In the last article, we provided information to you all about Digital Communications with Children (under 18s) and moving on from that, this week we would like to promote some guidance and best practice when running a website for your club or league.

We all like to share the achievements of our children, players, teams or club but we have to be careful of unwanted viewers of this content, who could potentially use the information provided in inappropriate ways. 

You must also be mindful of the content of the articles you publish to ensure that it is not offensive or discriminatory in any way. Such content could be subject to disciplinary action. Websites and social media platforms are there to be informative and to promote achievements and events taking place within your club. 

When running your website or social media platforms we need to ensure that we are following The FA’s guidance in document 6.1, Running Websites and Social Media Platforms, which can be found using the link below.

Some of the key messages are:

Ensure content or comments are not or could be perceived as: • Offensive; • Insulting; • Abusive; • Threatening; • Racist; • Discriminatory; • Any other reference that may cause offensive or harm to others.

Ensure that children or young people’s personal details are not published where they can be seen and used to contact them. Also don’t post details of individuals which may lead to them being identified, e.g. school/class/year, player profiles detailing personal information e.g. favourite foods, movies, teams etc. 

Never host pictures of individuals without the permission of players/carers. Always follow The FA’s Guidance Notes 8.3: Photographing and Filming Children, which can be found below. 

We are really looking forward to following clubs in Lincolnshire this season to see what has been happening in the area. 

DOCUMENTS

6.1 - RUNNING WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS

8.3 – PHOTOGRAPHING AND FILMING CHILDREN