In Wiltshire during the past few months, the County's referees have been adding to their list of qualifications by becoming the first in the country to not only be conversant with the laws of association football, but to also have passed The FA's Child Protection and best practice workshops.

The FA is in the third year of the biggest and most wide-ranging sports child protection programme in the world, aiming to tackle everything, from serious sexual abuse, to swearing, head-on.

The work began two years ago with the creation of a specific Child Protection department within The FA. A unit was set up to deal with all allegations of abuse of children in football and a child protection helpline was set up, in association with the NSPCC.

At the same time an educational team began researching the best ways to teach adults in the game how they should be working with children, and what they should do if they come across unacceptable behaviour in others.

The FA has installed a trained Child Protection Officer at every County FA, and the long-term goal is to have one at each of the 1,000 leagues and 26,000 clubs in the country where under-18's play. And for those adults unable to take a three-day course, the Child protection and best practice - A guide and certificate, was launched in August 2002.

Mike Benson is the County Secretary at the Wiltshire FA in Swindon, and has pioneered a number of unique partnerships during his tenure, with the focus on raising standards across all aspects of local football.

 

As a former referee himself, Mike decided that the FA Child Protection course would add another element to the education of his referee's, even if it came at a financial cost to the Association.

"Ensuring that our referees act appropriately at all times was a crucial factor in funding the course for over 200 local referees," said Mike "as well as educating them as to what can constitute best practice, particularly when officiating at youth level.

"A child could fall over and hurt themselves for example, and the natural instinct for an adult would be to check their injury, but in the modern day, the referee should leave any treatment to the club's appointed physio, so as not to open themselves up to any accusations of inappropriate behaviour."

Mark Saxby is one of the local referees who went on the course, and said:

"It was a 3 hour long, intense course, learning about good and bad practice, behaviour of children, parents and coaches.

"We also looked into different helplines which are useful to referee's. We mustn't forget what an important part we play in protecting children. It has been beneficial to me and many of my colleagues, and I would like to thank The Wiltshire FA for their work with us."

Over 10 years ago - before the introduction of The FA's National Game Division - the Wiltshire FA were one of the first Counties to invest their own money in local football development projects, and have been hugely satisfied with the feedback from their referees.
"As a County we want to re-invest in the future of local football", said Mike, "and through our own income, and support from The Football Association, we try to do this as much as possible."

Further examples of an increasing diversification of the County FA's work has seen Barry Stephens - the County Football Development Officer - putting on a specialist football course for disabled players and children with Downs Syndrome.

 

The day was a huge success, and massively rewarding to other coaches involved in running the course, helping to ensure that the national game becomes ever more accessible to a growing number of people in the county.

Next on the target list for the County is to increase the number of Charter Standard clubs and schools in the county. By the end of June, the County hope to have 15 clubs aspiring to raising standards, with a further 19 clubs having applied out of the 100 affiliated youth clubs.

Five schools in Wiltshire have so far attained Charter Standard status, and Mike and Barry are keen to hear from any clubs and schools who want further information on the criteria, which can also be found by clicking here.

Even Swindon Town Football Club have not escaped Mike's attention, and the club are now working with the County FA less than 2 miles away in Covingham to create more community days, introducing more girls and women, and families to the county's top Football League team.

If you would like more information about how to get involved in football in Wiltshire, be it playing, coaching, refereeing or administering, contact the Wiltshire FA on: 01793 525245 or e-mail: Barry.Stephens@wiltsfa.com