Risk:
Transmission of Covid-19 through touching shared equipment
Mitigation Actions:
All participants will be asked to read the current FA guidelines thoroughly before attending any football activity.
All participants will be asked to use the hand sanitiser in line with FA guidelines.
Coaches will have read the FA guidelines and ensure equipment is not shared unnecessarily and that any shared equipment is sanitised before and after all football activity, as well as during activity if required, in line with FA guidance.
Participants will be asked to store personal items, kit and drinks separately from other participants.
Coaches will follow the FA guidelines on the sharing of equipment. For the sake of being able to separate players into teams at training and when substituted off the pitch during matches, the club recommends each player is given a training bib, which they label with their initials and squad number. These should not be shared between players and it will be the responsibility of each individual to wash their own bib between sessions and ensure they bring it to all football activity. If a coach does not have enough bibs to assign one to each player, the club will provide these.
Risk:
Transmission of Covid-19 through close contact with others, either during football activity or in the car park before / after.
Mitigation Actions:
All participants will be asked to read the current FA guidelines thoroughly before attending any football activity.
All participants will be asked to maintain social distancing, in line with the current FA and government guidance, when not on the field of play (i.e. during warm ups, team discussions, drinks breaks and before and after sessions).
Sessions involving different groups will be staggered so that one group has time to leave before the next group arrives.
In line with the current FA guidance, group sizes will remain at 30 or under for all sessions.
In line with the current FA guidance, the type of activity organised will not deviate from the timeline that has been published by the FA for the return of grassroots football.
Participants will be encouraged not to car share with those outside their family or "bubble" and to follow the latest government guidance on travel and the use of public transport.
Risk:
Participants do not understand or have not read the current Covid-19 guidance
Mitigation Actions:
Before any team may begin contact training or playing matches, each parent will be asked to sign and return, by e-mail, a consent form that states they are happy for their child to return to contact training / match play, that they have read and understand the latest FA and government guidance. Links to the guidance will provided for all parents to read before signing the consent form.
Coaches will be encouraged to reinforce the guidance in person to the whole group before the first session and participants will be encouraged to ask any questions if they are not sure, either directly to their coach, or to the club's Covid-19 Officer – Rasidi Seidun.
If there are language issues or learning difficulties that make it difficult for an individual to understand what is being asked of them, this should be mentioned to the club's Covid-19 Officer and the individual in question's coach so the club can help in the best way they can for that individual.
Risk:
Someone exhibits Covid-19 symptoms before football activity, has tested positive for Covid-19 or is asked to self-isolate due to potential contact with Covid-19.
Mitigation Actions:
All parents will need to provide a contact phone number to their child's coach prior to the first session. Special care should be made by coaches with regard to any new players who may be trialling for their team, whose details they may not already have.
Coaches should keep a digital record of who attended each session, along with a contact number for each participant (or their parent / carer if under 18). Remember to include officials and coaches in this and to consider GDPR and safeguarding guidance on the storage of data.
All participants should be encouraged to report any Covid-19 symptoms, positive Covid-19 test results or any contact from the health services to ask that they self-isolate due to potential contact with Covid-19 to their child's coach immediately. This should also be reported to the club's Covid-19 Officer immediately (Rasidi Seidun) who will contact the health services and take advice from them immediately.
Participants should be reminded that nobody with symptoms that may indicate they have Covid-19 or who has been contacted by the health authorities to self-isolate due to potential contact with Covid-19 should attend any football activity.
Depending on the venue where games are played and the age groups involved, then there may be the possibility of no spectators. This will be determined by the coach in conjunction with the venue and it will then be the sole responsibility of the coach to ensure that nobody other than participants are on site in such circumstances.
Risk:
A participant exhibits Covid-19 symptoms during football activity.
Mitigation Actions:
The participant in question should be kept socially distant from others, in line with government guidance, whilst all other safeguarding criteria are met. If a parent or guardian is not present, they should be informed immediately and asked to collect their child at the soonest possible time.
Risk:
Children feel pressured into returning to football before they are ready.
Mitigation Actions:
Coaches should make it clear to parents and players that they are under no pressure to return to football if they do not feel it's safe. It is entirely their decision and that decision will be respected by the club and supported fully. Equally, if a coach does not feel ready to return at this stage, they are under no pressure to do so and under no obligation to provide training sessions at this stage.
Risk:
Participants may have health conditions that make them particularly at risk from Covid-19
Mitigation Actions:
It is individual parents' responsibility to make their coaches and the club aware of any health conditions any participant may have that may put them at higher risk from Covid-19 and those same parents' responsibility to decide whether they are comfortable with their child attending football activities, based on the guidelines we have in place.