Accreditation
Active Watford CSN recognises and values the commitment made by local sports clubs to develop high quality, welcoming environments for all participants. Clubs that encourage young people to take-up sport, improve their skills and maintain a health lifestyle through sport are regarded as essential part of supporting the community sports infrastructure in England.
New or established sports clubs may want to consider achieving recognition through a quality accreditation scheme such as Club Mark as it provides a "seal of approval" which can be good for the status of the club and helps to increase its profile in the local community.
The reality with most accreditation schemes is that they enable clubs to evidence the good practice that is already in place, but for others it can be a useful club development tool that can help clubs to consider areas for improvement and plan for the future.
Many accreditation schemes are individual to certain sports, National Governing Bodies (NGB’s) will have designed them in relation to the aspects and specifics of their sport. Currently, sports with their own accreditation schemes include: -
- CAPS (Netball)
- Club Charter (Squash)
- Clubs First (Hockey)
- Club Future (Badminton)
- Go-ride (Cycling)
- Golf Mark (Golf)
- GymMark (Gymnastics)
- LacrosseMark (Lacrosse)
- Premier Club (Table Tennis)
- Seal of Approval (Rugby Union)
- Snowmark (Snowsports)
- Swim 21 (Swimming)
- Tennis Clubmark (Tennis)
- Top Club (Canoeing)
- Volley 1-2-3l (Volleyball)
In simple terms most accreditation schemes are awarded to clubs that comply with minimum operating standards in four main areas of club adminstration and mangement:
- The playing programme
- Duty of care and safeguarding and protecting children and young people
- Sports equity and ethics
- Club management
Benefits
An accreditation recognises that your club provides high quality sporting opportunities and many clubs find that the process leads to improvements in how their club is run and develops. Evidence of this can be seen via a range of improvements, such as:
- Creating a more welcoming and accessible club environment
- More effective and qualified coaches
- Improved recruitment and retention of volunteers
- More opportunities to access funding and other support
- More effective club management processes
- Reassurance that your club remains up to date with legislation
- New opportunities to develop partnerships with schools, local authorities and other community organisations
The process of accreditation means that you will need to review your general procedures and policies to ensure that you continue to conform to minimum operating standards which can be viewed as an ideal 'health check' for your club to ensure that is it run efficiently and effectively.
Accreditation raises the awareness and profile of sports clubs, locally and also offers reassurance to everyone, especially parents and teachers that they can signpost their children and young people to safe and welcoming sports clubs in the local community.
For more information on Club Mark accreditation please visit www.clubmark.org.uk
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