Club Travel Policy

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Purpose 

Lucan United FC is committed to providing a safe, positive enjoyable environment for all children travelling with the club. This policy outlines the requirements and responsibilities for all overnight and away trips for underage teams undertaken by the club to ensure the safety, welfare, and supervision of all players. 

Travel Approval 

• Any managers planning a trip must notify the club for permission to travel. Permission may be requested by emailing the club at lucanunitedfc@gmail.com with the details of the trip. This notification should be at initial trip planning stage (no later than 6 weeks before travel date).

• Details of the trip must be provided to the relevant club fixture secretary to enable completion of the FAI permission to travel form (link). 

• The club fixture secretary will submit the completed form to admin@ddsl.ie for approval. Once the signed form has been returned by the DDSL, the club fixture secretary will forward the form to the FAI for their approval (permission@fai.ie). Once FAI approval has been confirmed, the club fixture secretary will notify the team manager.  

Note: If the away trip clashes with a scheduled league fixture, a fixture off request must be submitted to the DDSL. The DDSL require all fixture off requests to be submitted 21 days before the scheduled fixture. It is the team manager’s responsibility to complete the fixture off request form and submit it to their relevant club fixture secretary in sufficient time to allow review, signing and submission of the request before the 21-day deadline.  

Travel Arrangements 

• The club's preferred travel provider is Midlands Travel. All team travel arrangements should be booked through Midlands Travel where possible.  

• Any alternative travel arrangements must be approved in advance by the Club Committee or designated Club Officer. 

• For all international trips, individuals are responsible to ensure that they have their own travel insurance in place. 

• Refer to the player / official insurance policy on the DDSL website for cover details, and to check whether it covers your trip https://ddsl.ie/insurance-terms/. 

Parental Consent 

• Written parental / guardian consent must be obtained for every player travelling on a club trip.  

• Any medical conditions or special needs for the player must be disclosed by the parent / guardian.  

• Parents / guardians must be provided with full details of the trip including destination, travel itinerary, accommodation details, supervision arrangements, and emergency contacts. 

Unaccompanied Minors 

• It is recommended that every child travelling on an international trip should have a parent / legal guardian accompany them. 

• If this is not possible, it is the responsibility of the player’s parent / guardian to arrange for another parent attending the trip to act as the player’s guardian for the trip duration.  

• Any player travelling without their parent / guardian must have a signed permission letter from their parent / guardian authorising the travel and identifying the adult who will act as the player’s guardian.  

• This guardian arrangement must be agreed in advance by the parent / guardian of the player, the appointed guardian, and the club.  

Appointed Guardian Responsibilities 

• The appointed guardian must be a responsible adult approved by the club. 

• The guardian is responsible for the player's welfare, accommodation oversight, and welfare-related decisions during the trip. 

• The appointed guardian must be contactable at all times during the trip. 

Managers / Coaches  

• All managers and coaches on the trip must have valid garda vetting and have current recognised Safeguarding 1 training.  

• Coaching staff, team managers, and other club officials cannot act as guardians for players during club trips.  

• The role of coaching staff is limited to team management, coaching, and general supervision of the travelling group. 

Welfare & Behaviours 

• All trips must comply with the club's Child Safeguarding Policy and FAI Child Welfare & Safeguarding requirements.  

• Children should be informed to whom they can report any concerns they might have and shall be clearly encouraged to tell anybody if they should have a concern.  

• All parents, players and officials attending the trip must comply with the club Codes of Conduct and safeguarding procedures. 

• Adults responsible for children must remain fit and capable of supervising them at all times.  

• Adults must maintain appropriate professional boundaries with children at all times.  

• Adults should avoid being alone with one child. If talking separately, do so in an open environment, in view of others. 

• Appropriate adult-to-player supervision ratios must be maintained at all times. Ratio of 1:8 for players under 12 years of age and 1:10 for players over 12 years of age.  

• It is recommended to have a minimum of two coaches on the trip.  

• At least one adult of each gender should accompany mixed teams.  

• For overnight trips, rooming arrangements should be agreed before departure with parents and coaches. 

• Adults should never share a room with a child, unless it is a parent / guardian with their own child. 

• If children are sharing rooms, it should be with those of the same age and sex, this should be agreed with parents / guardians in advance and should be strictly supervised.

• Emergency contact information for all players must be carried by the team management throughout the trip. 

• Parents/Guardians should be informed as soon as possible if their child suffers any significant injury, accident or becomes unwell. 

• Any safeguarding concern, disclosure or allegation must be immediately reported to the Club Child Welfare Officer or Club Children’s Officer. 

Failure to comply with this policy may result in a player being unable to travel with the team.