in safeguarding, and we look forward to seeing clubs at every level of the game showing their support across the weekend, to make sure football is safe, fun, and enjoyable for all.”
The FA’s Survivor Support and Safeguarding Advisory Group [FASSSAG] has added its support to the campaign. In a statement it said: “It’s essential that everyone in football – no matter if they’re actively involved, or on the sidelines – understands that they have an ongoing safeguarding role to play.
“Obviously Play Safe is 24/7 and 365, as is reflected in the Play Safe messaging of ‘everyone, everywhere and every time’, but this weekend helps with raising awareness of how everyone can help to create safe and positive football spaces, what inappropriate behaviours look, sound, and feel like and importantly how to report concerns.”
Paul kirton
