Join us in Protecting Our Future Stars: Your Support Makes All the Difference!
Dear Parents / Guardians,
We are writing to you today to outline all we do around safeguarding and coaching your children, but we cannot do it all without your support.
My name is Colman Lynch, and I am the Child Welfare Officer for Stepaside F.C. Collaborating closely with our dedicated committee members and volunteer coaches, my primary role is to ensure that Stepaside F.C. upholds the highest standards in child welfare.
At Stepaside F.C., we pride ourselves on keeping children at the heart of every decision we make. Since our founding in 2018, we have particularly focused on promoting girls’ football. Although we are a relatively new club, we have grown dramatically, with membership rising from just 59 players in 2020 to over 350 players in 2024/2025. This growth has also seen an increase in our volunteer coaches, now totaling fifty-six. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards, and I am pleased to confirm that:
· All our coaches are fully Garda Vetted
· All coaches have attended a Child Safeguarding training.
· All coaches are registered with the new FAI COMET system.
In addition, we recently held a First Aid training day, which fifteen of our coaches attended.
As parents and guardians, you are aware that the primary responsibility for your child’s welfare lies with you. To maintain our high standards, we need your support in several areas:
Training:
- Ensure your children are safely delivered to training. Younger children should not be dropped off in car parks. Please bring them to the pitch and ensure they have located their coaches before leaving.
- For younger teams, it is better practice for parents to stay during training in case your child needs assistance (toilet breaks, shoelaces, emotional support). If you cannot stay, consider arranging a rota with other parents. Remember that coaches are training 12-20 kids and may not have capacity to step away easily.
- We strive to have at least two coaches for every session, but sometimes coaches may need extra help. Please ask your coaches if they need assistance
- Coaches aim to make training fun while teaching new skills. We need children to be engaged and not disrupt others. If a coach raises behavior issues, please discuss them with your child and consider staying to support the coach.
Matches
- When supporting your child during matches, remain supportive and encouraging. Coaches should be the only ones communicating game tactics and organization. Comments to coaches, officials, and other parents should never be abusive. Respect for officials is crucial, as it teaches our children the correct behaviour, but it can also impact our ability to secure referees for matches.
- Commitment to your child’s team means supporting both home and away games. Coaches can help arrange lifts for away games if needed.
- Offer support to coaches during home matches. Helping with tasks like setting up goals or laying out pitches can be a great help, so coaches can focus on preparing the team.
- Stepaside follows FAI guidelines for minimum playing time up to U16 level. If you have concerns about your child’s playing time, discuss them with the coach first, and if unresolved, contact me. Note that some of our squads are too big to achieve minimum playing time, so coaches may make the decision to rotate squads for match days. In that situation your child will not play every week, but this will be communicated in advance, so you are aware.
- The FAI also advocates for children to play within the appropriate age group, and in situations where an age group has two teams, then it is also best practice to place children at the most appropriate level for their current skill level. Stepaside actively supports these best practices. We will contact parents during the close season if a change in team is recommended.
- Stepaside F.C. develops our youngers players through a practice of mixed teams (boys and girls playing together) until at least the U11 age group. This maximises the flexibility needed to maintain playing time for both boys and girls at each age group.
The Club:
As a growing club, we are always looking for volunteers to help us function and grow. If you have skills or services that could benefit the club, please introduce yourself to a committee member. We need help in areas such as: fundraising, legal, admin, and planning. Even if we do not need something immediately, knowing we can call on you when needed is invaluable.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for supporting Stepaside F.C. If you have any comments or suggestions on how we can continue to build our club around the children, please feel free to connect with me or any committee member.
Sincerely,
Colman Lynch
Child Welfare Officer, Stepaside F.C.
