ECF Coaches
2. Coaches
(a) The Board shall be responsible on the recommendation of the Director of Junior Chess & Education for the appointment of the ECF Accredited Coaches (collectively or individually referred to as “the Coach(es)â€).
(b) No Coach shall be appointed to his or her post unless the Board is satisfied that he or she has previously conducted himself or herself in a manner befitting such appointment and also he or she satisfies all of the following pre-conditions:
(i) Membership of ECF; and
(ii) Possession of Enhanced CRB Disclosure* at the time of appointment; and
(iii) The provision of the name of two referees and the receipt of satisfactory references from those referees; and
(iv) Fulfilment of the qualifications to become a Coach current at the time of appointment.
(c) All such appointments of the Coaches shall be for a period of three years and may be renewed for successive periods of three years provided that the pre-conditions set out in 2(b) above are satisfied at the time of each such re-appointment.
I've read quite a lot of this thread but not all. I'm aware that this had been quoted before but I thought it worth considering what the above means and how it is implemented.
No Coach shall be appointed to his or her post unless the Board is satisfied that he or she has previously conducted himself or herself in a manner befitting such appointment
Fairly meaningless in practice if not misleading unless it can be argued that ignorance is sufficient evidence of satisfaction.
(i) Membership of ECF
Fair enough. I would guess that most or all on the list comply with this. Not relevant to the quality of the players ability to coach though.
(ii) Possession of Enhanced CRB Disclosure* at the time of appointment
Again I would guess that most or all on the list comply with this. A fairly minimum standard is being employed here though as I think that third party CRB's are being accepted and are considered valid for several years. I don't believe they need to be presented to a member of the ECF personally either but can be sent in the post. It should be remembered that the CRB is not a guarantee of an individuals past good behaviour but is simply a check on whether previous criminal behaviour has been recorded. This is a very low minimum but in no way sufficient starting point which should lead to other checks by parents.
(iii) The provision of the name of two referees and the receipt of satisfactory references from those referees
I believe that the ECF deem it sufficient to receive 2 references by the applicant but do not routinely or ever contact the referees to check on the accuracy of the documents received. I have provided a handful of references for prospective coaches to the ECF and don't remember being contacted by them to confirm their validity. I don't infer any blame on the ECF (if I have understood the situation correctly) for this given their limited funds.
(iv) Fulfillment of the qualifications to become a Coach current at the time of appointment
I don't believe there are any.
I mention all this to invite comment/correction and also to point out to certain posters that inclusion on the ECF coaching list , while vaguely desirable, is by no means all that it might seem to an unsuspecting parent, school or club.