A&H

Safeguarding Course, why am I paying?

deusex

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So I won't be allowed to register next year without attending a Safeguard Training course... fine.
The course fee is £25.
I can't help but feel the FA should be picking up the tab for this. With the money in the game I'm astonished actually.
I already pay (too much) for registration every year. What's next? A fee for my CRB no doubt!
The money isn't a lot to me but I don't feel refs should be paying ANYTHING to ref after they've bought a kit and paid a token (£5?) reg fee.
 
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Interesting. Why do you need it to register? I thought it was only mandatory if you're doing U18 fixtures?
 
Interesting. Why do you need it to register? I thought it was only mandatory if you're doing U18 fixtures?

I had to do the safeguarding course before I could referee, and I only do adult football. I suppose kids can still play in OA teams. My point of contention was that having passed my course at one county, the next safeguarding course was 6 months away. I had to do a 130 mile round trip to do the course in another County just so I could get going.
 
Teacher and my fiancé is a childminder on so I've got a double dose of DBS just to a) go to work, and b) live in the house I pay the mortgage for, but I still have (had) to fork out to go on a course to be told what to do if I see a coach make Timmy run an extra lap in the rain, all while making myself unavailable to any youth appts secretary. Red tape eh?
 
Same duplication in the U.S. T'would be nice to have a universal training. I had to go through so many different ones I lost track . . . AYSO, YMCA, Little League baseball, cub scouts, my kids' school, my kids' school's sports league, PONY baseball . . . and the majority of it is common sense.
 
I wonder if the Scottish minister was CRB checked! Does make you think about people in authority building glass houses!
 
I wonder if the Scottish minister was CRB checked! Does make you think about people in authority building glass houses!

And what relevance does that have? For starters a different country with a different FA, but also a government minister clearly has very different contact with vulnerable persons than a football referee may have.

In reply to the OP, when did you last do a safeguarding children course? My understanding is that the initial course and online renewals don't attract a fee, you only have to pay if you last took one three years ago or more.
 
And what relevance does that have? For starters a different country with a different FA, but also a government minister clearly has very different contact with vulnerable persons than a football referee may have.
It was a general point that even people in power / authority can be dark horses at any level of society, governance, sports teams, even family members. To pay for such a service in a multi billion pound industry is pretty deplorable especially an ongoing ticket!!!
 
Pretty ridiculous situation as the most recent changes were supposed to providea portable document that would cove a multitude of organisations.....and it would be monitored....
 
There are changes coming next season. Our open age league ahs been told that because we may have U18 players in our league, then we need a Safeguarding Officer and cubs all need a Safeguarding Officer.

Like @RustyRef I believe the safeguarding renewal is an online process. As for DBS, mine cost a fortune but is now on an annual renewal for a smaller fee
 
I already had a DBS check through my role as a volunteer, that couldn't be reused. I'll need to pay again once that expires!
 
Totally agree that a unified DBS across all relevant entities would be a great help.

In regards of who should pay... I can see the other side of the coin where to retain referees it works best if they have an outlay beforehand to incentivise them to undertake a number of games afterwards. If everything was free I imagine that whilst hundreds of people may be recruited, they would have less investment in the position so wouldn't be retained.

I know of one ref whose club paid for everything but then only did 3 games before quitting.

Notwithstanding the above I do beleive that the FA should be able to get a better price anyway (28k referees on their books) and find a way to accept pre-existing DBS (This issue is also present in their first aid qualification)
 
A unilateral DBS chit will never happen for as long as there is money to be made from charging individuals for each separate certificate required.

Cynical of Somerset. :cool:
 
I subscribe to the DBS update service and this has been accepted by the FA as mine relates to child workforce, so there is a unilateral DBS in place.
 
I subscribe to the DBS update service and this has been accepted by the FA as mine relates to child workforce, so there is a unilateral DBS in place.

Still ain't a "one size fits all" certificate though is it? ;)

By that, I mean that you still have to pay annually for the privilege of "updating" it. Alright, it's only £13 but it's still another expense on top. :cool:
 
The problem is all the different types of DBS needed.

My first job when I left the army required a CRB (as it was then) and a credit check. But this was because one of our clients (an investment bank) had it as a requirement that you could only work on their systems if you had a CRB etc.

Wasn't valid for the FA as it didn't cover whether I was barred from working with kids etc.
 
The problem is all the different types of DBS needed.

My first job when I left the army required a CRB (as it was then) and a credit check. But this was because one of our clients (an investment bank) had it as a requirement that you could only work on their systems if you had a CRB etc.

Wasn't valid for the FA as it didn't cover whether I was barred from working with kids etc.
Part of the reason it transitioned to a disclosure and barring check.....more to do with safeguarding...
 
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