As part of a safeguarding compliance operation by The FA, as of midnight on Sunday 15th January every single team in Shropshire had a coach attached to them, averting the need for any clubs to be suspended.

We now require all of those coaches to have an 'Accepted' FA Criminal Records Check (CRC) dated within the past three years.

The deadline for compliance with this request is midnight on 28 February 2017.

Any club who have a coach not compliant by that date will have its affiliation removed.

The Shropshire FA Verification Evenings

The Shropshire County FA is to host a series of drop-in evenings, specifically for those involved in the grassroots game wishing to have the Criminal Records Checks (CRC) verified.

Staff from the County FA will be hosting TWO drop-in evenings at the following venues:

• Date: Wednesday 8th February 2017
• Venue: AFC Telford United Learning Centre, Watling Street, Wellington, Telford, TF1 2TU
• Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm
• County FA Member of Staff: Jamie James
• Contact Number: 07855 217679

• Date: Thursday 9^th February 2017
• Venue: Shropshire FA, Greenhous Meadow, Oteley Road, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6ST
• Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm
• County FA Member of Staff: David Lewis
• Contact Number: 07918 764766

Anybody working in an eligible* role, directly working with children and young people – such as managers and coaches – is required to complete an FA CRC as part of responsible recruitment practice. This person MUST then be approved to work in football.

*Eligibility in simple terms:

Everyone aged 16 years or over who undertakes any unsupervised roles with children. These roles could be managing, training, coaching and supervising. They include giving advice or guidance on wellbeing, caring for children, or driving a vehicle solely for children on behalf of a club or organisation. By children, we mean anyone under the age of 18 years. Anyone performing these roles MUST obtain an Enhanced Criminal Record with Children’s Barred List Check. This check is made against the Government’s national list of those people barred from working with children (the ‘Children’s Barred List’)

For any questions relating to these sessions, or FA CRCs, please email David.Lewis@shropshirefa.com

Any club who removes a coach from a team on Whole Game System needs to immediately replace that coach and ensure that any new coach has an FA CRC before the deadline or they will also have their affiliation removed.

It is very important that we start to take action now in order to meet the above deadline, as such we urge clubs to take the following steps:

1. Secretaries and club welfare officers need to check each coach or manager listed on the Whole Game System (WGS) against their club. Should any coaches not have a CRC, an expired CRC, or one nearing the three-year expiry, they need to start the application immediately.

2. Each club can register to carry out its own CRC applications, with the club welfare officer (CWO) as the document verifier. If your club is not currently registered, then your CWO needs to send an email to fachecks@thefa.com requesting access. He or she will be sent a PIN, password, and full instructions.

3. If your club does not currently have a CWO, or he or she is temporarily indisposed, then the county FA can oversee renewals or applications. Simply e-mail David Lewis at David.Lewis@shropshirefa.com for further guidance.

4. We strongly urge clubs to begin the renewal process three months before expiry to allow a small 'overlap'. CWOs can easily see which volunteers are nearing this date on WGS via the traffic light system.

Should you need any further assistance in completing this very important process, contact David Lewis at David.Lewis@shropshirefa.com or on 01743 362769 for further assistance.

For further guidance on FA CRCs for Coaches please download a helpful guide by clicking HERE.

For more information on FA CRCs in general, including The FA’s policy and eligibility criteria, please click HERE.