Is Your Overseas Coaching -
It’s that time of year again when clubs are looking to bring in overseas players and start to make arrangements for them throughout the summer.
Many clubs will want their overseas player to help coach their juniors – which is a great option as it helps them share their skills, is a boost for the club, and provides professional development and CV building material for the overseas players, many of whom are young and setting out in life.
As with any coaches working with children, the overseas players must be vetted. Obviously they cannot obtain a DBS certificate as they do not live here but what they need to provide to us in the ECB Safeguarding team is:
• The Non UK Residents Vetting Form (copy attached)
• A Local police check or certificate of good conduct (maximum age – three months before departure from the country that issued it)
• The photo page of their passport
• A copy of the relevant visa (if applicable)
The key message is for people to get a Police Certificate before they leave their country. Trying to do this once they are here can take months, and the season is over before the process can be completed.
The documents should be sent to the safeguarding@ecb.co.uk inbox at the earliest possible time. We process hundreds of these each season so we do require the documents to be provided correctly as set out in the Non UK Residents Form.
The safeguarding team, once satisfied that the individual may work with children in cricket, will then make a manual entry on the database, vetting the individual until September 30, that is, until the end of the season.
Please note – no vetting is required for somebody who will play only, but please be aware that many clubs bring players over, only to then realise it would be very helpful if they could also coach.
It is important clubs who wish to use an overseas player for coaching check that the visa type that player has does permit coaching.
Not all visa types allow an overseas player to coach. So for example, someone on a Tier 5 professional player/coach visa can run a formal coaching session whereas someone with a Youth Mobility Scheme or Standard Visitor Visa cannot run a formal coaching session.