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GUIDANCE ON THE COACH CODE OF CONDUCT AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THEIR RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST

APPENDIX 4

THE COACH CODE OF CONDUCT AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THEIR RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST

COACH CODE OF CONDUCT

· At all times adhere to the BAB Code of Ethics, Rules and Laws.

· At all times adhere to the Child Safeguarding Policy of the BAB and follow ensure you follow the guidance in Good Practice and Practices to be avoided,

·         Raise concerns as outlined in the Child Safeguarding Policy about behaviour by staff, managers, volunteers, and others, which may be harmful
     to those in their care, without prejudice to their own position. This duty also related to concerns about any child’s behaviour that could harm or
      cause harm to themselves or others.

· Refer all concerns of a child safeguarding nature in line with the BAB Child Safeguarding Policy.

· Consistently display high standards of behaviour and appearance.

· Never exert undue influence to obtain personal benefit or reward. In particular, coaches must not use their position to establish or pursue a
sexual or improper relationship with a participant under 18 or someone close to them.

· Treat all information of a personal nature about individual Aikidoka as confidential except in circumstances where to do so will allow the child
to be placed at risk of harm or continue to be at risk of harm.

· Encourage all Aikidoka to obey the spirit of the rules both in and out sporting arena.

· Continue to seek and maintain their own professional development in all areas in relation to coaching children.

· Co-operate fully with other specialists (e.g. other coaches, officials, sport scientists, doctors, and physiotherapists) in the best interests of the Aikidoka.

· Never encourage Aikidoka, volunteers, officials or parents to violate or condone the rules of the club or the martial art and report any
violations appropriately.

· Observe the authority and the decision of the officials and only question those decisions in the appropriate manner.

· Treat all competitors and other club teams with respect, whether that is in victory or defeat and encourage all team members and fellow
club members to do the same.

COACH RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THEIR RELATIONSHIP OF TRUST

· A “Position of trust” held by those in authority over children in Aikido is outlined in Section 1 Part 1 of this document.

· The relationships between coaches/teachers/assistant-coaches/helpers and students/children in the Aikido setting are "Relationships of Trust".

· The term, "Relationship of Trust" is used to describe the unequal relationship that exists between people of different status in particular circumstances,
as a result of which one of the parties could be seen as being vulnerable, such as doctor/patient, teacher/pupil, coach/athlete.

· The inequality of a relationship in which one party has significantly greater power or influence over the other is such that it would be inappropriate to
form an intimate or sexual relationship while continuing the relationship of trust.

·         The power and influence that an older or senior member has over someone attending a group or activity must not be under-estimated. If there is an
     additional ranking or competitive aspect to the activity and the older person is responsible for the child’s success or failure to some extent,
      then the dependency of the child member upon the older will be increased.

· Although children of 16 or 17 can legally consent to some types of sexual activity, they may still be relatively immature emotionally. In many areas of the
law, for example the right to vote or the provisions of the Children Act 1989, they are still classed as children.

·         The potential inequality of a relationship of trust can be seen as undermining the ability of the individual being looked after to give free consent.
     This aspect of the relationship can continue to be a significant factor into adulthood and it should be remembered that any sexual activity that is not
      freely consented to is criminal.

·         The effects of an unequal relationship on either person may not be something either party is aware of, or sets out to exploit, however, coercive
     sexual relationships, or sexual relationships where a party is unable fully to give free consent, should not be allowed, even unintentionally,
      to develop. The inequality at the heart of a relationship of trust should be ended before any sexual relationship develops.

Sexual relationships with a child below the age of consent are illegal and never acceptable under any circumstances

COACHING RATIOS AND SUPERVISION

It is recognised that coaching styles within the BAB may vary from Association to Association; however, when working with groups of children, the following ratios staff to child ratios shall apply:

·         Children aged under 5.   The ratio of coach/assistant/helper to these children is 1:3 with the proviso that in unforeseen circumstances it may be
    allowed to be 1:4 subject to risk assessment; this is to satisfy occasions of, for instance, additional children turning up unexpectedly and/or an
     assistant/helper not turning up for the class. In any circumstance a ratio of 1:4 is the maximum student ratio allowed.

·         Children aged 5 and over.   When working with groups of children aged 5 and over, the minimum ratio is one coach/assistant to 10 children.
     This ratio may need to be lowered in some cases to meet the Coach’s “duty of care” to the children.   This could be, for instance, where the
     predominance of children in the class is in the range of 5-8 year olds.   Where the age mix of the children is predominantly “teenagers” this
      ratio may be increased to 1:12, subject to risk assessment.

and

· All Children. Coaches should never work alone in or with any group of children. They should have at least one other coach, assistant coach or
volunteer present at all times who has been CRB/ISA checked by their club.

· Consideration should also be given to staffing required in cases where an accident or emergency occurs with sufficient staff present to not only
cope with the casualty/emergency but also supervise the remaining group members.

· Some of the many factors that should be taken into account when considering ratios of staff to children is the ability of the group, any special
educational or medical needs by all or part of the group, the activity to be undertaken and the experience of the coach.

·         At least 2 members of staff should remain until all children are collected and always ensure each child is collected by a responsible parent,
     carer, guardian or nominated adult. The adults should be suitably CRB checked unless this is not possible in the situation that arises. Follow the
     guidance in the section on “Late Collection of Children” if parents/carers persistently collects children late or children persistently
     fail to be collected by a responsible adult.

COACH ADHERANCE TO THE EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION POLICY

The BAB is committed to tackling all forms of discrimination and to strive to become inclusive of all those who want to participate in Aikido irrespective of their race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation and faith and ability. In this regard the BAB will not tolerate:

Discrimination on the grounds set out in the paragraph above
Harassment
Bullying
Abusive or insensitive language
Inappropriate behaviour detrimental to any individuals or groups of individuals

The BAB Equality Policy, which includes the BAB’s commitment to equity and ethics in sport, can be viewed here or on the website download page.

This appendix is part of the BAB Safeguarding Policy which is held as a PDF document in the download area (shown below) and should be considered as the only reference document. Although these pages will be kept up to date as much as possible they may not be as current or may be abridged in comparison to the Safeguarding Policy. After reading any information here please reconfirm from the latest version of the Safeguarding Policy.