Adult Supervision of Children’s Activities on the Club Premises and
During Away Trips

26th February 2024

As part of its obligations regarding the safeguarding of children, Galway Lawn Tennis Club
sets out in this document its policies and procedures for the adequate adult supervision of
junior members provided by the Club. GLTC will ensure that all children’s activities
organized either on the Club’s premises or during any official trip organized by the Club will
be adequately supervised by adults. Good practice dictates that more than one adult is present
to supervise activities. This will help to ensure the safety of the children as well as protect
adults. In this regard the Club will be guided by the recommendations contained in the
safeguarding guide for children and young people in sport. Further detailed information on
away trips is contained in the “Travel/Away Trip Policy” which is available on the Clubs
website.

In relation to away trips involving overnight stays when travelling to and from the
accommodation and the tennis centre there will be at least one adult of each gender with a
mixed party, there will be a good adult to child ratio, 1:6, and proper access to medical
personnel. At the accommodation and tennis centre there will also be an adult to child ratio of
1:6.

As a minimum all organized, mixed gender activities will be supervised by one male and one
female adult.

Adult supervisors will ensure that they are not left alone with young participants. If any adult
needs to talk separately to a child this will be done in an open environment, in view of others.
Leaders and adult supervisors should not be left alone with young people at the end of any
activity. Start and finish times for coaching, training and/or other activities will be clearly
stated. Parents are requested to collect their children as punctually as possible from the venue.
If late collections occur leaders/supervisors should remain in pairs until all participants’ have
left. It is the responsibility of parents/guardians to make arrangements for the timely
collection of young people in their charge.

If a parent is unavoidably delayed, they should contact one of the coaches/supervisors
attending whose contact numbers will be provided to parents. In the event that no contact is
made with the Coach/es or the adult overseeing the trip, we will attempt to contact the parent
using the contact number(s) provided by them on the completed Consent Form. If there is no
answer, they will ask the child if there is another family member whom they can contact. If
no contact can still be made, the coach/supervisor plus another adult will wait with the child
at the venue until the child has been collected by a parent or other adult nominated by the
parent.

In the case of away trips organized by the Club children attending the trip should let one of
the adult supervisors know where they are at all times. It is the responsibility of parents to
ensure that children do this. Under no circumstances should a child leave the club premises,
accommodation, or activity centres without informing the adult supervisor.

If a child suffers an injury or accident the parents/guardians will be informed, and an
Accident Report Form will be completed by the coach/supervisor and returned to the relevant
Coach/Manager. Attendance records and records of any incidents or accidents that occur will
be kept by the Club Manager / Coach.

Supervision of changing rooms if necessary (where children are very young or need special
assistance), will only be in pairs of the appropriate gender.

Galway Lawn Tennis Club welcomes and indeed encourages parents who wish to attend and
supervise sessions, (for safety and supervision, not necessarily for their ‘technical’ expertise!)
with a suitably vetted and trained supervisor present.

Parents should note that adequate adult supervision as described above is provided only at the
following times:

• During your child’s attendance as part of an away trip (including accommodation if
relevant),
• On the Club premises for formal organized events or coaching / training and activity centres

We wish to make it clear that while there may be adults present on the premises at
other times the, Galway Lawn Tennis Club does not regard their presence as the
provision of adequate adult supervision and it is not responsible for the safety and
protection of your child outside of the specific activities listed above.

While we take every reasonable measure to ensure the safety and protection of all our
members (including our own members while they are on an official away trip) such measures
do not extend to the provision of adequate adult supervision other than for the activities listed
above. In that regard it is the responsibility of each parent/guardian to ensure that their child
is adequately supervised at all other times.

This policy document should be read in conjunction with the Clubs “Away Trips and
Hosting” policy and “Guidelines on Transporting Young People” both of which are available
on the Club website.