Do I need a DBS check and safeguarding training to coach juniors?

Yes. Coaching children is Regulated Activity, so the ECB requires:

• An ECB Enhanced DBS check (with a Children's Barred List check). A DBS from another organisation is not accepted.
• A recheck every 12 months. If you join the DBS Update Service the recheck is done online; otherwise you must reapply.
• Safeguarding Level 2, the ECB's 1-hour online course, which is required for coaches and valid for 3 years.

The ECB DBS check is free for volunteers; paid coaches pay £49.50 to the DBS (plus £16 a year for the Update Service). Your Club Safeguarding Officer starts the application. If you have lived outside the UK for 3 months or more in the last 5 years, you also need a certificate of good conduct from that country.

ECB guidance also sets coaching ratios, used alongside the Rule of Two (an adult is never alone or out of sight with a child without another DBS-checked adult present):