Safeguarding | Youth - Advice for Young People

Advice for Young People

As a baseball or softball player and a member of a club or team, we hope that you get enjoyment from playing and make lots of good friends in the process.

Before, during and after training, games or competitions, no one should ever make you feel unhappy or uncomfortable -- not other players, people watching or the coaches.

Something is wrong if someone...

... Constantly teases you, shouts at you or calls you names.
... Threatens, kicks or punches you.
... Touches you or does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.
... Makes suggestive remarks or tries to pressurise you into sexual activity.
... Damages or steals your belongings.
... Does anything that makes you feel lonely, upset, worried, unsafe, hurt or embarrassed.

At your club, there should be someone called a Welfare / Safeguarding / Child Protection Officer whose role is to look after you and make sure you are safe. You should ensure that you know who this person is.

What to do if you are worried or upset about something that is happening

If you are ever unhappy or uncomfortable about anything that happens to you, you should tell your parents or you can tell the Welfare Officer/Child Protection Officer about it and they will try to help. If the child protection officer is not available then you should tell an adult who you trust, or ask one of your friends to speak to an adult for you if you don’t want to do it yourself.

Try to remember when the things that made you unhappy happened by writing down the date, time and place, as well as what made you unhappy. If someone else saw what happened, write that down too.

There are other people who can help you: Childline has a free 24-hour telephone helpline on 0800 1111 and more advice at childline.org.uk.

Remember – don’t keep quiet if you are unhappy. Tell someone about it and make sure that baseball and softball remain great fun – always.

Staying safe

There are things you can do to stay safe:

Always tell someone you trust straight away if there is anything that worries you.

Avoid being alone with just one other person.

If your parents can’t take you to training or competition, travel with a friend and try to avoid travelling in someone else’s car on your own. Always ensure your parents know who you are travelling with.

Avoid going into someone else’s home on your own.

Make sure you are able to make a phone call. Make sure you have enough credit or minutes on your mobile phone and/or carry a phone card, spare change, etc, to make a call from a public phone box. If you need to call the emergency services you can dial 999 for free from a mobile phone.