Even though Canadians are not as passionate about football as they are about hockey, it is still considered one of the most popular national sports. Therefore, it very often plays a significant role in most Canadian boys’ lives. It teaches life skills such as teamwork, the interaction between teammates, and can result in a professional national, or even international football career for the most passionate and hardworking young men.
As a result, football is considered an important cultural yardstick for the Canadian public. Even though on the one hand, it is just a sport, it is important for the older generation to pass on its core values, benefits, rules, and strategies, which enables young men to make life-changing decisions. Ergo, a football coach can be considered a paramount part of a young Canadian’s life. 
Coaching the Younger Generations
A football coach’s role, responsibilities, and qualifications are slightly different from that of a regular teacher. Therefore, when hiring a football coach, the principal emphasis is based on personal qualities, successes and experience. In other words, a football team’s management is not worried about what educational qualifications, etc. a football coach has, they are concerned about a coach’s personality, coaching and playing experience, as well as how much success he has had as a coach.
What if the potential hire has a criminal record? Obviously, first prize is no criminal convictions at all; however, you can still have what it takes to be a great coach and have a criminal record. It is not as cut and dried as this statement suggests. Even though the technical answer is “no”, there are still conditions attached to the “no”.
School policy
The only exception to the rule that schools may hire someone with a criminal record that appears in a background check is that the coach is not convicted of a sexual crime. In fact, the school has a legal obligation not to hire this candidate and will quickly determine whether someone has been convicted of a sexual crime because his name will be put on the Vulnerable Sector Registry.
Even though it is not illegal for a school to hire a person with a serious conviction such as manslaughter, internal school policies may determine whether the school wants to hire a candidate with a criminal record or not. This point is especially relevant if there are other candidates with equal qualifications as well as no criminal record.
It is important to take circumstances into account
If you have applied for a job as a football coach and you have a criminal record, it doesn’t mean that you have no chance of being hired by the school. The school interviewing panel will usually take the individual’s qualifications and character into account. Furthermore, being honest about your conviction can be a good thing.
For example, if you hurt someone else while defending yourself or your criminal record is from when you were much younger, there is a substantial chance that the interviewing panel will usually disregard these types of offences. Finally, it is imperative to explain the exact context of your conviction, because once the board understands the nature of your conviction, they might very well choose to disregard it.
Getting the Story Correct
While some schools’ interviewing panels may be allowed by the school to consider each candidate on his merit, it’s relevant to note that not every school has this process in place. It is perfectly acceptable for schools to turn down any applicant who has a criminal record.
Therefore, should you have a criminal record, and you are a great football coach, the best thing to do is to apply for a Record Suspension. In other words, your record will be cleared of any criminal convictions in the likelihood that the school does a background check on you. The only exception to this rule is that if your name is on the Vulnerable Sector Registry, you will never be able to coach kids.
Final words
Because the application and requirements for a Record Suspension vary depending on the nature of your conviction, it is a good idea to contact us. We will help you gain a deeper insight in tot the Record Suspension application process, and we will determine how we can help you proceed with your application.