Juniors to Seniors Policy & Request

Tyne Bridge Harriers takes the safety and welfare of all runners as the ultimate priority. Special attention is given to the needs of children (under 18s, as defined by England Athletics) to ensure they are protected whilst training and competing with TBH. Tyne Bridge Harriers provides training sessions exclusively for juniors on Monday and Wednesday evenings and safeguarding is managed following EA guidance.

We recognise that as children transition from the junior section, we need to be able to integrate them into the senior section in a way that ensures they are able to continue their training but in a way that provides the appropriate protections. Therefore, there are additional opportunities for juniors to train in senior sessions but safeguarding needs to be managed extremely carefully to protect the welfare of our younger athletes.  If your junior athlete wishes to run with the senior section then you will first need to speak to either Hannah Stewart (Welfare), Paul O’Mara (Coach) or Ian Pickett (Chair). You must then complete the following form to acknowledge the procedures.

Please note, juniors shouldn’t be in the company of only one adult at any time during a TBH training session other than their parent or a nominated chaperone. Please ensure your junior athlete is aware of this and flag any concerns to the lead welfare officer via this form.

We want juniors to enjoy training with seniors but attending sessions will require juniors to be more focused and disciplined compared to the junior section. We will keep a close eye on whether juniors are struggling or dropping out of sessions as this will impact the leader and the group. If this happens the leader will inform the welfare officer via the incident form. The welfare officer will review these instances and if a junior is routinely struggling then consideration will be given to the group they are training with or whether attending senior sessions is the best for them.

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Parent/Guardian name *

First

Last

Parent/Guardian Email *

Junior Athlete's Name *

First

Last

Consent to use the junior's email *

• Please provide consent for us to email your junior (this will only be for the purpose of session and race attendance) and you will be copied in to all emails.

Junior Email *

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Phone (for Emergency Contact Purposes) *

Additional Emergency Contact Name, Relationship and Phone number *

Juniors need to be a minimum age of 16 to run with senior sessions although the junior coaching team will have the discretion to consider talented 15-year-olds. Please enter the age of the junior. *

We have a club Strava group which members can join. We allow 16 year olds to join this group but, as with all social media, some care is required. Please see our social media policy and if you are happy for your junior to be allowed access to this group then please confirm.

• I have read the policy and spoken to my junior and happy for them to be premitted access to the Strava group if they ask.
• I don’t want my junior to have access to the Strava group.

Juniors must have trained with the junior section and followed a pathway of development or have demonstrated a sustained period of distance running, for example, +2 years of regular parkruns or training with another club. *

• I confirm the junior athlete has this level of proficiency.

Juniors may only attend those senior sessions deemed appropriate by the O12 Head Coach (Paul O’Mara). I confirm that I will ensure that the junior only signs up to sessions that are available in Coacha and won't bring them to other sessions. *

• I understand juniors can only attend sessions that are available in the Coacha app.

Juniors need to be signed up on Coacha by midday (of the day) for each senior session. The Leaders of the appropriate groups will then be informed of the juniors attending. If there are not sufficient leaders, juniors will be asked to either drop down a group or not attend. More than three failures to sign up for training will result in a discussion regarding their ability to attend senior sessions. *

• I understand that juniors must be signed up by midday to attend a session.

Acceptance of the terms by the parent/guardian *

• I have read all the terms and agree to support the club, leaders and other athletes by complying with these terms.

Acceptance of the terms by the junior athlete *

• I have read through these terms with my parent/guarding and agree to support the club, leaders and other athletes by complying with these terms.

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