A&H

DBS for referees

Kent Ref

RefChat Addict
Is it only referees who do youth football who need a DBS / Safeguarding?

I ask as i spoke to referee today who has only ever reffed youth football (10 years plus).

Last year he had to do the child safeguarding for the first time. He then told me he has never had to do a DBS. Is this even possible?

I told him that getting a DBS involved using a passport, drivers licence etc and being verified by presenting his documents to a verifier from the county FA. He'd never heard of this (he's a very mature referee).

I would assume he has got it all wrong. He's going to ring county on Monday and see what's what.
 
The Referee Store
In Scotland its all refs, supervisors, the lot

of course it could be different elsewhere. Be surprised if it was.

its not just the reffing but, changing rooms etc. So if everyone is checked, that covers eveything
 
Is it only referees who do youth football who need a DBS / Safeguarding?

I ask as i spoke to referee today who has only ever reffed youth football (10 years plus).

Last year he had to do the child safeguarding for the first time. He then told me he has never had to do a DBS. Is this even possible?

I told him that getting a DBS involved using a passport, drivers licence etc and being verified by presenting his documents to a verifier from the county FA. He'd never heard of this (he's a very mature referee).

I would assume he has got it all wrong. He's going to ring county on Monday and see what's what.
Is he registered with the County FA, I wonder? 🤔
 
You definitely need one to do youth football, it won’t let you tick the youth box during registration unless you have one.

Strictly speaking, you don’t NEED one to do open age, but some players will be 16/17 so it’s best practice.
 
You definitely need one to do youth football, it won’t let you tick the youth box during registration unless you have one.

Strictly speaking, you don’t NEED one to do open age, but some players will be 16/17 so it’s best practice.
This referee does not have a computer and fills out reports on paper still and posts them to the county FA.

He also sends a cheque to pay for registration.

He is speaking to the CFA this week so let's see.
 
This referee does not have a computer and fills out reports on paper still and posts them to the county FA.
And on that basis has probably not seen any of the law changes over the last 5 to 10 years since LoTG books were posted out. You really can't be a referee these days without being online, will only be a batter of time before they absolutely mandate it.

I thought that all referees had to be CRB and SGW accredited, but not 100% sure as I need to have it to observe.
 
And on that basis has probably not seen any of the law changes over the last 5 to 10 years since LoTG books were posted out. You really can't be a referee these days without being online, will only be a batter of time before they absolutely mandate it.

I thought that all referees had to be CRB and SGW accredited, but not 100% sure as I need to have it to observe.
To register with North Riding as a referee at any level, you must have a valid DBS check and your Safeguarding certificate must be in date (no longer than 3 years since you last did the course).
 
To register with North Riding as a referee at any level, you must have a valid DBS check and your Safeguarding certificate must be in date (no longer than 3 years since you last did the course).
If you have been to a safeguarding course in person, you can renew by doing the on line version.
 
Not relevant to the OP's specific 'very mature' individual, but for completeness I believe that (in England at least) only officials aged 16 years or over who are officiating in youth / mini football require a DBS.

So an official who is not yet 16 years old* will not need one (and can't get one actually**).

~~~~

Interestingly, and related to DBS - I have no idea whether there is any FA rule regarding DBS for non-registered officials (I'm assuming not).
Throughout my son & daughter's time playing mini & youth football, referees have often been non-registered, non-qualified adults (parents of players). I assume that this is because of a lack of registered officials.

Whilst sometimes a coach of one of the teams (who should have the appropriate DBS anyway) will referee, or perhaps a parent who just happens to have a DBS for work, etc., often the individual will not have a DBS at all.

Clearly from a football point of view these individuals are acting in the same capacity as a registered official (but obviously not being paid).
I don't think there is much you can do about it (other than not play thousands of youth games across the country every week or try to dramatically increase the pool of available officials), but unless I'm missing something obvious it seems slightly odd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*An official who is not yet 16 years old would presumably be operating at level Y1, Y2 (previously called 'level Y', & before that 'Level 8'), or be in their 'training' period ('Level T'?).

**Quote from the relevant page (not football-specific, obviously) on the UK government website:

"The minimum age at which someone can be asked to apply for a DBS check is 16 years old."
 
Not relevant to the OP's specific 'very mature' individual, but for completeness I believe that (in England at least) only officials aged 16 years or over who are officiating in youth / mini football require a DBS.

So an official who is not yet 16 years old* will not need one (and can't get one actually**).

~~~~

Interestingly, and related to DBS - I have no idea whether there is any FA rule regarding DBS for non-registered officials (I'm assuming not).
Throughout my son & daughter's time playing mini & youth football, referees have often been non-registered, non-qualified adults (parents of players). I assume that this is because of a lack of registered officials.

Whilst sometimes a coach of one of the teams (who should have the appropriate DBS anyway) will referee, or perhaps a parent who just happens to have a DBS for work, etc., often the individual will not have a DBS at all.

Clearly from a football point of view these individuals are acting in the same capacity as a registered official (but obviously not being paid).
I don't think there is much you can do about it (other than not play thousands of youth games across the country every week or try to dramatically increase the pool of available officials), but unless I'm missing something obvious it seems slightly odd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*An official who is not yet 16 years old would presumably be operating at level Y1, Y2 (previously called 'level Y', & before that 'Level 8'), or be in their 'training' period ('Level T'?).

**Quote from the relevant page (not football-specific, obviously) on the UK government website:

"The minimum age at which someone can be asked to apply for a DBS check is 16 years old."
Referees under 16 are required to complete a one hour online course, "Safeguarding for all" which is valid for two years.
Club referees and club assistant referees are not required to have a DBS check to operate in that capacity, but as you say they often have another role which does require DBS.
 
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