Sport England recognises and values the commitment made by sports clubs to develop high
quality, welcoming environments for young participants. The development of clubs that
encourage young people to take-up sport, improve their talents, possibly play a leadership
role and give them the option to initiate and maintain life-long participation in sport is an
essential part of our work to support the sporting infrastructure in England.
Clubmark is built around a set of core criteria which ensure that accredited clubs operate
to a set of consistent, accepted and adopted minimum operating standards. It is now
universally recognised, and is promoted and carefully branded, by Sport England. It is
endorsed by all the main sporting, youth and education agencies involved in delivery of
sporting opportunity for young people as the accreditation scheme for clubs with quality
assured junior sections.
A club is accredited via either its licensed national governing body (NGB) or county sports
partnership (CSP). It must, therefore, be affiliated to the relevant NGB in order to be
accredited. There are also plans to extend these licensing 'rights' to specific national youth
agencies. This resource pack sets out and explains the issues that clubs must address,
and provides guidance about the core criteria that they have to meet, in order to gain
Clubmark accreditation.
Core Clubmark criteria apply to all clubs across all sports. Some NGBs/CSPs also add their
own specific, additional requirements. To determine whether this applies to your
organisation, you should consult with your NGB or CSP. (Contact details are contained at the
back of this pack and on the Clubmark website; www.clubmark.org.uk).
Great care has been taken in the preparation of this resource pack and in the development
of Clubmark. It is, however, important to note that the safety of young people (and in fact all
people) at your club and the conduct of your activities remains entirely the responsibility of
your club. Please read the notice in Appendix 1.
We hope that you and your club find this pack to be a valuable tool as you work towards
Clubmark accreditation and wish you every success in achieving this quality standard.