Volleyball-specific safeguarding qualification to be part of coaching courses from April 

The Assistant Coach Award course will now feature an online Safeguarding Children and Adults in Volleyball qualification, helping coaches understand the importance of safeguarding, its key principles, and how to demonstrate their responsibility to care for the welfare of everyone they coach. 

It will also be embedded into the Coach Award, which is being renamed the Club Coach Award to eliminate confusion between the generic term coaching award and the specific Coach Award. 

Coaches who have recently gained this qualification will see changes to their VolleyZone account and their certificate will be reissued in April. 

Key topics that will be covered in the new safeguarding qualification include online safety, DBS checks, types of abuse to watch out for, how to respond to concerns and act appropriately and staying safe by avoiding poor coaching practices. 

Although the base price of the Assistant Coach Award will increase from £176 to £207 as a result of the introduction of the course, it will actually make it cheaper than paying for a coaching course and the additional minimum cost of between £37 and £76 to sit a separate safeguarding course (which equates to between £211 and £252). 

An added benefit to the saving is that, for the first time, the examples and situations used in the safeguarding qualification will all be about volleyball, rather than about other sports. 

“This is a really significant benefit for the volleyball community,” said Gillian Harrison, Volleyball England’s Strategic Manager for Volleyball For Life (Workforce). 

“Up until now, coaches have bought their safeguarding training from external providers, which can cost as much as £76 for both adult and children's courses. 

“Not only are we able to provide this training at a much lower cost, but it is specifically geared to the volleyball environment." 

Coaches who need to renew their safeguarding qualification after 1st April 2025 should enrol on the new safeguarding course, costing £37, to remain updated and compliant. 

After this date, Volleyball England will no longer accept safeguarding training from the education, care, or health sectors, as these do not cover the essential information required for working within a volleyball context. 

Qualified coaches keen to stay up-to-date when it comes to safeguarding matters can also sit the course, through Volleyball England Learning, allowing them to complete it at their own pace and convenience. Details of how to join the new safeguarding course will follow in due course. 

Any queries should be directed to coaching@volleballengland.org