Five questions every parent or carer should ask their child’s sports club

A new 4-minute animated short from Energise Me (inspired by NSPCC Sport), made with real children's voices.

Why We Made It

Choosing a sports club for your child is a big decision. Most parents and carers think about where, when, and how much it costs. But other questions, like who will be looking after your child, what happens if something goes wrong, and whether they’ll feel they belong, matter just as much.

NSPCC Sport has long championed five questions every parent or carer should ask before they sign their child up to a club. We’ve added a sixth of our own…

Feeling like you belong (in any space, not just a physical activity) lowers social isolation and drop-out rates, and reduces feelings of depression and anxiety. So with that in mind, we knew we had to talk more about belonging.

What Is It?

A four-minute animation that walks through all five questions (and our bonus one!), with real children’s voices and a straightforward response from a club welfare officer.

Alongside it, there’s a question-a-day set of short clips (one for each question), social media graphics, ready-to-paste captions for Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and a downloadable poster for your noticeboards.

Everything is free to share. The whole pack lives in one place, so clubs, schools, and partners can pick it up and use it without making anything themselves.

Grab the launch pack and help share it far and wide!

Who’s It For?

If you’re a:

• parent or carer thinking about where your child will play sport, this is for you.
• club welfare officer, coach, or committee member, this is a conversation starter you can share with parents without having to lead every conversation yourself.
• a school, School Games Organiser, teacher or anyone else in a position to pass it on to families, we’d be hugely grateful if you did.

The Five Questions

1. Have the staff been checked?
2. Does the club have a safeguarding policy?
3. What happens if there is an accident?
4. Who can my child talk to?
5. What training is there?
   and bonus question –
6. How does the club help every child feel they belong?

What’s important to remember – and we highlight this in the video – is that children have different ways of asking these questions.  “Have the staff been checked?” becomes “Can I trust the grown-ups there?” “What training is there?” becomes “How do you know what to do to look after me?”

A word from Sue, our Sport Welfare Officer

“These are the questions that come up again and again – from parents at the school gates, from coaches on the sideline, from clubs trying to do the right thing. We wanted to make them easy to ask, and easier to answer. If this film helps one child feel safer at their club, it’s done its job. And if it helps a whole county do it, even better.”

Sue provides a free, independent, friendly point of contact for anyone with a question about welfare, safeguarding or safe sport across Hampshire and Isle of Wight.

With big thanks to

NSPCC Sport, whose 5 Questions campaign we adapted for this film.

The children who lent us their voices.

The coaches, welfare officers and clubs across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who keep sport safe every day.

Film adapted from NSPCC Sport’s 5 Questions campaign. © NSPCC. Bonus belonging question by Energise Me.