All coaches and managers should know the many health and safety policies that we must comply with and also our club’s Codes of Conduct and fair treatment policy.

 

These policies are required of members through our affiliation with Football Australia (FA), Football NSW (FNSW), Manly Warringah Football Association (MWFA) and Manly Warringah Football Referees Association (MWFRA).

 

Health & Safety Policies

AT ALL TIMES WHILST THEY ARE IN YOUR CARE, PLEASE ENSURE THAT THE CHILDREN ARE WELL SUPERVISED AND THAT ALL ASPECTS OF THEIR SAFETY HAVE BEEN PROPERLY CONSIDERED.

Generally, if you can’t see them or if they’re too far away to easily hear you then they’re not in the right place.

You should be particularly alert to this at the end of training or a game as this is always a busy time.  Children should wait with or near the group while they’re waiting to be collected.  It is not appropriate for them to be waiting unsupervised in car parks (like at Seaforth Oval) or near roads.

At least one adult must stay with the group until all children have been collected.  No child should be left alone.


You should not allow a player with an injury to take the field or continue playing if by doing so the player could be at risk of further injury.


Whenever a player plays in an older age group, the coach and the parents must assess the risk of that player being injured by older players who may be bigger and more aggressive in tackles.  FNSW requires that players wishing to play in an age group more than two years older than their level (eg. a very capable U11 wishing to play with their older sibling in U14s) must complete a FNSW Playing Above Age Consent Form to acknowledge the risks involved and must obtain approval from the MWFA before playing.


Let the parents know about these issues – their help and understanding will make your life easier.

Stop play if the time between seeing a lightning flash and hearing thunder is less than 30 seconds.  Immediately seek safety under appropriate shelter.  Do not resume play until at least 30 minutes has passed since the last thunder was heard.

Click HERE for the FNSW one page guide.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy and guideline.

For ages below 18 .. cancel or postpone events at a temperature of 32°C. 

For U18 and over .. cancel or postpone events at a temperature of 37°C. 

Cancellation of games, training or events at lower temperatures may be necessary depending on local conditions and player well being.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy.

Portable goalposts are heavy and have the potential to cause death if they fall onto someone.

Portable goalposts must not be used unless they are stable and safe for use.  Extreme care must be taken when moving portable goalposts.

Anchor. Check. Respect.

Players under the age of 16 are NOT allowed to move the goalposts.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy.

Actively promote sun safety and the importance of sun safety when the UV Index is 3 and above.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy.

Where the Air Quality Index (AQI) readings are in the Very Poor or Hazardous levels, football activities should be postponed or cancelled or alternative indoor activities arranged.

The latest AQI can be found on the NSW government website HERE.

Click HERE for the full FNSW guidelines on air quality.

Smoking by players is banned for the duration of the match.  Smoking by officials, players, referees and volunteers is banned in access ways to and from the field of play, technical areas and change rooms.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy.


Around the technical area is an alcohol free zone.

NO ALCOHOL should be stored or consumed:

  1. in the technical area
  2. between the two technical areas
  3. directly behind the technical areas

This does not change any existing alcohol free zone requirements on any Northern Beaches Council fields or within school grounds.

NO ALCOHOL consumption is permitted at any Junior or Youth game anywhere near the ground.

Click HERE for the full MWFA policy.

All items of jewellery (necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, body and tongue piercings, facial rings, watches, etc.) are strictly forbidden and must be removed.  Using tape to cover jewellery is not acceptable.

Players are not allowed to play in a cast, whether it be plaster, fibreglass, or any other rigid material.  Covering hard casts with foam or soft materials is also not acceptable.  Allow nothing more solid than a bandage.

Any undergarments, such as skins, need to be the same colour as the strip (or as the main colour of the strip if it is two-toned).  Hair beads are allowed if tightly covered.

The Hijab or headscarf may be worn by female players.  Referees are not permitted to check the affixing of the Hijab and under no circumstances touch the garment.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy.

Pregnant players should always seek advice from an appropriately qualified medical practitioner as to the risks involved in participating in football and related activities while pregnant and whether it is safe for them to continue participating in football while pregnant and, if so, for how long should they continue to participate.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy.

Law Four of the Laws of the Game — The Players’ Equipment — states that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to him or herself or another player, including any kind of jewellery.

Therefore, players are permitted to wear sports glasses, sports goggles, sports sunglasses or protective headgear provided that, in the opinion of the referee, they pose no danger to the player wearing them or other players.

The decision to allow a player wearing glasses or protective headgear to participate in a match ultimately remains with the referee, as per the Laws of the Game (Law 4 – The Player’s Equipment). If the referee has concerns with the safety of the glasses or protective headgear, the referee has the authority to prevent a player from participating.

Hard surfaces of the glasses must be wholly plastic.  The glasses, when worn during play, must be firmly secured to the head.

Click HERE for the full MWFRA policy.

Club members are bound by the FNSW Social Media Policy and by the MWFA Social Media Policy.  It covers all forms of social media.  Following is a summary of the policies which cover, but are not limited to, activities such as:

  • Maintaining a profile page on social or business networking sites (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Shutterfly, Twitter or MySpace);
  • Content sharing including Flicker (photo sharing) and YouTube (Video Sharing);
  • Commenting on blogs for personal or business reasons;
  • Leaving product or service reviews on retailer sites or customer review sites;
  • Taking part in online votes and polls;
  • Taking part in conversations on public and private web forums (message boards); or
  • Editing a Wikipedia page

The intent of the policies are to include anything posted online where information is shared that might affect members, colleagues, sponsors or MWFA or FNSW and the reputation of the sport in general.

For club members, parents and staff using social media, such use:

  • Must not contain, or link to, libelous, defamatory or harassing content – this also applies to the use of illustrations or nicknames;
  • Must not comment on, or publish information that is confidential in anyway;
  • Must not bring the organisation or the sport into disrepute;
  • Must not otherwise be in breach of the FFA Code of Conduct;
  • Posts must not contain, nor link to pornographic or indecent content.

Click HERE for the full MWFA policy.

Click HERE for the full FNSW policy.

FA and FNSW recommend following the guidelines which are set out in the nationally adopted Play by the Rules program and which were developed by the Australian Sports Commission.  The MWFA also has developed a policy which is based on the same guidelines.

The guidelines state that it is acceptable for people to take photos or videos of children at sporting events for the usual reasons, for example a parent videoing their child at a sports presentation, or photographing their child on the field during play, or a professional photographer taking photos for a club, or for the purpose of analysing and improving performance.  All match and training recording materials such as Veo cameras are recognised as acceptable use of videography.

However they must not intend to publish or display the video more widely, to others outside the team.  If you believe that someone is not filming for acceptable reasons or that they intend to display the images to anyone beyond their team and coaches, then they should obtain your permission before filming.

You are quite entitled to inquire about this before they film and if the answer is that they do intend to display the images anywhere else – eg. on a personal blog, a club website, promotional material of some kind, etc, then if you are unhappy with this then you are entitled to demand that they do not film.

When using VEO, or cameras that are placed on poles, the camera/pole MUST be appropriately anchored/tied to a fence, structure or weighed down using appropriate sandbags or weights. THIS IS MANDATORY AND IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PERSON WHO OWNS AND OPERATES THE CAMERA.

Click HERE for the Play by the Rules guidelines.

Click HERE for the full MWFA policy.

Codes of Conduct

The Seaforth FC Code of Conduct for Coaches sets out the standards of behaviour that we expect at all times from our coaches.  All team coaches should read the code.

Click HERE for the code.

The club also has simple guidelines HERE for behaviour on the sidelines.


All coaches are also subject to FA’s National Code of Conduct and National Spectator Code of Behaviour and the MWFA’s Code of Conduct.


The club and the MWFA have disciplinary groups that may counsel or sanction any member, parent or supporter who breaches any of these codes.

The Seaforth FC Code of Conduct for Players, Parents & Spectators sets out the standards of behaviour that we expect at all times from our members.

All players from U12 up and their parents and all team managers should read the code.

For all U6 to U11 players, it would be very helpful if their parents could please take a moment every season to remind them of the importance of sportsmanlike behaviour.

Click HERE for the code.

The club also has simple guidelines HERE for behaviour on the sidelines.


All team players, parents and supporters are also subject to FA’s National Code of Conduct and National Spectator Code of Behaviour and the MWFA’s Code of Conduct.


The club and the MWFA have disciplinary groups that may counsel or sanction any member, parent or supporter who breaches any of these codes.

Fair & Equal Treatment

For all Seaforth FC Junior and Youth teams from U6s through to U16s, during the regular season, over any 4 week period, all players should be given equal game time on the field and should have equal opportunity of being in the starting line-up irrespective of ability.  The team Coach and Manager should ensure that all players are treated equally and fairly within the team.


Seaforth FC also supports the “need to borrow” principle defined in the MWFA Playing Rules which bans teams from borrowing stronger players from other teams if this results in regular team members playing less than half a game.  The exception to this rule is a goalkeeper being borrowed due to injury of the team’s regular goalkeeper.


Guidelines:   We recognise that it is not easy for coaches to manage equal game time so we have developed some guidelines to allow parents, players and coaches to all have the same understanding of how the club expects this policy should be applied.  We’re currently finalising these guidelines and will have them ready soon.

Seaforth FC has one other football related policy promoting fair and equal treatment during team selection for Junior and Youth teams.


Once the players in a team are announced at the start of the season, any player who is fully registered and who is in their correct “playing age” group, will not, against their wishes, be demoted to a lower grade team or forced to deregister should another player subsequently arrive at the club who may also be considered for being placed into that team; and …

The club will not intentionally oversubscribe registrations with the intention of selecting the stronger players and forcing weaker players to deregister in order to reduce the number of players in teams down to a workable number.

We also have policies that control how we run the club.  They’re in our club Regulations (Part III).  You can see them under Our Club / Club Documents HERE