Oxenhope Juniors: Philosophy and Codes of Conduct

This document sets out the guiding principles that underpin the way Oxenhope Juniors is run. As we grow we want to ensure there is clarity and consistency in what you and your child can expect from us as a club and what we expect from children and parents/guardians in return. We regard this as a ‘living’ document that will be updated and expanded as needed.

Included in this document:

• Our philosophy
• How we ensure your child’s safety
• What we expect from parents/guardians
• What we expect from children
• What to expect during training 
• What to expect before/during match day
• Key contacts
• Useful links

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Creating a safe, fun environment in which children can enjoy playing football is at the heart of everything we do. All children, whatever their ability, will be treated with fairness and dignity by all. We teach the importance of respect, sportsmanship, fair play, and fun. The club is affiliated to the FA and will abide by their rules.

HOW WE ENSURE YOUR CHILD’S SAFETY

The safety of your child during training and match day is our first priority. All coaches are DBS checked through the FA system and received safeguarding training. Each team also has a trained first aider allocated to it. We will continue to increase the number of coaches with first aid training. 

If you have any concerns about the welfare of your child or any other child at the club please direct them to the Club Welfare Officer (see Key Contacts later).

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM PARENTS/GUARDIANS

Oxenhope Juniors is run by volunteer parents/guardians and its continued success will depend on them stepping up to take on the coaching roles for new teams coming through or additional teams for existing age groups. If you are considering volunteering at the club but are concerned you don’t know enough about football - don’t worry! The existing coaches will support you and there is a fantastic learning hub on the FA site that provides a huge amount of help and advice.

Volunteering aside, we rely on the co-operation and support of all parents/guardians in order to ensure we can build the club and develop the kids in their footballing. 

Below are the key expectations we have for parents:

• All children playing with us need to be registered in the FA Whole Game System and assigned to the club and relevant team. If your child is not registered with the FA speak to your relevant coach about how to do this. Also see the Useful Links section for guidance.
• Parents/guardians will ensure their children arrive on time for training and matches. In the case of matches this means half an hour before kick off at the very latest. If a child arrives late on match day this may affect the amount of playing time they have in the game. This is at the coach’s discretion.
• Parents/guardians will ensure their direct debits are kept ‘live’ and payments of £16.50 are made each month via this method only. All fees go back into the club including pitch hire and footballing equipment for the kids. Parents are expected to stay for the duration of all training sessions and football matches. Dropping your child off and coming back an hour later is not possible.
• Parents/guardians will refrain from shouting or talking to children during training or football matches. It is confusing for the children and makes it difficult for coaches to instruct and support the kids.
• Parents/guardians will stay behind the respect barrier at all times during matches.
• If parents/guardians have any issues or concerns regarding the behaviour of coaches or decisions made in terms of training and squad selection they should address these directly - on a one-to-one basis - with the coach or the Club Secretary (see Key Contacts later). This should not be done on group chats or social media.
• Football is a team sport - attendance is expected at training and children are expected to be available for all, or at least the majority, of matches. Joining the club is a commitment and regular attendance is a minimum expectation. See later on for criteria for squad selection.
• Training and match information is provided on your team’s WhatsApp group - please ensure you are on this group and also the main club WhatsApp group. If you need help with this contact the relevant coach or Club Secretary (see Key Contacts later).
• Please reply ASAP and within deadlines set to let your coach know about your child’s availability for training and matches.

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM CHILDREN

We put the kids at the centre of what we do but also rely on them to make the club work and ensure all the kids enjoy themselves and we achieve success for their respective team:

Below are the key expectations we have for children:

• Children will show coaches respect, listen when being spoken to and do their best to do what is being asked of them during training and matches. Misbehaving during coaching sessions is unacceptable. If it continues children may be asked to withdraw from some or all of the training session.
• Children will show respect to other children in their squad. We will not tolerate negative comments directed at other children. We encourage children to work together as a team and support their team mates. Where this happens we expect parents to address it quickly.
• Obviously, we expect children to show restraint and respect during training on match day, not argue with the referee and refrain from getting into arguments or fights with other children on other teams (or their own team!).
• Coach decisions about who plays when and in what position are final. Children cannot always expect to play in their favourite positions.

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING TRAINING 

Coaches work hard to ensure training is fun and entertaining for the kids while also developing key footballing skills. We will try to achieve a balance between familiar routines that the kids can get used to while also introducing novel sessions to focus on specific skills and to keep training sessions fresh. There will be a mix of fitness and skills training as well learning about tactics and how to play together as a team. Sometimes we might divide the kids up into different groups to enable tailored training where needed.

WHAT TO EXPECT BEFORE/DURING MATCH DAY

The criteria used for squad selection will be based on attendance at training, availability on match days and behaviour/attitude during both. 

Where there are more players than available places on match day coaches will aim to ensure squad rotation to ensure fair match time for all children. Where coaches feel a child needs more time in training before stepping up to playing in a match this will be discussed with the parent and child. This should only ever happen where the coach feels the confidence of the child would be adversely affected by being included in a match day before they are ready.

All teams at the club operate a fair play policy to ensure children playing on match day get a fair amount of play time. However, this will not necessarily mean all children will get exactly equal amounts of play time in a given match. Coaches need to balance the play time of individual players with the success of the team as a whole in a given match. This may be especially the case where scorelines are close or we are in knockout competitions (where being knocked out will massively reduce playing time for all kids as they won’t be playing in the next round). 

Having said that, all teams will commit to all children playing AT LEAST 50% of any game they are selected for (except in cases of injury or if the child does not want to play for whatever reason).

If parents have any concerns about their child’s selection for matches or the amount of playtime they get please raise this respectfully and privately with the relevant coach. If the issue cannot be resolved please get in touch with the Club Secretary.

Coaches will inform parents as soon as possible regarding time and venue for matches. 

NOTICE

If you decide to remove your child from the club we require 30 days notice. If your child leaves within this time we will not be able to refund any fees for this period.