Designed for established competition organisations providing match play opportunities to clubs and teams.
Competition Organiser’s Start of Season Checklist
This checklist is designed to help you feel confident in your preparations for the new season. It helps you check the essentials are in place to ensure there is a duty of care for you and your members. We’ve included a P next to the highest priority actions and the links provide further support and information if these are areas you are still working on.
Printable Competition Organiser’s Start of Season Checklist
We are learning with you so please do let us know what you think of this support by completing this short survey.
| Pre-Season Check | Priority Action? | Further information or Support | |
| COMPETITION PEOPLE AND MEMBERSHIP | |||
| Have you allocated your Golden Committee Roles in Engage and have an active 2023-2024 membership?
*There should be at least three different people on your committee with the club secretary and club treasurer being different people. |
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| Are the officials in your competition appropriately qualified for the level of competition they are officiating, and have you checked they have an active 2023-2024 membership? | P | ||
| Do all the players in your competition have an active 2023-2024 membership? | P | ||
| Does your competition pay individual employees £118 or more per week? | Ensure you benefit from the Employer’s Liability cover included in your membership | ||
| Have you considered the protection and sharing of personal data?
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As an organisation, we hold records electronically but do these need encrypting?
As an organisation, we hold records in paper form do we need to make electronic copies? |
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| Have dates been shared for your committee to have regular meetings where records of decisions made and actions to take are made | How to run effective meetings | ||
| Do you have a Competition Referee and what decision-making powers do they have? | This is the person responsible for managing the competition and its regulations | ||
| COMPETITION WELFARE AND SAFEGUARDING | |||
| Does the safeguarding officer hold no other position within the competition to avoid any conflicts of interest? | P |
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| Is your competition safeguarding officer appropriately qualified, have a current DBS and is visible to all competition members? * As a minimum they should be clearly identified on all communications with players and parents | P | ||
| Does everyone who needs a DBS have a current DBS? | P |
You can work out who needs a DBS using this flow chart |
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Do you manage the risk of accidents or injury within your competition? Pre-season competition risk management should include risk assessing:
Q-Have you completed a risk assessment of the space and site visit before regular netball activity commences? Q-Has the condition of players and officials been considered in scheduling to manage the risk of injury? Q- Do you have emergency procedures for dealing with serious injuries/accidents? |
You may consider having multiple volunteers supporting the competition’s risk management planning, culture and review |
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Have you got a risk assessment checklist that competition volunteers/officials can use during the season before any netball matches start? Are appropriately qualified first aiders identified and present during the season at the club’s netball activity? |
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| Is your competition Resolutions Lead appropriately trained and visible to competition members? | The Resolutions Lead should also be visible to competition members. | ||
| Facility and Equipment for Netball Competition | |||
| Do you have a suitable venue/(s) to run your netball competition and do you have a copy of their venue’s risk assessment? | P | If not, have you made your Netball Development Officer aware so that they can support? | |
| Do you have appropriate equipment to run your netball competition? first aid kits etc | England Netball Store | ||
| Competition Structure | |||
| Does the competition provide recognised and authorised activity?
*County and Regional Netball Associations are not required to register the leagues that they run. |
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| Do you have clear competition rules and fixtures that have been made available to all teams? | P | Is the fixture structure fair and have you included contingency dates in the schedule? | |
| Does your competition schedule provide adequate time and space for players and officials to warm up and cool down? | Reducing Injury Risks in Netball Infographic
For more on injury prevention head to the NETBALLHer website. |
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| *Individuals in teams who do not train are at greater risk of injury as netball returns. Scheduling can help reduce this likelihood. Consider the appropriate length of quarters for the condition of players. If the number of injuries becomes a concern review your risk assessments to see what can be changed. | |||
| Have you reviewed your competition processes since your last competition? | This could include reviewing regulations and creating feedback opportunities to ensure your competition maintains a good standard competition. | ||
| Competition Communications | |||
| Is everyone clear on what is going on, when, where and the costs involved? | P | ||
| Are your teams aware of the competition’s Code of Conduct? | For reference England Netball Codes of Conduct including templates | ||
| Do you have a plan to send out regular communication to the teams and competition people to keep them informed about key league updates including fixture and results and provide opportunities to feedback what’s working well or share ideas of what could be even better? | |||
Thank you to you and every competition organiser who continues to invest significant time, effort and energy to ensure there are competitive playing opportunities and netball can continue to be a sport we can all be proud to be part of.
There is lots of support available to help you with pre-season.
| Here’s who can help? | |||
| Your local netball development officer (NDO), is here to help and signpost. | Not sure who your NDO is or how to contact them- Regional Contacts | ||
| Your county and/or regional netball association | Unsure what they offer and how to contact them your NDO can help | ||
| Your local Sports Partnership | Your NDO can help you if you are unsure | ||