When your club is successfully established, you may want to consider getting it more formally recognised through one of the established accreditation schemes. Such schemes provide your club with a "stamp of approval" and can be good for the status of the club.
The benefits of accreditation
Accreditation helps to demonstrate that your sports club is well run and formally recognised by one of the national sports bodies. The process of becoming accredited means that you will need to review your general procedures and policies to ensure that they conform to the minimum standards required by the scheme. This is similar to a 'health check' for your club. Once you are accredited, you will be able to show the accreditation logo on your club documentation. This will help to prove your club's credentials in several ways:
- For parents and teachers, it demonstrates that you have good child protection measures in place
- For coaches and instructors, it shows that you take your sporting activities seriously
- For members, it indicates that you're a well-run club
- For members of the public, it shows that you care about your sport and its organisation, and that you can be relied upon to deliver your sport effectively.
Accreditation schemes
There is a growing range of sports club accreditation schemes. Here are a selection that you might want to check:
- Sports-specific schemes operated by your National Governing Body. Many NGB now provide their own club accreditation scheme and this should be your first point of enquiry. See the link in the side panel to find your governing body. A case study of Cricket Scotland's Top Club scheme is provided.
- Local Authority schemes. An increasing number of Scottish local authorities are now developing club accreditation schemes, particularly for those clubs to whom they provide some financial, coaching or other support. These include Stirling, Glasgow, Angus and Dundee. In index of existing Council schemes is linked from the right-side panels or contact your Local Sports Council for more information.
- ClubMark. This national standards scheme has been developed by Sport England to provide a comprehensive accreditation scheme relevant to all types of sports clubs with junior sections. It is useful for sports clubs in Scotland where your National Governing Body is part of a UK sports federation. ClubMark is only awarded through participating National Governing Bodies (of whom there are 20 at present, with 13 more in the pipeline); it is not awarded directly by Sport England to individual clubs. See the links in the side panels for more information.
Accreditation schemes in Scotland
Currently, club accreditation and club development schemes are operated in Scotland by:
- Aberdeenshire
- Angus
- Dundee
- Glasgow
- Perth and Kinross
- Renfrewshire
- Stirling
- West Lothian
- Orkney Isles
- Scottish Athletics
- Scottish Cycling
- Scottish Football Association
- Scottish Cricket Union
- Scottish Amateur Swimming Association
See the side panel for links to the various Council and Governing Body pages for more information.
