⚠️ SAFEGUARDING NOTICE – NO MOBILE PHONES AT CAMP

As part of our ongoing commitment to safeguarding all children attending Soccer Star Coaching Football Camps, we are introducing a blanket ban on children bringing mobile phones to camp.

📵 Why are mobile phones not permitted?

While mobile phones can be useful outside of camp, they create a number of safeguarding concerns within a children’s activity setting.

Our coaching team needs to be able to supervise the children effectively throughout the day. 

It is important to recognise that, even with appropriate supervision in place, it can be very difficult for coaches to know when a child has a mobile phone or is using one. Mobile phones can easily be kept out of sight, particularly during lunch and break times, when children may be sitting in groups eating or relaxing. Similarly, during coaching sessions, children may briefly step away to get a drink while coaches are supervising and delivering activities to the wider group.

Although children remain within the supervised camp environment, it is not realistic for a coach to observe every individual movement of every child at all times or to see what may be displayed on a personal device. A child could potentially access inappropriate content, send messages, take photographs or videos, or communicate online without a coach immediately being aware.

For this reason, rather than expecting our coaches to monitor children’s individual mobile phone use, Soccer Star Coaching now operates a clear no-mobile-phone policy during the camp day. This provides a much safer and more manageable safeguarding approach and helps protect the privacy and wellbeing of every child attending our camps.

Mobile phones create concerns around:

📸 Taking photographs or videos of other children without permission

🌐 Accessing inappropriate online content

💬 Messaging, social media and online communication that coaches cannot supervise

🔒 The privacy of other children attending the camp

⚽ Children becoming distracted from activities and supervision

📱 Lost, damaged or stolen devices

For these reasons, children must not have a mobile phone in their possession during the camp day.

🩺 Medical Exceptions

We understand that in certain circumstances a child may genuinely require access to a mobile phone or connected device for a medical reason, for example, as part of the management or monitoring of diabetes.

If your child requires a device for a genuine medical reason, you must contact Soccer Star Coaching before camp and make us aware of this. Appropriate arrangements can then be agreed with the coaching team.

Wanting your child to have a phone so that you can contact them or check that they are OK during the day will not be considered a medical exemption.

🚶 Children Travelling Home Independently

We appreciate that some older children may need to bring a mobile phone because they are travelling to or from camp independently.

In these circumstances, the phone must be handed to a member of the coaching team when the child arrives each morning. It will be stored securely during the camp and returned to the child at the end of the day.

The child will not be permitted to keep or use the phone during camp.

☎️ Parents Can Always Contact Their Child

There is no need for parents to contact their child directly on a personal mobile phone during camp.

Soccer Star Coaching has a dedicated phone that parents/carers can contact if they need to get a message to their child or need to speak with us during the camp day.

Likewise, if a child needs to contact their parent/carer for any reason, our coaching team can facilitate this through the Soccer Star Coaching phone.

📱 What Happens If a Child Is Found With a Phone?

If a child is found using or carrying a mobile phone during camp without an agreed medical exemption:

The phone will be taken from the child and stored securely by the coaching team until the end of the camp day.

It will then be returned, and we will speak with the parent/carer to ensure that the phone is not brought to camp again.

Repeated failure to follow this policy may require us to discuss the child’s continued attendance at camp with their parent/carer.

🛡️ Safeguarding Comes First

This policy is not intended to make things difficult for children or parents. It allows our coaches to concentrate on what matters most — providing a safe, supervised and enjoyable environment for every child attending our camps.

By removing personal mobile phones from the camp environment, we can better protect children’s privacy, reduce opportunities for inappropriate recording or online activity, minimise distractions and ensure that our coaches can supervise the children effectively.

We appreciate the support and cooperation of all parents and carers in helping us maintain the highest possible safeguarding standards at our camps.