TRANSPORT POLICY

We advise that parents in the first instance are responsible for transporting their children to or from tennis venues and events.  It is reasonable to place responsibility on parents for ensuring appropriate transport arrangements are made. 

Sometimes it may be necessary for Long Crendon Tennis Club to transport a number of children for team based events or activities, such as County Cup.   In such a situation, we will ensure that:

• Parents are informed of the destination, reason for the journey and who the driver will be
• Parents complete, sign and return a Consent and Emergency Contact Form. The supervisors should have a copy of this with them at all times
• There are two adults in the car
• Children are seated in the back of the vehicle at all times
• There is an established procedure in the event of a breakdown/emergency
• The driver has a valid UK driving licence, satisfactory DBS check (if applicable), correct insurance, MOT certificate and complies with laws on the use of seatbelts and restraints
• Rest breaks are taken every two hours of driving
• If transporting children in a mini-bus or bus, the driver must also have the correct type of licence (more information on this here).

OVERNIGHT TRIPS POLICY

Long Crendon Tennis Club will ensure that the following policy as set out by the LTA will be followed:

Accommodation

Event organiser should make enquiries with hotels/accommodation providers (such as universities) well in advance of the event to establish their policy on children having their own room.

Under no circumstances can an adult (18+) other than the parent or carer stay in the same room as a child.  Players should not share a bed and male and female players should not share a room.  It is acceptable for children of a similar age and the same sex to share a room.  Adult supervisors should stay in a room on the same floor and as close to the child’s room as possible.

Hotels can raise particular challenges for those responsible for groups of young players, due mainly to the possible interaction with other paying guests, and the availability of bars and other facilities.

You should:

• where possible, visit the accommodation beforehand to assess risks, ask questions, negotiate with the managers and gather information
• ensure players are not spread across the hotel, e.g. negotiating the use of all rooms on a particular floor
• use separate sets of rooms used by male from those used by female players
• check wheelchair accessibility if required; discuss providing a carer with the young person and their parents.
• ensure any disabled players, staff, etc. have access to all parts of the hotel and all areas within the allotted bedrooms, particularly wheelchair users for whom the height of the bed may be a factor
• check accommodation is suitable for players who are visually or hearing impaired, or have mobility difficulties
• check if players have specific cultural requirements
• ensure players cannot access inappropriate TV programmes and online content if rooms are fitted with televisions and Wi-Fi
• assess the access to and use of facilities, including bars, restaurants, pools, gymnasiums, TV/ games rooms, the internet and so on
• consider any additional supervision levels required, particularly during down time or free periods
• negotiate with hotel security about young people leaving the premises
• set players very clear guidelines on their expected behaviour at the accommodation
• maintain details of which players are using which rooms
• establish fire and other emergency arrangements, including access to players rooms
• establish arrangements for meals, arrivals and departures.
• brief everyone on fire procedures and exits; tell accommodation staff if any room is occupied by someone with difficulties responding to alarms.
• tell players how to contact staff, including which rooms they occupy and room telephone numbers

Information for parents and carers

The paperwork you prepare for parents and players should give them as much information as possible. For trips where players are staying overnight, this will need to be more comprehensive and include:

• objectives and purpose of the trip
• name and contact number of the organiser
• names of all staff and volunteers
• name and contact number of the person acting as the home–club contact
• details of transport to and from venue and during the trip
• details of accommodation with address and contact number
• itinerary, which should give as much information as possible, particularly the type of activities (competition, training, educational/social) and an indication of any unsupervised free time
• kit and equipment list emergency procedures and telephone contact
• code of conduct
• safeguarding children procedures and/or vulnerable adult procedures
• estimated cost (final costs will depend on the number of athletes participating, so you may need to indicate that the cost could vary up or down)
• date for paying a deposit to book a place and details of whether there are any circumstances under which the deposit is returnable
• schedule for settling the balance
• spending money
• expectations around the use of mobile phones or social networking sites
• details of insurance cover

Using mobile phones, email and social media

Increasingly clubs and event organisers use e-technology and social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter or blogs) to promote events, provide live comment and communicate with participants and staff.

However, you should clarify your expectations of participants and adults involved in trips with regard to their use of these electronic media.

Unsupervised time

There are often situations where athletes may not be directly supervised, such as returning to hotels or bases after events, shopping trips or during social visits. Unsupervised situations may arise at competitions or training camps with older athletes, or may be part of your planned programme.

As a general rule, you should not allow youngsters (under 11s) unsupervised free time. You should always inform parents if there will be times when youngsters will be unsupervised.

If using remote supervision, the group leader must ensure that everyone understands the ground rules and is adequately equipped to be unsupervised.

Time limits should be clear to everyone and not too long. Youngsters should not be on their own, but in groups of at least three.

They should know:

• where and how to contact a member of staff
• where they are staying, including the telephone number

They should have:

• some money
• some form of identification
• maps, plans and any other information for them to act effectively and safely
• an understanding of any areas that are out of bounds
• at least one mobile phone between members of each group.

It may help for one or two members of staff to establish an informal group base (such as in a central square, park or café), so that they are easily available and young people can check in with them.

Assessing the risks

No amount of planning can guarantee that a visit or overnight trip will be totally incident free, but good planning and attention to safety measures can reduce the likelihood or seriousness of any incidents.

Formally assessing potential problem areas is central to ensuring that you have appropriate procedures in place for all activities and stages of a trip. Your assessment should aim to prevent the risks or reduce them. You must not place children and young people in situations that expose them to an unacceptable event level of risk; your prime consideration must always be safety.

You should base your risk assessment on the following considerations:

• What are the hazards?
• Who might be affected by them?
• What safety measures need to be in place to reduce the risks to an acceptable event level?
• Can the group leader put the safety measures in place?
• What steps will be taken in an emergency?

We strongly recommend a pre-trip visit to check many of the above points. Although good practice, this may sometimes not be practical, but you can always write to the sports venue and accommodation to ask for specific information for your risk assessment. You can also seek references from other clubs or schools that have used the same facilities.

You should also establish how many staff you will need at all times to supervise the group adequately on your trip.  There should be a minimum of two members of staff on all trips and if the group of children is male and female, the members of staff should be male and female.