Youth Safety

A guide for parents, guardians and young athletes

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What Goatza is

Goatza is a platform for athletes to build a sporting profile, share their game, and find trials and opportunities. Clubs, academies and coaches use it to publish recruitment openings and find players.

A significant number of our users are young athletes. This page explains, in plain language, how we handle that.

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Age rules

Minimum age: 13. No exceptions.

Under 18 is treated as a child under Indian law, so extra protections apply to everyone aged 13 to 17.

We ask for date of birth when an account is created. Once set, it cannot be changed by the user — a change requires contacting our support team. Giving a false date of birth breaches our Terms and we remove those accounts.

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What we do to protect young athletes

Safer defaults

• Posts by users under 18 default to a followers-only audience, not public.

Permission before the account can be used

• A user under 18 cannot use Goatza until a parent or guardian approves the account. We ask when the account is created, not later.
• If the contact we are given is one the parent already uses, we ask them there and then. Otherwise we email them a link.
• A parent or guardian can remove their permission at any time from that same link, without logging in. The account is then locked.

Guardian involvement in recruitment

• A user under 18 cannot apply to any trial or recruitment without providing a parent or guardian's name and contact number.
• They must confirm their guardian has agreed.
• We may contact the guardian to verify.

No profiling

• We do not track, monitor or profile users under 18.
• We do not use behavioural targeting on them.
• We do not show them advertising.

Enforcement

• Any content that sexualises a minor results in immediate permanent removal, a permanent ban, and a report to the authorities.
• Reports involving a young user are prioritised above all others.

Rules for adults

• Adults contacting young athletes must keep it about sport and keep it on Goatza.
• Asking a minor to move to another app, keep secrets, or share personal details beyond sport is a breach of our Guidelines.

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What your child can control

Every user, at any age, can:

• Set post visibility — public or followers-only, per post.
• Block anyone — instantly, privately. The blocked person is not told.
• Report anyone — any post, profile, message or organization page.
• Decline message requests from people they don't follow.
• Delete content at any time.
• Close their account at any time.

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The most important warning: trial fees

Goatza never handles money. We do not take payments, hold them, or refund them.

Some organizations state a fee for a trial. That payment goes directly to them, outside Goatza entirely. If something goes wrong, we cannot get it back.

Requests for advance payment are the most common form of fraud in youth sports recruitment.

Before paying anything:

1. Search for the club or academy independently. Do they have a real presence outside Goatza?
2. Call the number on their own website, not the one in the message.
3. Ask other parents or local coaches whether they've heard of them.
4. Be suspicious of urgency — "only three places left, pay today" is a pressure tactic.
5. Never let a young person pay or commit to anything on their own.

A verification badge on an organization is not a guarantee. It means we checked the details they submitted. It is not a background check or a safeguarding certification. Do your own checks.

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Before an in-person trial

• Know exactly where it is, who is running it, and how long it will last.
• Go with your child, or make sure another responsible adult does.
• Ask the organization what safeguarding arrangements they have.
• Make sure your child has a way to contact you throughout.

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Warning signs to talk to your child about

Tell them to come to you if anyone:

• asks to move the conversation to WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram or another app
• asks them to keep the conversation secret
• asks for photos beyond ordinary sporting content
• asks about their school, home address or daily routine
• offers something that seems too good to be true
• pressures them to reply quickly, or to decide immediately
• asks to meet without a parent present

None of these are normal for a genuine scout or coach.

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How to report something

Inside the app: use the report option on any post, profile, message or page.

By email, for anything involving a young person: goatza.official@gmail.com

We acknowledge reports within 24 hours. Child safety reports are prioritised above everything else and actioned immediately.

If you believe a child is in immediate danger, contact the police first. In India you can call 1098 (Childline) or 112 (emergency services).

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Parent and guardian rights

You may ask us to:

• see what data we hold about your child
• correct anything inaccurate
• delete their data
• close their account entirely

Write to goatza.official@gmail.com. We will verify your identity and your relationship to the child before acting. We respond within 90 days and usually far sooner.

You do not need to write to us to withdraw your permission. The link in the email we sent you does that yourself, at any time, and locks the account.

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What we're still building

We're honest about where we are.

India's DPDP Rules, 2025 require platforms to obtain verifiable parental consent before processing a child's data, using methods such as DigiLocker-based identity verification. The compliance date is 13 May 2027.

Today, a parent or guardian has to approve the account before a young person can use it, and can withdraw that approval at any time. What we do not yet have is the identity check that proves the adult who tapped Approve is who they say they are. That is the part still to build, and this page will be updated when it ships.

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Contact

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This page sits alongside our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines.