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Player safety and historical last few round reflections. An important read.

At ERJSA, we are proud of our environment and culture. We think it’s one of the best in the state of any sport. The reason for this comes down to our philosophy and the things we do. We monitor our grounds, and we follow up on reports, breaches, and incidents.

We can’t always get back to people to inform them of specific action taken for several reasons, the biggest being privacy. So today we want to provide you with some insight to reassure you that follow-up does occur.

Why are we making this type of post right now?

Well 2026 has been a great season, but as we head into our final rounds, past experience has taught us that we often see two things in particular become more frequent at this time of the year:

--> a heightened sense of emotion; and
--> a lower level of vigilance monitoring children.

More specifically:

-->Players (or other children) hanging from, sitting on, standing in, tilting, or otherwise interfering with goals. Even small goals when tipped over can cause serious injuries. Larger goals like those at Edgeworth, Wentworth Park, and Cambridge can cause something altogether more serious or terminal. They are not designed as playground equipment. Coaches and parents are required to at all times (whether play is on or not) remain vigilant to ensure children stay away from goals.

-->A coach being away, resulting in a team turning up to a game without an appropriately registered and informed responsible person. Coaches should always contact their club if they are going to be away for assistance so games can still proceed.

-->Players, having played against each other a few times during the season, carrying an unfriendly rivalry into a new game. Sledging and bad language is an immediate cause to bench a player in our region; it is not tolerated.

-->Parents and guests creeping too close to sidelines, or worse, entering the field of play during a game. A parent or guest should never enter the field of play unless called over by the game leader or their coach.

-->People become involved in matters that are not their responsibility or refuse to follow simple directions given by coaches or region representatives.

-->one last example, increased near misses being reported in car parks, and/or damage to property. We can’t help but think every near miss brings us closer to an actual tragedy. Please make sure to keep your children close and drive carefully and slowly around our venues.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and thankfully, these types of reports are few and far between. 2026 has been a fantastic season, but it is important to reflect at times to ensure that we all remain vigilant of our collective responsibilities.

When an incident does occur, what type of action(s) can a coach, club, or region take?

Games can be temporarily halted or cancelled; players can be sent off to rectify an issue, or for the rest of a game; a player, parent, or group could be requested to leave the area; bans applied for future matches; immediate deregistration of a player; and/or registration declined in future years.

In the case of a serious event, police will be called with follow-up action taken to ensure the safety of our players, spectators, and volunteers.

There are also mandatory reporting requirements under the child safety provisions. Often parents don’t know or realise that violent or abusive behaviour in front of children can be enough to trigger this reporting requirement.

Remember, each and every weekend, all those who enter an ERJSA hired venue are guests. ERJSA representatives have the right to refuse entry to or remove those; who are not part of our competition, refuse to follow our directions, our code of conduct, and/or our policies and procedures.

Clubs and the region are all aligned in the thought process that to create a safe environment, it might mean that a child, or group of children become unable to play because of their behaviour or actions; or the behaviour or actions of those that brought them to the game or are there to watch them play.

When a region representative makes themselves known to you, any request should be followed without question. It will always be reasonable and in line with our terms and conditions that have already been agreed to in the registration process.

This all sounds a bit serious, and we don’t apologise for that, however putting all of the above aside, our region is a group of volunteers, all with varying levels of experience. Therefore we always do our best to start with gentle reminders and the provision of further education as our first option. Occasionally a formal warning is required.

While nothing is ever perfect; we are very proud of how our clubs work together to resolve issues. We have a track record of creating excellent participation-based environments that have a great atmosphere.

It is credit to all of those who help make this happen.

So if you have ever wondered or worried about issues being followed up, we hope this provides you with a greater degree of certainty and comfort.

We have also been excited this year to have the Northern Suburbs Junior Soccer Association as part of our competition structure in two age groups. NSJSA share the information that we publish along with our philosophy. We look forward to working with these wonderful clubs for the rest of 2026 and hopefully into 2027. ... See MoreSee Less