We have a fabulous Academy at Exeter City and continue to produce so many talented local players.
Part of the requirement of a such a professional organisation is to have scouts who may visit grass-root clubs in our area and beyond.
All should be aware of the strict process that they follow:
Our Head of Academy Recruitment is responsible for all scouting of Academy-aged players.
As well as our Head of Academy Recruitment, we have four Regional Scouts who are all registered with the EFL.
Of these, only the Head of Academy Recruitment actively attends games - the four regional scouts do not attend games as scouts for us.
The four regional scouts all work within our player progression pathway, whether that is at tier one, two or three.
All our staff have ECFC ID cards which state their role. All four of the Regional Scouts complete the FA Talent ID Level One online course.
Our Head of Academy Recruitment has completed the FA Talent ID Level One and Two courses and is currently applying for the Level Four course.
The following is an outline of what you should expect from us:
- It is the responsibility of the Head of Academy Recruitment, as well as detailed in the Academy's policy, that any request for an Academy scout to attend a game is made either via email or by phone from the Head of Academy Recruitment only.
- As the Head of Academy Recruitment is the only person who attends games for recruitment purposes, he will make a request through a club secretary or age group coach to come and watch their team's game on a stated date.
- When the Academy asks regional scouts to attend games (planned for 2018 - 2019), requests for the scouts to attend will continue to be made by our Head of Academy Recruitment.
- It is the Club/Academy's policy that we do not go directly to the player or parents once we identify a player that we would like to invite in for an assessment.
- If a player is identified for assessment the information on the player (such as name, club, shirt number, position) is passed onto our Head of Academy Recruitment. He will then contact the player's coach or club secretary to request the contact details of the player's parents.
- Once this has been given he will contact the parents via email or phone to invite the player for an assessment.
I hope you find this useful, if you are aware of any deviation of this procedure, require more information, or are unsure if anyone turns up who is not listed above, please contact Exeter City FC directly on the email: safeguarding@exetercityfc.co.uk, or the Devon FA Welfare Officer: matthew.hodgson@devonfa.com.