Is this a conflict of interest?

This. Seems like sour grapes from OP.

how would you feel if you contest this and on appeal it is decided your child had been unfairly discriminated against and is subsequently awarded a place. How would you reconcile another child being removed from the course to accommodate your child?

Did he also judge the previous years when your dc was also his student?

The other issue aside from the conflict of interest point which at least needs an explanation is that it seems to be thought ok to not select 14 year olds for some higher level opportunity without providing them with an alternative option. They're still children, some sport is competitive, yes, but where's the thinking about child welfare? For some teenagers they might want to carry on higher level training with a view to trying to be selected in a subsequent year, others might value it as recreation/ a social thing, others again might want to move into coaching the youngest / beginners in the activity. The organisation should be asked about alternative pathways for those not selected.

And like school reports / employers raising performance issues the not being selected should never be a surprise. If somebody is turning up, with the right stuff, behaving appropriately and everything seems to be going ok but it isn't for reasons that are unclear unless you're a specialist in the activity they need to be 'brave' and explain what the issue is / how to work on it so there isn't a nasty surprise.

It is a conflict, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play a role in selection, given his knowledge and involvement in the subject. What you would expect is that the rest of the selection panel is made aware of the conflict.

100% a conflict of interest as other posters have elegantly articulated. I think you have to challenge it, OP. It’s your job to advocate for your child. Won’t you always wonder what would have happened if you don’t take it further? Won’t your child always wonder? I’d put money on this guy denying your child a place cos he’s pissed at losing the business.

Ah I missed that sorry.

Not sure I agree. The outcome is so blatant - especially if all six DC could have been put forward, which the OP is not completely sure about - that I do not feel confident that either aspect of the CoI was declared.

@ScaryM0nster there is generally a conflicts of interest policy that is available to view and they may also make the register in regard to this point available.

@timetablechaos I hope you have made an enquiry and expressed the concern that there is a conflict in the selection process (there 100% is how you have described it).

It unfortunate but we need to advocate for our children and point out when processes have glaringly obvious faults - it doesn't mean that you child may be selected its about making sure this process does not continue as it is not fair.

They wouldn’t have been declared to you or your child. Theyre declared to the supervisor and the rest of the panel.

From what you’ve described it seems unlikely that it’s not known.

This principle must be applied with common sense. If someone with CoIs declares them honestly, both positive and negative, their opinions can be useful. It is especially great if they like the work of someone they conflict with. Sadly this is not typical.

But they shouldn’t vote on those people except in rare circumstances. If this results in different numbers of votes cast for different candidates, use percentage outcomes.

The circs described by OP are very stark.

One key bit to keep in mind (and that you seem to be totally missing) is that there are conflicts of interest in all of life, and they’re very, very rarely managed by removing individuals from any exposure to them.

They’re managed by those who are potentially conflicted being open about it. So, in this case, Mr X is an expert in the field. Mr X is involved in the classes. That makes Mr X an entirely appropriate person to be on the selection panel. As long as the rest of the panel know about his and others conflicting interests then all would be above board.

I would be asking general questions about the selection criteria, rather than heading in with this necessarily. But seems like it could be a conflict of interest for sure

Hi, OP -

I feel badly for your DC.

I think you are both entitled to feedback about the process but I am not sure you will get anything very helpful.

It was at minimum the appearance of a CoI for this man to have been on the selection committee. In academia or at least my swathe, he would have been expected to recuse himself from decisions concerning his four ongoing pupils and the one who terminated him. So he should not have been on the selection committee.

Realistically, it does matter whether it was possible to offer six places. Even accepting your DC’s qualifications, we don’t know the selection criteria. They should have been publicised in advance. Although it is right that you request feedback about the process, I am afraid the answers you get may be constructed in a somewhat self protective manner.

It might be best to make a somewhat bland request before mentioning the specific problems you have with the one committee member. I am of two minds about this. I don’t think you will get an admission of impropriety, regrettably, but we can hope that if this man did not declare his CoIs he will not be invited to do this work again.

I do agree in principle but it is a bit hard to tell (for me) the actual situation when you mention both a national transparent fair org, but also no local transparency.

Do you know what the selection process is like elsewhere nationally ? In any sports there is some type of baseline criteria at least. That might be a decent bet as to evaluating your local process in comparison

IMO, clear selection criteria at higher levels are v difficult to sort out. EG, attendance and punctuality is easy to track, but effort is more subjective. Improvement and results can be measured, but attitude and potential isn't as clear. So there will always be the potential for favouritism "he's more coachable" type comments.

It does sound unfair this time round. If there's no viable alternative team /coaching to move to, then you've nothing to loose by questioning further, and if necessary following the complaints procedure.

No because she wouldn’t have been aware of any issues with the process and who was on the panel.

There's a governing body\organisation and the activity is connected closely to a charity so @timetablechaos doesn't have to prove anything, all she has to do is ask the question and that will set the dogs running. I know lots of us have had bad experiences with this sort of thing, but honestly charities absolutely will investigate anything t hat even looks like it might be slightly.dodgy - they simply cant afford not to these days.

I dont understand all these comments. Does it matter really? Its only fricking normal that you would have an issue with a process that appears to be biased if it adversely affects your child. If your child wasn't adversely affected you probably wont think twice about it.
Its a hypothetical scenario you are posing as this man wasnt involved in the selection process before.

Sounds very much like the sport one of my DCs is involved with, where one professional coach is responsible for picking the kids who the regional governing body will invest extra time and money in - and he just happens to always create training groups that are c90% comprised of young athletes currently paying to be coached by him, even bending selection criteria to suit them.