Eleven questions to tell whether a basketball club really looks after your daughter

Why you should ask

Signing a daughter or son up to a club means leaving them for several hours a week, for years, with adults you do not know, inside and outside the venue. It is a decision usually made by looking at the timetable and the fee.

The questions that follow are not meant to put anyone on the spot. A club that has this sorted answers them in three minutes without discomfort. One that stumbles has already told you something.

The eleven questions

1. Do you have an approved equality plan? In writing, approved by the board and with a validity period and review date. It is not a decorative document: it sets commitments that can be checked.
2. Do you have a protocol against sexual and sex-based harassment? It should have definitions, prevention measures, a reporting channel and specific response deadlines.
3. Who is the point of contact for equality matters? It should be someone identifiable, with a name and contact route, announced at the start of every season.
4. How do you report a situation and what happens next? A good protocol gives an initial assessment deadline (72 hours is a reasonable standard), provides for interim measures and sets a resolution deadline.
5. Do you check criminal record certificates for sexual offences for all staff? It is required by law for anyone working with minors. The answer should be an immediate yes.
6. Do you have a child protection officer? It is the role required by the LOPIVI for organisations working with children.
7. Are there girls' teams in every age group, up to senior level? If the pathway stops at under-16, your daughter will have to leave the club exactly when she is most attached to it.
8. What time does the senior women's team train? This question is an excellent detector. If the answer is «9.30pm or 10pm», you already know who has priority when courts are short.
9. How many women coaches do you have? It cannot be dressed up: either they are there or they are not.
10. What share of the budget goes to the women's section? Few organisations have worked it out. That they can answer you at all says a great deal.
11. What happens if a family cannot pay the fee? Ask whether there are social bursaries and how to apply, even if you do not need them. The answer paints a portrait of the club.

How we answer

For consistency, here are the answers from CB Grup Barna, which you can check:

• 2026-2029 Equality Plan, approved by the Board in April 2026, with five strands, monitoring indicators and an annual review.
• Protocol for preventing and acting on sexual and sex-based harassment, approved on the same date, with a designated point of contact, initial assessment within 72 hours, interim measures and resolution within a maximum of 15 days.
• Child protection under the LOPIVI, with the club's policy set out in the briefing.
• A complete girls' pathway, from the Escoleta at age 4 to the senior team, with no gender gap along the way.
• Mid-afternoon slots (5pm-8pm) with priority access for the girls' and women's teams.
• 38 women coaches, 65.5% of the technical staff.
• 50% of the budget to the women's section, with a commitment to publish its annual breakdown.
• Social bursaries so that no child is left out for financial reasons.

One last piece of advice

Ask to watch a training session before deciding anything. Fifteen minutes in the stands explain things no document captures: how players are spoken to when something goes wrong, who plays and who watches, and whether the people there look happy to be there.

Frequently asked questions