Some questions have been raised about the club registration form recently sent via email to all league reps or senior club contact.
The first question was defining age group of under 19 players.
Answer - Boys/ girls, age group is based on age at midnight on 31st August the previous year ie 31-Aug-09.
Another question was about sharing date of Birth details of the under 19 players with the league, please see the response from John Leafe.
Dear David,
I think it is important we all work together to ensure we Safeguard our children and young players.
Personally I would support any responsible club or league in correctly identifying the precise age of young players.
Whilst many clubs understand the significant difference between chronological age and their actual age group, this cannot be said of all clubs or captains or indeed many of those acting as umpires. We could for example have two 15 yr olds who are in different age groups or school years which impacts on what they can or can’t do.
We must observe our ‘Duty of Care’ and do everything we can to prevent youngsters of the wrong age group doing things they are not allowed to and thus putting them at risk.
In Cricket we are talking not only about fast bowling directives, but fielding requirements, the wearing of helmets and indeed whether they are allowed to play in open age cricket which has been the subject to several changes ( 3 ) in the past month and the most recent dated 3rd February being the subject of further clarification sought between the Nottinghamshire Cricket Board and the ECB.
In terms of Data Protection there are a number of core principals which underpin the legislation ( and is also supported by Human Rights legislation. ) I have copied some basic information below. It is absolutely vital that anyone who stores such data, and this will be clubs as well as leagues, do so with these principles in mind. Both clubs & leagues can keep them if it is necessary, proportionate, it’s accurate and so on. My view would be it is necessary for a league to store such data for safeguarding purposes to ensure no under age child is put at risk or allowed to do something they shouldn’t e.g. batting without a helmet. Naturally it is also vital that the league registrar keeps this information securely and only for as long as is necessary.
Now one difficulty is that even when the league know the true age of a player, that doesn’t help the umpire at a game on a Saturday afternoon because we wouldn’t circulate such information to for example a panel umpire. Those games played with club provided umpires should be fine assuming the umpire knows which age group one of their teams player is in. All Umpires, panel or club need to check very carefully the ‘Team Sheet’ to check they have identified the true age group. Rules regarding helmets for example use both age group for fielding restrictions and chronological age for no longer needing to bat with one. Simple really !!!!!!!!
The ‘Safe Hands’ Player Profiles require a date of birth and has never been challenged by anyone in England & Wales to my knowledge. Clubs with junior sides use these forms to gain parental consent. There is a standard reference to Data Protection on this form. I would imagine that many youngsters who will be playing in the 2010 season played in 2009 so clubs should have already complied with Data Protection in terms of advising parents what they intend to do with the data e.g. in this case register a player with a league. I’m not sure if we add a date of birth onto the already existing data held by the league, whether clubs would be required to go back to the person who signed this Player Profile form originally and advise them the league now have the date of birth. It is this person who presumably supplied the date of birth to clubs in the first instance. Certainly a new player being registered with the league for the first time should be aware of what is being stored. N.B. These forms are not suitable for dealing with the ‘Explicit Written Consent’ required for those in the Under 13 age group ( Year 8’s ) playing in open age cricket.
Those games, sadly far too many, where sides do not have an umpire does cause me some concern purely in terms of safeguarding youngsters. Some sides usually those made up of all adults are not always aware of the existence of any restrictions placed upon youngsters let alone how to interpret them.
Weeding data would have been easier and simpler had the G&MSNCL voted in individual registration but as that has not happened then the registrar must establish another method of deleting the information when it is no longer needed e.g. they are older than the Under 19 age group. Of course such a person will still need to be registered with the league so much of the data held will still be needed, however it will be their date of birth that is no longer necessary. Not easy is it !!!!!!!!
John Leafe County Welfare Officer
The Data Protection Act gives individuals the right to know what information is held about them. It provides a framework to ensure that personal information is handled properly.
The Act works in two ways. Firstly, it states that anyone who processes personal information must comply with eight principles, which make sure that personal information is:
- Fairly and lawfully processed
- Processed for limited purposes
- Adequate, relevant and not excessive
- Accurate and up to date
- Not kept for longer than is necessary
- Processed in line with your rights
- Secure
- Not transferred to other countries without adequate protection
The second area covered by the Act provides individuals with important rights, including the right to find out what personal information is held on computer and most paper records.
Should an individual or organisation feel they're being denied access to personal information they're entitled to, or feel their information has not been handled according to the eight principles, they can contact the Information Commissioner's Office for help. Complaints are usually dealt with informally, but if this isn't possible, enforcement action can be taken.
