Basketball England Guidance: Appropriate Communication with Young People

Updated: April 2025 

Introduction 

Clubs will often utilise websites and have profiles on social media channels and collect email addresses and mobile numbers from their members.  

When this involves contacting young people under 18 years of age, there are good practice guidelines that clubs should follow. 

Email 

Emails can provide an excellent opportunity to quickly disseminate information to a group of people. However, there are some risks and clubs should be aware of good practice which includes: 

• Language should be appropriate and professional 

• Emails should come from the same person, i.e. club secretary or head coach and a club email address should be used as opposed to a personal email address 

• Emails should be about legitimate club information and avoid over-familiarity 

• Ideally emails should be sent to groups rather than individual children. If communication needs to be sent to an individual child, another adult such as their parent or club secretary/club welfare officer should be copied into the message 

• For group emails, consideration should be given as to whether to use the ‘blind carbon copy’ function to prevent addresses being shared or seen by recipients 

• People should be given the option to opt out of receiving further emails 

• For under 16’s, parental consent must be gained before collecting email addresses and parents should also be copied into the email. Parents should be able to include their own email address instead of their child’s 

• For young people aged 16-18, their permission should be gained to email them, and parents should be made aware that the club will be emailing their child and the reasons for this    

• If the club receives any emails of concern from a young person, the child protection policy should be followed 

• If a club official leaves their position, they should ensure they delete club member’s email addresses from their computer 

• Email addresses should not be passed on or used for other purposes without permission. 

Messaging 

The use of direct messaging increases the vulnerability of both the young person and (typically) the coach. However, it is one of the most direct forms of communication with young people so where clubs decide they would like to use a messaging service, careful consideration should be given to the application used.  Applications such as Spond should be used as opposed to WhatsApp or texting. 

Good practice on how to reduce the risks include: 

• It should be a club decision to use a messaging service, rather than a decision taken in isolation by one person; 

• The content should relate solely to basketball; 

• Messages should be sent at appropriate times of the day (i.e. not overnight) and avoid language that is overly familiar or could be misinterpreted 

• Club officials with access to the young people’s personal contact details should be kept to a practical minimum 

• Club officials should not allow anyone to use their phone to message a young person and they should not pass on young people’s mobile phones numbers to other people 

• Consent must be obtained from young people prior to sending them messages. For under 16’s, parental consent must also be obtained and parents should also be sent the message 

• For young people aged 16-18, their permission should be obtained before messaging them and their parent’s made aware 

• Clubs should ensure that people know how to sensitively deal with concerns if they receive messages from a young person that could be considered inappropriate or concerning 

• Young people should be given the opportunity to request not to receive further messages. 

Websites and social media 

The internet provides an excellent opportunity to reach a wide audience at little cost. Clubs can use the internet to attract new members, publicise themselves and keep in contact with existing members. However, clubs need to be mindful about how they present themselves online and the risks the internet can pose to young people if not used appropriately. 

Good practice guidelines include: 

• The website/profile should present a professional image, ensuring all language and content is appropriate 

• Clubs should plan how they will manage their club website/social networking profile. There should be more than one person with ‘moderator’ responsibilities so content can be edited/removed quickly if necessary 

• The website/profile should be regularly monitored and links reviewed regularly to ensure they are appropriate and working 

• Procedures and contact details for reporting any problems/concerns should be easy to locate 

• Contact details for the club welfare officer should be available and links established to help organisations such as Childline 

• If the club decides to publish team/player profiles of under 18’s, the under 18 and their parent’s permission should be sought first 

• Permission to publish photos/videos of young people should be gained from them and their parents and follow photography guidelines in the Child Protection Policy 

• Clubs should avoid publishing excessive personal information of under 18’s i.e. never include email address, home address, school attended etc 

• Clubs/Coaches/Team Managers/Members should not tag U18s personal social media accounts/pages/profiles as it can lead to; 

• Identification offline and providing a location (through location information and geotagging) as to the whereabouts of that child, leading to; 

• Inappropriate or unwanted contact with people they don’t know, including potentially dangerous individuals; 

• Sexual grooming, luring, exploitation, and abuse; 

• Exposure to inappropriate content, including pornography, racist or hate material or violent content 

• Clubs/Coaches/Team Managers/Members should look to only tag ‘official’ social media pages/profiles/accounts for players or their club’s official page only 

• If there is a minimum age on the social networking site, the club should not target young people under this age to use it 

• Parents should be encouraged to view the club website/profile as well as young people; 

• If the club becomes aware of problems such as cyber bullying or a young person placing themselves at risk with the information they share on the internet, they should follow their club procedures for concerns or contact a help organisation for advice 

• Club officials, particularly coaches, should think carefully about their personal online profiles and if it is appropriate for young people in the club to be able to view them