DBS Regulation Changes in English Table Tennis: Lessons for Child Protection in Vietnam

On September 29, Table Tennis England will hold a crucial online webinar hosted by Designated Safeguarding Officer Kyhl Daly. The main topic is the changes to DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) requirements and their impact on volunteers, coaches, and table tennis clubs. This event follows the Crime and Policing Act 2026, effective from September 1, which removes the 'supervision exemption' from the legal definition of Regulated Activity. Previously, some volunteers and coaches working with children under supervision did not need a DBS check; now all supervised roles are treated the same as unsupervised ones. In Vietnam, the story of child protection in sports, especially table tennis, still has many gaps. Youth table tennis clubs in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, or Da Nang often operate based on trust, lacking systematic personnel screening. Looking at Table Tennis England's change, we can draw important lessons: an effective child protection system goes beyond paperwork and requires synchronized implementation from central to local levels. The September 29 webinar is not only for club welfare officers but also for anyone regularly working with children – a group that Vietnamese table tennis has no clear regulations for. In reality, unfortunate incidents related to child abuse in Vietnamese sports still simmer. Adopting the DBS model – a judiciary background check system specific to the sports industry – could be a long-term solution. The lesson from England is: no 'supervision exemption' is absolutely safe. Every coach, every volunteer, even for just one training session, needs to be vetted. This is especially true as children increasingly participate in after-school table tennis classes where parental supervision is limited. Table Tennis England's webinar is a step forward, and Vietnamese table tennis can certainly learn. It is time for federations, clubs, and the community to sit together and build a real child protection code – not just on paper, but in every practice session and every tournament.