Club Safeguarding and Equity Policy

Providing a safe and positive environment for everyone involved in sport is a vital aspect of any club’s operations. 

Dominoes Netball takes its responsibilities very seriously in this area and we are committed to:
  • getting the right people involved through safe recruitment and training; 
  • creating a safe environment for all visitors, participants and staff;
  • having, and promoting, clear systems to deal with any issues or concerns.

All members of club staff, whether paid or voluntary, have a duty to keep children and vulnerable adults safe and to protect them from emotional, physical and sexual harm. 

All vulnerable people have a right to be safe and to be treated with respect and dignity.
All Dominoes Coaches have clear procedures and advice to help Protect Children & Vulnerable adults
  • Be observant: understand and be able to spot the signs of potential abuse.
  • Be attentive: listen to children and vulnerable adults, and to information about them from others
  • Be careful: how you behave around children and vulnerable adults
  • Be understanding: some people have additional vulnerability (e.g. disability or cultural) and may act or communicate in different ways
  • Be ready: to report any suspicion or concerns you have to the Club’s Safeguarding Officer
Our Equity Statement 2012

The Club is committed to providing equality of opportunity across its activities for anyone who wishes to take part. We embrace diversity and promote inclusion, as far as is reasonably practical, within the Laws of the Game and the Regulations of England netball. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are embedded in our day to day working practices with all our staff, volunteers and members.

We will always aim to provide equality of opportunity and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment or victimisation on grounds of: gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, HIV positivity, working pattern, caring responsibilities, trade union activity or political beliefs.

We will demonstrate our commitment by:
  1. promoting equality of opportunity, diversity and respect within the communities in which we work and with all our participants, members, workforce and partners; 
  2. not disadvantaging any individual or group by imposing any conditions or requirements which cannot be justified under this policy or other policies or regulations of the Club;
  3. aiming to build a workforce which reflects the communities we serve with the aim of having parity of representation across the workforce; 
  4. promoting Netball and the Netball club to those under-represented in the sport and present an image that reflects diversity;
  5. promoting an environment free from discrimination, victimisation, bullying and harassment, and tackling behaviour which compromises this commitment; 
  6. recognising and valuing the differences and individual contribution that people from diverse backgrounds make; 
  7. providing support and encouragement to all staff, volunteers and participants to develop their careers and increase their contribution to the sport through the enhancement of their skills, knowledge experience and abilities; 
  8. building-in legal requirements and best practice to all our service delivery and employee policies and procedures, and supporting these with appropriate training and guidance;
  9. reviewing this policy on a regular basis to account for shifts in the equality landscape.

Every person working, volunteering or participating in Dominoes NC activity has a personal responsibility for implementing and promoting these principles in their day-to-day dealings with members, customers, with each other and with partners. Discrimination, victimisation, harassment, bullying and inappropriate behaviour is not acceptable.

Dominoes reserves the right to limit participation to persons of specific age, gender or disability groups where this is necessary to ensure equitable, safe and equal competition.

In pursuance of this policy Dominoes Netball Club reserves the right to discipline any of its members, employees or volunteers who practice any form of discrimination.

Note: If you have a concern that any part of this policy has been contravened please contact Lauren Millar

Policy Statement

Dominoes is committed to the prevention and effective management of bullying behaviour relating to anyone, but in particular children and ‘adults at risk’, who are taking part in a Club activity.

This Policy aims to:
  • provide staff, coaches, volunteers and officials with information about bullying;
  • provide children, vulnerable adults and parents with information about what steps are being taken to safeguard against bullying;
  • set clear and consistent standards of behaviour;
  • establish an operational framework and introduce procedural action to take if there are concerns about bullying behaviour;
  • assure all children and vulnerable adults that they will take part in a safe and friendly environment and that their well-being is our priority;
  • ensure that the rights of children and young people to protection from abuse and neglect are upheld. (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 19).

What Is Bullying?
Bullying is any persistent behaviour by an individual or group which intimidates or threatens or has a harmful and distressing impact on another individual or group. Bullying behaviour may be any of the following: 
  • Verbal or social
  • Material or emotional
  • Physical or sexual
  • Discriminatory (eg homophobic, racist)
  • Cyber (ie via social media or mobile communication devices)

Bullying is different from fighting, which is usually a one off incident of physical conflict, as it tends to be regular or frequent in nature initiated by a perpetrator onto a victim. Some examples are listed below:
  • name calling or making hurtful personal comments
  • the victim is ostracised or left out of peer group activities
  • possessions are stolen or damaged or extortion takes place
  • pressure to conform with unwanted situations
  • harassment or aggression towards victim
  • deliberate inflicting pain or injury
(Kidscape, 1994)

What Will Dominoes Do?
As a club our staff, volunteers, players, parents and spectators will:
  • aim to create a positive and safe environment for everyone, especially children and ‘adults at risk’
  • not ignore bullying activity and always take action where it is reported
  • listen to and take seriously the concerns of individuals, or their parents or carers, taking part in Club activities
  • respond proportionately and effectively to incidents of bullying
  • ensure all staff are suitably trained to deal with any incidents
  • raise awareness amongst targeted groups (eg Academy squads) on the impact of bullying and consequences of being involved

The ground rules are as follows:
  1. We will not tolerate bullying or harassment of any kind.
  2. We will be accepting of others regardless of age, race, religion, culture or disabilities.
  3. We will not ignore an incident of bullying.
  4. We will use ‘time out’ if we feel angry or under pressure, or just need time to calm down
  5. We will be kind to others, even if they are not our friends and we will make new participants in our activities feel welcome.
  6. We will not join in fights or disturbances.
  7. We will report any bullying incident to a member of staff/official immediately.
  8. We will not judge others on the way they speak, their social behaviour, appearance or their ability.
  9. We will try to remember that everyone matters, including ourselves.
  10. We will encourage our staff, coaches, volunteers and officials to be vigilant and observant at all times.

Who to contact if you have a concern: at Dominoes Netball Club: Your head coach or Lauren Millar

You can also find out more from our Governing Body with whom we work alongside closely http://www.englandnetball.co.uk/get-involved/safeguarding