Coaches - What to do now

As a coach you are responsible for ensuring that young people are given every opportunity to have positive sporting experiences and that they participate at the level most appropriate to their ability.

• Check whether your sport has a local, state or national policy or guidelines for categorising young players into teams and whether they are consistent with your club’s practices.
• Raise any concerns you may have about the appropriateness of these guidelines with your local administrator or state sports organisation.
• Consider exemptions you could implement to better match young people with those of similar ability or developmental stage. For example, think about:
• regrading divisions or age groups to align participants either at mid-point or the end of the season
• using handicapping in competitions to reduce the effect of growth and maturation
• allowing junior players to play up or down a division after reviewing  their individual situation and consideration has been given to the standard of play and type of players in the other division.