Do you have a Club Children's Officer in your club. The Club Children's Officer would provide a great resource to your club for recruiting new Junior Members. The primary role of the job is to create a child-centred ethos at your club. This would make it the kind of club that juniors would want to join. I urge you to bring the role to your committee and see if they would be open to creating a new position on the committee of a Club Children's Officer. Also, funding is available for development purposes through your local sports partnership. This funding is conditional on having a Club Children's Officer active in your club. The role is outlined in paragraph 2.6 of the Irish Sports Council's Code of Ethics and Good Practice for Children's Sport and is reprinted below.

For further information contact:

Gerry Connaughton
Irish Squash
National Child Protection Officer
Mobile: +353 87 263 4313
e-mail: gconnaughton@eircom.ie
s-mail: 28 Liberty Square, Thurles, County Tipperary

The current position nationally is:

Connacht
Two CCOs appointed in Connacht so far – Claremorris and Sligo.

Leinster
Two CCOs appointed in Leinster so far - Blackrock College and ALSAA.

Munster
Three CCOs have been appointed in Munster so far - Dunhill, Thurles and Tralee.

Ulster operates a slightly different system

Extracts from Irish Sports Council Code

2.6 CHILDREN'S OFFICERS

The appointment of Children's Officers in Governing Bodies and sports clubs/organisations is an essential element in the creation of a quality atmosphere in sports clubs/organisations. They act as a resource for all members of the sports club/organisation with regard to children's issues. They ensure that the children have a voice in the running of their club and can talk freely about their experiences in their sports activities.

2.6.1 CLUB CHILDREN'S OFFICER

The Club Children's Officer should be child centred in focus and should have as his/her primary aim the establishment of a child centred ethos within the club. S/he is the link between the children and the adults in the club. S/he also takes responsibility for monitoring and reporting to the Club Management Committee on how club policy etc. impacts on children and their Sports Leaders

Given the need to ensure that children are valued within all sporting contexts a Children's Officer should be appointed by all clubs, subject to appropriate selection and recruitment procedures as recommended within this Code. Appointment of this person should be done in consultation with the juvenile members of the club and their parents/guardians. The Children's Officer should be an ex-officio member of, or have access to, the Club Management Committee. S/he should have as his/her primary aim the establishment of a child centred ethos within the club. S/he should be introduced to the children in an appropriate forum. The Children's Officer should have the following functions:

to promote awareness of the Code of Ethics and Good Practice for Children's Sport in Ireland within the club and particularly among the children and their parents/guardians. This could be achieved by the production of information leaflets, the establishment of children's/age-group specific notice boards and by regular information meetings for the children and their parents/guardians
to influence policy and practice within the club in order to prioritise children's needs
to provide an accessible resource to children through the creation of forums
to see that children know how to make concerns known to appropriate adults or agencies. Information disclosed by a child to the Children's Officer or any other adult within the club should be dealt with in accordance with the Department of Health and Children's Guidelines Children First and the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety's Our Duty to Care as outlined at 5.13 in this Code
to encourage the involvement of parents/guardians in the club activities and co-operate with parents/guardians in ensuring that each child enjoys his/her involvement in sport
to act as an advisory resource to Sports Leaders on best practice in children's sport
to report regularly to the Club Management Committee
to monitor changes in membership and follow up any unusual dropout, absenteeism or club transfers by children or Sports Leaders
Children's Officers do not have the responsibility of investigating or validating child protection concerns within the club and have no counselling or therapeutic role. These roles are filled by the Statutory Authorities as outlined in Children First and Our Duty to Care. It is, however, possible that child protection concerns will be brought to the attention of the Children's Officer. In this event, it is essential that the correct procedures are followed, i.e. that reports are passed on immediately to the designated person with responsibility within the club for reporting to the Statutory Authorities.(See 5.13)

For the full Code of Practice for Children's Sport check out the Sports Council links below:

Check out the Irish Sports Council's Web Site for the Code of Practice for Children's Sport to which Irish Squash is committed.

Back to Top