Parent and guardian guide
How Sport Link protects under-18 players
Sport Link lets young rugby league players put themselves in front of clubs, scouts and agents — but a junior player never communicates on their own. A parent or guardian runs everything, and the rules are built into the platform itself, not just the interface.
The junior player creates their profile
A player under 18 creates their own playing profile the same way any player does — playing history, achievements, highlights and a photo. As part of the profile they provide a parent or guardian email address, which is where the process begins.
The parent or guardian is invited with a private link
Sport Link sends the parent or guardian a private, expiring invitation link. Opening it takes them straight to a signup form locked to the Parent/Guardian account type. If they sign up later using the same email address, the account links to the junior player automatically.
The parent or guardian runs the communication
A junior player has no inbox. Every message to and from the player — contact with clubs, replies to scouts and agents, recruitment enquiries — is sent and received through the linked parent or guardian account, where the full history is visible. Until a guardian is linked, nobody can contact the player at all.
Scouts and agents must wait
Scouts and player agents cannot contact a junior player until the calendar year in which that player turns 18. The platform blocks them, and there is no way around it from their side.
Contact details stay private
Contact email addresses and phone numbers on player profiles are never shown to other members browsing Sport Link. Clubs, scouts and agents see the playing profile only. Guardian contact details are used solely for the guardian process.
Clubs opt in to two-way communication
Players, coaches and scouts (through the guardian for a junior player) can contact any club that has opted in to two-way communication — whether or not the club has a vacancy listed, because clubs don't always advertise their openings.
Team Hub: children you add for team messages
In Team Hub you can add your children — even very young ones with no email — so you receive their team's messages, training times and game-day plans. This is completely separate from a recruitment profile.
- • No public profile is created. A child you add in Team Hub does not appear in Browse Players, on any public page, or in search, and other clubs, scouts and agents cannot see them.
- • Only the child's own team sees their name: you and any other parent you invite, plus the coaches, managers and club admins of the team you join.
- • Other families in the team see the team's coaches and managers and your own child — not the other children.
- • Scout and agent accounts can never be team coaches or managers, so they never see children through Team Hub.
- • Your child never receives messages directly — every team message comes to you.
A recruitment profile (shown to clubs, scouts and agents under the rules above) only exists if the junior player creates one themselves and links you as their guardian.
The safeguards in one list
- • A junior player cannot send or receive messages directly — the guardian's inbox is the only channel.
- • Scouting and agent contact is blocked until the calendar year of the player's 18th birthday.
- • No contact email or phone number is ever displayed to other members.
- • Guardian invitations are private, expire, and only ever link to the intended junior player.
- • Children added in Team Hub have no public profile and are never visible to other clubs, scouts or agents.
- • Message rules are enforced by the database, so they hold even if someone tries to go around the interface.
- • Guardianship is confirmed by the parent or guardian themselves; keep the account credentials in your hands.
Questions about the process? Contact us.