Child Welfare in Football

<p>Sport and those who run it have an important duty to ensure the safety and wellbeing of young participants. This text presents the findings of a unique research project into the experiences of a wide range of stakeholders in contemporary youth soccer exploring crucial issues of child protection social policy and the culture and governance of sport. It covers: </p><ul> <p> </p> <li>The youth soccer context — twenty-first century family life the sports policy background and the organisation governance and culture of the English game</li> <li>Research findings — the experiences of children and young people parents and carers coaches teachers referees Child Protection Officers Football Development Officers and those involved in women’s disability and professional soccer</li> <li>Issues in social policy research — methodological ethical and management challenges</li> <li>Conclusions and implications — the benefits and limitations of different approaches to the protection of children and young people in sport.</li> </ul><p>For researchers professionals and decision-makers this text provides important new insight into the impact of child protection policies and into the potential for evidence-based practice in youth sport. </p>