[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":255},["ShallowReactive",2],{"site-config":3,"post-grassroots-football-data-protection-gdpr":129},{"success":4,"data":5},true,{"site":6,"features":10,"stripe":12,"bridalfile":13,"navigation":14,"branding":112,"footer":117},{"id":7,"name":8,"domain":9},"49f21346-cf36-4218-89c8-0b70f6252527","Trac","tracbac.club",{"products":11,"bookings":11,"event_capacity":11,"ugc":11},false,{"enabled":11,"test_mode":4},{"enabled":11},{"footer":15,"header":48},{"id":16,"name":17,"items":18},"fca9ef82-96bf-4a85-88c1-ed41a7402e9d","Footer Navigation",[19,24,28,32,36,40,44],{"id":20,"url":21,"label":22,"target":23},"trac-footer-features","/coaches","Features","_self",{"id":25,"url":26,"label":27,"target":23},"trac-footer-pricing","/pricing","Pricing",{"id":29,"url":30,"label":31,"target":23},"trac-footer-about","/about","About",{"id":33,"url":34,"label":35,"target":23},"trac-footer-help","https://app.tracbac.club/help-faqs","Help & FAQs",{"id":37,"url":38,"label":39,"target":23},"trac-footer-contact","/contact","Contact",{"id":41,"url":42,"label":43,"target":23},"trac-footer-privacy","/privacy-policy","Privacy Policy",{"id":45,"url":46,"label":47,"target":23},"trac-footer-terms","/terms","Terms",{"id":49,"name":50,"items":51},"418b3097-634e-4944-829d-24b59fa2c36a","Header Navigation",[52,83,99,103,105,107,110],{"id":53,"url":54,"label":22,"target":23,"children":55},"trac-nav-features","#",[56,59,63,67,71,75,79],{"id":57,"url":21,"label":58,"target":23},"trac-nav-coaches","For Coaches",{"id":60,"url":61,"label":62,"target":23},"trac-nav-ai","/ai","AI Features",{"id":64,"url":65,"label":66,"target":23},"trac-nav-training","/training","Training",{"id":68,"url":69,"label":70,"target":23},"trac-nav-parents","/parents","For Parents",{"id":72,"url":73,"label":74,"target":23},"trac-nav-season-archive","/season-archive","Season Archive",{"id":76,"url":77,"label":78,"target":23},"trac-nav-fa-import","/fa-full-time-import","FA Full-Time Import",{"id":80,"url":81,"label":82,"target":23},"trac-nav-club","/club","For Clubs",{"id":84,"url":54,"label":85,"target":23,"children":86},"trac-nav-compare","Compare",[87,91,95],{"id":88,"url":89,"label":90,"target":23},"trac-nav-vs-teamstats","/vs-teamstats","vs TeamStats",{"id":92,"url":93,"label":94,"target":23},"trac-nav-vs-spond","/vs-spond","vs Spond",{"id":96,"url":97,"label":98,"target":23},"trac-nav-vs-pitchero","/vs-pitchero","vs Pitchero",{"id":100,"url":101,"label":102,"target":23},"trac-nav-playbook","/playbook","Playbook",{"id":104,"url":26,"label":27,"target":23},"trac-nav-pricing",{"id":106,"url":30,"label":31,"target":23},"trac-nav-about",{"id":108,"url":34,"label":109,"target":23},"trac-nav-help","Help",{"id":111,"url":38,"label":39,"target":23},"trac-nav-contact",{"logo":113,"logoDark":114,"favicon":115,"tagline":116},"https://sktegczfmabucrnpgrvp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media/49f21346-cf36-4218-89c8-0b70f6252527/2026/06/1781685688946-Trac-crop.webp",null,"https://sktegczfmabucrnpgrvp.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media/49f21346-cf36-4218-89c8-0b70f6252527/2026/06/1781685671484-favicon.ico","Football Coaching Software for Grassroots Teams",{"summary":118,"copyright":119,"address":120,"contact":122,"socialLinks":123,"openingHours":128,"logos":114},"Trac is football coaching software that helps grassroots coaches organise fixtures, track matches, and keep parents in the loop. No fuss, no jargon - just everything you need to run your team.","Trac Football. All rights reserved.",{"line1":114,"line2":114,"city":114,"state":114,"postalCode":114,"country":121},"United Kingdom",{"phone":114,"email":114},[124],{"url":125,"label":126,"platform":127},"https://x.com/tracbacapp","Twitter","twitter",[],{"success":4,"data":130},{"id":131,"slug":132,"title":133,"excerpt":134,"content":135,"content_format":249,"featured_image":250,"published":4,"published_at":251,"meta_title":252,"meta_description":253,"fields":254},"6d253f85-1e58-4523-b223-39d2b4c04a40","grassroots-football-data-protection-gdpr","Data Protection for Grassroots Football Clubs: A Plain Guide","You hold names, phone numbers, dates of birth and medical notes for a squad of kids. Here is how to handle all that responsibly without turning it into a paperwork nightmare.",{"type":136,"content":137},"doc",[138,144,151,155,160,164,169,173,177,182,186,191,204,209,213,218,222,227,238],{"type":139,"content":140},"paragraph",[141],{"text":142,"type":143},"Nobody starts coaching grassroots football because they fancy a crash course in data protection. But the moment you take on a squad you are holding a pile of sensitive information about other people's children: full names, dates of birth, home addresses, parent phone numbers, and often medical notes and photos on top. That is exactly the sort of data the law expects you to look after properly. The good news is that doing it right at a small club is mostly common sense, and if you sort it out before the season starts you barely have to think about it again. Here is what actually matters, in plain terms.","text",{"type":145,"attrs":146,"content":148},"heading",{"level":147},2,[149],{"text":150,"type":143},"Yes, this really does apply to your team",{"type":139,"content":152},[153],{"text":154,"type":143},"It is tempting to assume UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act are things that only apply to big companies. They are not. If you are recording and storing personal details about players and parents, you are what the law calls a data controller, even if you are one volunteer with a phone and a notebook. That does not mean you need a legal department. It means you are expected to be sensible: hold only what you need, keep it safe, be clear about why you have it, and let people see or remove their information if they ask. That is the whole thing in a sentence.",{"type":145,"attrs":156,"content":157},{"level":147},[158],{"text":159,"type":143},"You already hold more than you think",{"type":139,"content":161},[162],{"text":163,"type":143},"Before you can protect the data, it helps to notice how much of it you have. A typical under-11s coach is sitting on registration forms with addresses and birth dates, a contact list of parents, allergy and medical information, emergency contacts, and a camera roll full of match and training photos. Some of that, like medical details, is treated as extra sensitive and deserves extra care. If it is spread across a paper folder, three WhatsApp chats, a spreadsheet on your laptop and a shared note, you do not really have control of it. Step one is simply knowing what you hold and where it lives.",{"type":145,"attrs":165,"content":166},{"level":147},[167],{"text":168,"type":143},"Collect less, and keep what you keep locked down",{"type":139,"content":170},[171],{"text":172,"type":143},"The safest data is the data you never collected. When you build your registration form, ask for what you genuinely need to run the team and nothing more. You need an emergency contact and any medical condition that affects how you keep a child safe. You probably do not need a home address for every player if a postcode and a contact number would do. Once you have collected it, keep it somewhere access controlled rather than open. A password on the device, a locked file, a proper account with a login. The aim is that if your phone or laptop went missing, a stranger could not scroll through a list of children's names and addresses.",{"type":139,"content":174},[175],{"text":176,"type":143},"Have a rough idea of how long you keep things too. Once a player leaves the club, there is usually no reason to hang on to their file for years. Deleting old data you no longer need keeps things tidy and is one of the simplest ways to reduce your risk.",{"type":145,"attrs":178,"content":179},{"level":147},[180],{"text":181,"type":143},"Photos and video need their own yes",{"type":139,"content":183},[184],{"text":185,"type":143},"Match-day photos are one of the best parts of grassroots football, and also the bit that trips clubs up most. Taking a picture of a child and then posting it publicly is a separate thing from holding their registration details, and it needs its own permission. Put a clear photo and video consent question on your sign-up form: can we take photos at games and training, and can we share them on the team page or social media. Record the answer for each child, and respect a no. Some families have very good safeguarding reasons for keeping a child off the internet, and it is not your place to ask why. When in doubt, crop, blur or leave a child out of a public post.",{"type":145,"attrs":187,"content":188},{"level":147},[189],{"text":190,"type":143},"Watch what goes in the WhatsApp group",{"type":139,"content":192},[193,195,202],{"text":194,"type":143},"The team chat is where a lot of accidental data sharing happens. Posting a full squad list with everyone's phone numbers into a group, or forwarding a child's medical note so the whole touchline can read it, spreads personal data to people who have no need to see it. Keep the group for the things groups are good at, like fixtures, kick-off times and lift shares. Keep the sensitive details somewhere private that only the people running the team can reach. If you want a fuller look at the trade-offs, I wrote up ",{"text":196,"type":143,"marks":197},"the difference between a WhatsApp group and a proper team app",[198],{"type":199,"attrs":200},"link",{"href":201},"/playbook/whatsapp-vs-team-app",{"text":203,"type":143}," separately.",{"type":145,"attrs":205,"content":206},{"level":147},[207],{"text":208,"type":143},"Check whether you need to pay the ICO fee",{"type":139,"content":210},[211],{"text":212,"type":143},"The Information Commissioner's Office is the UK regulator for this, and most organisations that handle personal data have to pay them an annual data protection fee. Some small, not-for-profit groups are exempt, and the rules have conditions, so it is worth spending five minutes on the ICO website to check where your club stands rather than guessing. Their self-assessment walks you through it. It is a quick job, and it means that if anyone ever asks whether the club is registered, you have a clear answer.",{"type":145,"attrs":214,"content":215},{"level":147},[216],{"text":217,"type":143},"When a parent asks to see or delete their data",{"type":139,"content":219},[220],{"text":221,"type":143},"Every so often a parent will ask what information you hold about their child, or ask you to remove it, usually when they leave the club. They are allowed to, and you are expected to help. This is far easier when your records are in one place instead of scattered, because you can actually find everything and either show it to them or delete it cleanly. If a child's data is smeared across old chats, a spreadsheet and a paper folder, honouring that request turns into an afternoon of digging. Being organised is about more than the law here, because it makes these moments painless.",{"type":145,"attrs":223,"content":224},{"level":147},[225],{"text":226,"type":143},"The simplest fix: keep it in one safe place",{"type":139,"content":228},[229,231,236],{"text":230,"type":143},"Almost everything above gets easier the moment your squad's details live in one access-controlled place rather than in five. You collect less because there is a single form. You keep it safe because it sits behind a login instead of in an open chat. You can answer a data request because you know exactly where everything is. Some coaches manage that with a carefully locked-down spreadsheet, and that is fine if you are disciplined about it. Others prefer to run their ",{"text":232,"type":143,"marks":233},"squad admin and contact details from the same app they use for the rest of the team",[234],{"type":199,"attrs":235},{"href":21},{"text":237,"type":143}," so the sensitive stuff is not floating around loose. Either way, the principle is the same: less data, held securely, in one place you control.",{"type":139,"content":239},[240,242,247],{"text":241,"type":143},"None of this needs to eat your summer. Ask for only what you need on the registration form, get a clear photo consent, keep the sensitive details out of the open group, check your ICO position, and store it all somewhere with a login. Do that once in July and you have looked after your players' families properly for the whole season. If you would rather keep player details, consent and contact information tidy in one place from the start, that is the kind of thing ",{"text":243,"type":143,"marks":244},"Trac is built to hold securely",[245],{"type":199,"attrs":246},{"href":26},{"text":248,"type":143},".","tiptap","","2026-08-05T08:00:00+00:00","Data Protection for Grassroots Football Clubs","A plain guide to handling players' and parents' data at a grassroots football club: consent, photos, WhatsApp and keeping it all in one safe place.",{},1785918587464]