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Overview
Grassroots sport brings together children, adults, volunteers and families. Clubs therefore hold lots of sensitive personal data such as; names and contact details, emergency contacts, medical information and attendance records.
Protecting this information, and the people behind it, is essential for player welfare and protection, parent/carer confidence, club reputation, and legal and GDPR compliance.
Safeguarding is not only about preventing harm, it’s about creating a safe environment where members and parents/carers feel confident interacting with the club.
Pitchero has been built specifically for sports organisations, so safeguarding is embedded into how the platform works rather than being an afterthought.
Safeguarding features available on Pitchero
Pitchero is built specifically for grassroots sport, not adapted from generic website software. That means safeguarding considerations are part of everyday features, from communication to permissions to data storage.
Secure, compliant software
Pitchero infrastructure is designed with security at its core.
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GDPR compliant data handling
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Role-based permissions for administrators
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Hosted on enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure (AWS)
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Encrypted connections (HTTPS)
Image safeguarding checks
Images uploaded to Pitchero are automatically scanned for inappropriate content.
This helps protect club members from:
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Violent imagery
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Pornographic material
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Inappropriate uploads to junior team pages
This acts as a first line of defence against accidental or malicious uploads and helps clubs maintain a safe online environment.
Parent/carer visibility on junior communications
When adults message junior members through Pitchero, the associated parents/carers are automatically copied into the conversation.
This creates transparency and protects:
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Players
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Coaches and volunteers
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The club
This includes messages sent to an unregistered member (with a parent/carer linked) regardless of age, and any messages sent to a registered member under the age of 16.
No private, one-to-one communication can take place without parental visibility, aligning with safeguarding best practice in youth sport.
For more information, check out this article.
Privacy and display controls
Pitchero allows clubs to control who can see different types of information, or whether they show on the website at all.
You can choose to restrict:
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Team pages
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Player profiles
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Fixtures, results and tables
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Contact details
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Documents
This is particularly important for junior teams, where information should only be visible to authorised members.
For more information on managing team settings, see this article.
Safeguarding Officer as a key contact
Clubs can list their Safeguarding Officer as an official club contact on their Pitchero website.
This ensures:
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Parents/carers know who to contact with concerns
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Volunteers know where to report issues
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Clear accountability exists within the club
Making safeguarding visible encourages trust and reinforces a safe club culture.
For more information on managing the club volunteers and officers on the Contact page, see this article.
Club Policies
Clubs can (and should) publish their official policies directly on the club website.
Listing policies publicly helps to:
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Clearly set standards for players, parents/carers and volunteers
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Provide transparency and accountability
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Give members confidence that the club takes welfare seriously
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Ensure everyone understands how concerns should be reported
When a member registers or joins a club on Pitchero, they must confirm they agree to the club’s policies. This recorded consent is important because it:
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Confirms members (and parents/carers) have read the rules
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Protects the club and its volunteers
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Supports safeguarding and disciplinary processes if issues arise
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Demonstrates compliance with governing body and safeguarding requirements
Keeping policies visible and requiring agreement ensures safeguarding is not just a document — it becomes part of the club’s everyday operation.
For more information on managing the club's Policies on Pitchero, see this article.
Best practice tips for clubs
Technology helps, but safeguarding is strongest when clubs combine good systems with good habits.
Use one central system
Avoid storing member data across multiple platforms, apps or personal devices.
Using Pitchero as your single club system means you can manage:
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Registration
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Payments
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Team selection
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Communication
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Attendance records
One system reduces risk, prevents data duplication and ensures information stays secure.
Regularly review admin access
Over time, volunteers change roles or leave the club.
At least once per season:
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Remove admins who no longer need access
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Add new coaches or committee members
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Check permission levels are appropriate
This is one of the most effective ways to prevent accidental data exposure.
Pitchero shows an audit of which persons have the Webmaster or Team Admin, what access they have access to, when their access was granted/revoked and by whom.
For more information on managing Webmaster and Team Admin access, see this article.
Restrict junior team visibility
Junior team pages should normally be set to private to authorised members of the club only.
This prevents public access to:
- Player profile details
- Photos and videos
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Squads, team lists and statistics
Limit player name visibility
Avoid displaying a junior player’s full name publicly.
Instead use formats such as:
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Joe S
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J Smith
This protects identity while still allowing teams to function normally.
Related articles
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