Soccer Shack in Northampton issues full statement after six-year-old boy left in tears and mum's safety complaint goes viral
A recreational football company in Northampton has issued a full statement after a six-year-old boy was left in tears and his mother's safety complaint went viral.
Mother Rebecca Jeffs visited Soccer Shack, a football facility just off Gladstone Road, on Sunday December 7 with her six-year-old son Mason, who unfortunately got injured while playing.
Rebecca said: *“My son fell and hit his head on an exposed metal pole during a football session. Despite the clear injury, no staff member carried out first aid checks, and no support (ice pack, water, or assessment) was offered unless I specifically requested it.
“When I raised the issue calmly with staff, I was met with rude and dismissive comments, including:
“What do you want us to do? Take the fence out?”
“You need to watch how you’re speaking to a child” (referring to the staff member himself, who is only 17).”
Rebecca took to social media to voice her concerns, with a Facebook post being commented on hundreds of times and a TikTok video that has been viewed by over 400,000 people.
She added: “I hope sharing this experience can encourage improvements in safety and first aid procedures and alert other parents to be cautious.”
Soccer Shack has provided the following statement in full to Chronicle & Echo:
A Soccer Shack spokesman said: *“We have acknowledged that an incident occurred at our arena when a child was tackled whilst on one of the indoor football pitches, causing the child to collide with the pitch perimeter safety barrier.
“Following a complete review of the CCTV, which captured the incident at 12:13 pm and was completed at 12:18 pm when both parties signed the report form in the accident book, we have instigated a review with several actions.
“We have reviewed the conduct and communication of the staff involved. As a result, we will be carrying out additional coaching and guidance to ensure that all interactions with parents are handled professionally, particularly in situations involving injuries. We have also refreshed our first aid and safeguarding reminders with the full team, with particular emphasis on how incidents on the pitch should be escalated and documented.
“Although we are adamant that our barriers are safe and fit for purpose, we have our safety advisor booked in this week to give us a full review of the equipment and our procedures, and any recommendations they make will be actioned immediately.
“We are updating our session-management procedure to ensure that any child who appears hurt or distressed is automatically given a short assessment and offered rest, water, or ice without needing to request it. This includes a reminder that sessions should be paused where appropriate.
“We want to reassure you that the safety and wellbeing of the children who attend our sessions remain our top priority, and the feedback has helped us reinforce our standards across the team.
“We have thousands of young and old adults, teenagers, young children, and young people with disabilities using our facility every year, contributing to their health and well-being.
“Our safety record is extremely good, but the feedback from this or any other incident allows us to review, update, and improve our procedures and facility to ensure that everyone who comes through our door feels safe and is safe.
“This is an unfortunate incident, but we wish Mason the very best with his recovery.”
Responding, Rebecca said: “I’m not fully happy with this response. Their statement talks about training and future improvements, but it doesn’t acknowledge that:
- No staff member checked on my son at all, despite him being clearly upset and holding his head.
- No first aid was offered, no ice pack, no water, no assessment.
- The session wasn’t paused, even after he hit his head on the metal fencing.
“I had to go over myself, and even then, no help was given. These are major parts of the incident, and their response avoids addressing them.”