Privacy
Policy.

RTB Academy — Raise The Bar, also known as RTB Football Academy — is a youth football academy based in Waterlooville, Portsmouth, Hampshire. Our squads play in the Junior Premier League and the Hampshire county cups.

RTB Academy is the “controller” of the personal information described in this policy. That means we decide how it's used and we're responsible for looking after it under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR).

If you have a question about this policy or your information, email us at admin@rtbacademy.co.uk. You can also message us on Facebook or Instagram, but email is the best way to reach us about privacy.

When you register interest

Our Register Interest form asks for your child's first name, their age group, your name as parent or guardian, your email address and your phone number. Our website host, Netlify, also records technical details with each submission (such as your IP address and browser type) to help block spam.

When you contact us

If you email us or message us on social media — about joining, sponsorship, sending in photos, press or anything else — we'll have your name, your contact details and whatever you choose to tell us.

If your child joins a squad

To register a player with the leagues and competitions we play in, and to look after them safely at training and matches, we need more information — for example their full name, date of birth, emergency contact details and any medical conditions or additional needs you tell us about. We'll explain exactly what we need, and why, when your child registers.

Photos

Match-day photos of our players, taken by the club or sent to us by parents. See Photos of players below.

Sponsors and partners

If you get in touch about sponsoring the academy, we'll hold your name, business contact details and our correspondence with you.

When you visit this website

Like any website host, Netlify processes technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you request, so it can deliver the site and keep it secure. We don't use analytics, advertising or tracking tools on this website.

Fixtures, results and league tables on this site come from the leagues' and competitions' published data and show team names only — never individual players.

Data protection law says we must have a lawful basis for each thing we do with your information. Here's what we use it for, and the basis we rely on:

We don't send marketing emails. When you register interest, we'll contact you about trials and places, because that's what you've asked us to do. We don't use your information for automated decision-making or profiling.

You don't have to give us any information, but we can't register your interest without the details on the form, and we can't register a player with a league or competition without the details their rules require.

We love sharing match-day photos, but our players are children, so we treat their images with care:

• We only publish photos of players on this website and our social media with the consent of their parent or guardian.
• We don't name players alongside their photos on this website.
• If you send us photos, please remember that other children may be in them. We'll only publish photos of players whose parents have given consent.
• Our Hall of Fame shows only a count of players per professional club — no names. We would only name or picture a player there with their agreement and, if they're under 18, their parent or guardian's agreement too.

You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing admin@rtbacademy.co.uk. We'll remove the photos from this website and our own social media accounts. We can't control copies that other people have already saved or shared.

Because our players are children, a parent or guardian gives us their information and makes decisions about it. The Register Interest form should be completed by a parent or guardian.

Children have data protection rights of their own. Once a child is old enough to understand them (usually from around 12), they can make requests themselves, and we'll take their views into account.

All our coaches are FA-qualified and DBS-checked. If we're worried about a child's welfare, we may need to share information with the football authorities' safeguarding officers, children's social care or the police — without consent where the law allows or requires it to protect a child.

If you have a concern about a child's welfare, email us at admin@rtbacademy.co.uk straight away. In an emergency, call 999. You can also get advice from the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000.

We only share personal information where we need to:

• Netlify hosts this website and receives Register Interest submissions, which it stores and emails to us.
• Microsoft hosts our email (Microsoft 365).
• The leagues and football authorities we play under, including the Junior Premier League and Hampshire FA, where their rules need it for player registration, competitions and safeguarding.
• Our coaches and volunteers, where they need it to run their squad and look after the players.
• Professional advisers and insurers, where needed.
• The police, children's social care or other authorities, where the law requires it or a child may be at risk.

If you message us on Facebook or Instagram, or view our pages there, Meta handles that information under its own privacy policy. Our club shop is run by Direct Soccer on its own website; if you buy from it, Direct Soccer is responsible for your order details under its own privacy policy.

We never sell personal information, and we don't pass it to our sponsors.

Transfers outside the UK

Some of these providers, including Netlify, are based in the United States or may process information outside the UK. Where that happens, the transfer is protected by appropriate safeguards — such as the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified under it, or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.

• Register Interest details: up to 12 months after we last contacted you about trials or a place, unless your child joins.
• Emails and messages: up to 12 months, unless they lead to something ongoing, such as a player joining or a sponsorship.
• Player records (including any medical information): while your child is registered with us, and for up to 12 months after they leave — unless it forms part of an accident or safeguarding record we must keep longer.
• Safeguarding records: for as long as safeguarding guidance and the law require, which can be many years.
• Financial records (where fees are paid): six years, as HMRC requires.
• Photos: for as long as the parent or guardian is happy for us to use them.

You have the right to:

• get a copy of the personal information we hold about you or your child;
• have anything inaccurate corrected;
• have your information deleted;
• restrict how we use it;
• object to how we use it, where we rely on legitimate interests;
• receive information you gave us in a portable format; and
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on it (for example, for photos).

To use any of these rights, email admin@rtbacademy.co.uk. It's free, and we'll reply within one month. We may need to check your identity first. Some rights have limits — for example, we may need to keep safeguarding records even if you ask us to delete them.

We limit access to personal information to the people who need it, and we use reputable providers to host our website and email. No system is completely secure, but if something goes wrong we'll act quickly and tell you and the Information Commissioner's Office where the law requires.

Cookies are small files a website can save in your browser. This website doesn't set any cookies of its own, and we don't use analytics, advertising or tracking technology of any kind — which is why you won't see a cookie banner here.

This site links to other websites — Facebook, Instagram, Google Maps (for venue directions), our club shop at Direct Soccer, our sponsors and the league websites. Those sites set their own cookies under their own policies once you visit them.

You can block or delete cookies at any time in your browser's settings. If we ever add analytics or any other cookies that aren't strictly necessary, we'll ask for your consent first and update this section.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please talk to us first at admin@rtbacademy.co.uk so we can put it right.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, 0303 123 1113, or Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

We'll update this policy when the way we use personal information changes. The “last updated” date at the top shows when it last changed. See also our Terms of Use.