ECB Clubmark Folder update

As is usual at this time of year, the latest re-print of the ECB Clubmark folder is now available. If your club has recently requested a folder through your County Board, then this will be arriving with you shortly. There have been very few changes to the content of the folder, which therefore takes effect immediately.

Some sections have been updated, and some have undergone minor changes, such as re-phrasing, without any change to actual policy. The white plastic ring binder has been replaced with a new zip-up folder, which we hope you will find useful to keep all of your information and evidence together.

The CD ROM of supporting information and templates has been replaced with a USB memory stick which will allow you not only to save changes to the documents, but can also be used to store additional information. A number of the support resources have also been updated, with two new documents added.

Amendments are as follows:

Clubmark Process

Any club that has not achieved accreditation three years after their initial registration will be de-registered. Three years should be a sufficient period of time for any club to work towards accreditation; however, if a club is de-registered, then they are able to register again in the future, when ready.

An additional Step 8 entitled “ECB Clubmark and Club Mergers” has been added to the Clubmark Process in the “Other Possible Steps” category. As ECB Clubmark has now been in operation for some time, we are receiving more queries concerning the effect of club mergers on ECB Clubmark status.

The general policy on ECB Clubmark and Club Mergers is available on the Clubmark pages of the ECB website. For further information please contact your CDM.

Criteria Changes

There has been only one material change to the ECB Clubmark criteria:

• Criterion 3.3 - Sport England’s mandatory core criteria to be included in all sport-specific Clubmark programmes no longer requires that coaches repeat the Equity in Your Coaching workshop every three years, so we have also removed this requirement. As long as one qualified coach who currently coaches juniors at the club has attended the workshop, then it is not necessary for them to repeat it.

The following criteria have been updated:

• Criterion 1.3 - Time to Listen workshops have been replaced by a cricket-specific Safe Hands workshop for Club Welfare Officers which will be piloted from January 2011. For any queries, please contact your County Welfare Officer, or e-mail: safeguarding@ecb.co.uk.
• Criterion 1.8 - Clarified to reflect the need for a map/directions/telephone number of local the hospital/doctor’s surgery to be displayed in club changing rooms, as well as on the club’s noticeboard and on any club website.

All references to documents which must be displayed on the club notice board and/or website now read must be displayed on the club notice board and any club website.

• Criterion 3.7 - The process for One Game Pledge sign-up has been improved. An automatic e-mail confirmation is now generated on sign-up, and should be printed out by clubs to fulfil the evidence requirements.

Supporting Information and Templates

Some documents on the USB memory stick have been arranged into folders entitled “Coaching”, “Safeguarding and Protecting Children”, “ECB Clubmark Checklists” and “Various”. All of the documents on the USB stick are also available to download from the Clubmark Process pages of the website.

The following documents have been updated:

• Evidence File and Site Visit Checklists - as per criteria changes detailed above.
• Annual Health Check form – space has been added for the person completing the form to sign and date it.
• ECB Safe Hands policy - full details of all changes are described in the “Changes to Child Safeguarding and Safe Hands Policy” document, as well as on the Safeguarding pages of the ECB website.
• “NatWest Inter Cricket Session Plans”

The following documents have been re-phrased in parts, with no material change to the content or information required:

• Introductory Letter to Parents, Carers and Guardians
• Junior Membership Form – the sections have been re-ordered and new consent boxes added, with references to “carers” removed in this context in line with Safe Hands policy.

New Resources:

• One Game Good Practice Guide – new publication that will assist clubs in fulfilling the Knowing Your Club and its Community – One Game section requirements. A copy of the guide is included within each folder.
• Risk Assessments – the HSE “Five Steps to Risk Assessment” guidance document has been added to assist clubs in completing risk assessments.
• Role Descriptions – 26 example role descriptions have been added to assist clubs with recruitment processes.

Future updates

The ECB Clubmark Model Club Constitution and the ECB Equality Policy are due to be updated in 2011. The revised documents will be made available to download from the ECB Clubmark Process pages in the early part of the new year.

Changes are also expected to the ECB Coaching Pathways in 2011. The ECB’s Coach Education department will advise on this fully nearer to the time, and any subsequent changes to ECB Clubmark will be publicised. There are also expected to be changes to the Vetting and Barring Scheme next year, which may impact on Safeguarding requirements. As soon as further guidance is received from central government then the ECB Safeguarding team will advise on any required amendments. Please keep a check on the News section of the Clubmark pages where any changes will be informed.

We have now dealt with the majority of issues raised in the responses to the ECB Clubmark review questionnaire, and have made a number of changes to ECB Clubmark over the past year as a result of your feedback. The following issues remain under ongoing consideration and review:

• Automatic non-voting membership rights for parents or guardians of Junior Members – the continuing need for this requirement will be reviewed as part of the Model Constitution template update.
• ECB CA membership for all qualified coaches – the ECB Coach Education Department currently consider that this remains an important element, offering coaches a number of benefits, including, helping coaches keep up to date with the latest practices; insurance cover; access to advice and support, and discounted courses. If any changes to this policy arise as a result of the re-structuring of Coaching Pathways and qualifications then they will be advised at that time.
• Club Development Plans – the information recorded in a Club Development Plan is required by a number of different departments within the ECB. If it was not provided in the Development Plan, then it would still have to be provided elsewhere. For that reason, it is considered most appropriate to request the information in one document, rather than require clubs to submit several different documents to different departments. However, the managers of the relevant departments are currently actively assessing whether any improvements could be made to the system.

Thank you for your continuing commitment to ECB Clubmark and junior cricket. For any queries, please contact your CDM, or e-mail: Clubmark@ecb.co.uk