Guidance for Cheshire Schools FA staff, players and parents using Social Media
At Cheshire Schools FA, we see social media as a valuable way to stay connected with all families and communities across Cheshire and across the United Kingdom.
Our social platforms help us share news, celebrate achievements, tell our stories, and create a welcoming space where players and parents feel recognised, included, and part of the our county programme.
We also value social media as a place for healthy discussion and for parents to ask questions. Open conversation is encouraged, but it must remain responsible and respectful. Unfortunately, social media can also be used to spread abuse, hate, and discrimination, which has no place in football or society.
We are firmly committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion. Racism, antisemitism, homophobia, sexism, and all other forms of discrimination are completely unacceptable. Just as these behaviours are not tolerated in person, they should never be accepted online.
This Social Media Policy for staff, players and parents explains how we should engage with the association, players, staff and supporters online. It also outlines the steps we may take to protect our association and community and the actions we encourage you to take to help create a safe, positive, and inclusive online environment.
Official Social Media Channels
Our association operates several official social media accounts across the following platforms:
- Facebook
- Instagram
- TikTok
- Link'd In
- Linktree
Expectations for Staff, Players and Parents
We are dedicated to promoting fairness, equality, and respect in everything we do. We ask all supporters to reflect these same values when interacting online, whether engaging with the association, players, staff, or others on social media.
Our platforms are spaces where respect and inclusion should always come first. Hate speech, abuse, harassment, discrimination, or offensive behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated.
We encourage all who engage with our social media to help us build a positive online community by standing against hate and supporting respect for everyone.
What the Association Will Do
We believe social media companies should take stronger action against abusive and discriminatory behaviour on their platforms. However, we are also committed to taking responsibility within our own community.
We may investigate social media activity where content:
- Conflicts with our equality, diversity, and inclusion values
- Damages the reputation of the club
- Targets players, coaches, staff, supporters, or their families
- Includes hateful, abusive, threatening, or discriminatory language
Where appropriate, actions taken may include:
- Requesting removal of offensive content
- Blocking individuals from official social media accounts
- Restricting access to association events or matches
- Reporting accounts to the relevant social media platform
- Reporting serious incidents to law enforcement
- Supporting investigations where criminal behaviour may be involved
Each case will be reviewed individually. Decisions remain at the association’s discretion.
What Players, Parents and Supporters Can Do
Report Abuse on Social Media Platforms
If you experience or witness abusive, hateful, or discriminatory content online, we strongly encourage you to use the reporting tools provided by the platform involved.
Most major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok offer built-in reporting systems for harmful content.
Report Incidents to the Association
If abuse is related to the association, our players, staff, or supporters, we encourage you to report it directly to us using our contact email address: cheshiresfa@gmail.com
When making a report, please include:
- Details of the incident
- Screenshots where possible
- Links to the relevant posts or accounts
This helps us review concerns more effectively and take appropriate action.
Reporting to the Police
If you believe a crime has taken place, such as harassment, threats, hate crime, or serious abuse you should report it directly to the police.
Online abuse can be a criminal matter, and law enforcement may be able to investigate where necessary.
https://www.report-it.org.uk/your_police_force
https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/hco/hate-crime/how-to-report-hate-crime/
https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/har/harassment-on-social-media/
Additional Support
Players, parents and supporters can also report discrimination and abuse through recognised football equality and inclusion organisations that work to challenge discrimination across the game.
https://www.kickitout.org/forms/online-reporting-form
Advice for Parents
Parents and guardians should be aware of how children and young people use social media, as they may be more vulnerable to harmful content online.
We encourage parents to supervise online activity where appropriate and make use of trusted online safety resources to help keep young people safe while using social platforms.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
