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Club Policy Document
Effective January 2007
Semiahmoo Soccer Club
1. PURPOSE
1.1. To identify the disciplinary procedures and sanctions Semiahmoo
Soccer Club (SSC) members will be subject to when the Polices and Procedures of
the Club are not followed and the standard of behaviour as provided in the SSC
Codes of Conduct for coaches, players and parents are not met.
2. SCOPE
2.1. This policy applies to employees, contractors, directors,
volunteers, coaches, athletes, officials, and members of SSC while engaged in
the activities and events of the soccer club.
3. DEFINITIONS
3.1. Code of Conduct: Basic rules and regulations that reflect
the standard of behaviour which is expected of all SSC members.
3.2. Disciplinary Sanctions: Penalties or
sanctions identified within this policy which are applied to SSC members who do
not meet the standard of behaviour contained
within the applicable Codes of Conduct or fail to comply with the Policies and
Procedures of the Club.
4. PRINCIPLES
4.1. Semiahmoo Soccer Club is committed to providing a sport
environment, which is characterized by values of excellence, fairness,
integrity, open communications and mutual respect.
4.2. SSC believes that these values and ideals should guide all our
communications and actions, and that such conduct is in the best interest of
all who participate in the sport of soccer.
4.3. SSC believes with membership come certain responsibilities and
obligations, including but not limited to, complying with the Code of Conduct,
policies, rules and regulations of SSC.
4.4. SSC believes the expected standard of behaviour must be clearly communicated
to all SSC members and sanctions must fit the degree of inappropriate
behaviour.
5. POLICY STATEMENT
5.1. SSC members will at all times conduct themselves in a manner
that reflects the highest standard of behaviour arising within the business,
activities or events of SSC. Members who fail to meet these standards will be
subject to disciplinary sanctions.
6. PROVISIONS
Disciplinary Procedures
Minor Infractions (Misconduct)
6.1. Examples of minor infractions are shown in Appendix A. All disciplinary situations involving minor
infractions occurring within the jurisdiction of SSC will be dealt with by the
appropriate person having authority over the situation (this may include, but
is not restricted to, an Executive member, management chair, coach, team
manager or age-group co-ordinator) and the individual involved. Sanctions shall be imposed as appropriate to
the level of the infraction.
6.2. Procedures for dealing with minor infractions shall be informal
as compared to those for major infractions and shall be determined at the
discretion of the person responsible for discipline of such infractions,
provided the individual being disciplined is told the nature of the infraction
and has an opportunity to provide information concerning the incident.
6.3. The following disciplinary sanctions may be applied, singly or
in combination, for minor infractions:
a) verbal reprimand
b) written reprimand to be placed in
individual's file
c) verbal apology
d) hand delivered written apology
e) team service or other voluntary
contribution to SSC
f) suspension from attendance or coaching
of games/practices
g) other sanctions as may be considered
appropriate for the offence
6.4. Minor infractions
which result in discipline shall be recorded using the Incident
Report form in Appendix B.
Major Infractions (Gross
Misconduct)
6.5. Examples of major infractions are shown in Appendix A. Any
member of SSC may report to the President a major infraction using the Incident
Report form in Appendix B.
6.6. Upon receipt of an incident report, the President or his/her
designate shall determine if the incident is better dealt with as a minor infraction,
or if a hearing is required to address the incident as a major infraction.
6.7. If the incident is to be dealt with as a minor infraction, the
Director or his/her designate will inform the appropriate person in authority
as described in Section 6.1 and the alleged offender, and the matter shall be
dealt with according to Sections 6.2 through 6.4 of this policy.
6.8. If this incident is
to be dealt with as a major infraction and a hearing is required,
The alleged offender shall be notified as
quickly as possible and in any event no later than 3 working days from date of
receipt of the incident report, and shall be advised of the procedures outlined
in this policy.
Hearing
6.9. The President, or his/her designate, shall convene the
Disciplinary Panel.
a) The
Disciplinary panel shall be made up of one of the Chairs from the Committees, one member of the Executive both to be picked on a rotational basis, and
one Panel member shall be selected from the peer group of the alleged offender
as mutually agreed upon between the parties;
b) The
Discipline Panel will consist of individuals who have no personal or professional
involvement in the matter under review; and
c) Where
possible the composition of the Discipline Panel should respect the language of
the parties involved.
6.10. The Discipline Panel
shall hold the hearing as soon as possible, but not more Than 21 days after the incident report is
first received by the President.
6.11. The Discipline Panel shall govern the hearing as it sees fit,
provided that:
a) the
individual being disciplined shall be given 10 days written notice (by courier
or fax) of the day, time and place of the hearing. The Panel may decide to
conduct the hearing in person or by telephone or video conference;
b) the
individual being disciplined shall receive a copy of the incident report or in
the case of Harassment Complaints a copy of the Investigation Report;
c) members
of the Panel shall select from among themselves a Chair;
d) a
quorum shall be all 3 Panel members;
e) decisions
shall be by a majority vote; the Chair carries a vote;
f) the
individual being disciplined may be accompanied by a representative;
g) the
individual being disciplined shall have the right to present evidence and argument;
h) the
hearing shall be held in private;
i) the
Panel may request that witnesses to the incident be present or submit written
evidence;
j) once
appointed, the Panel shall have the authority to abridge or extend time lines
associated with all aspects of the hearing when it is reasonably required.
6.12. The preceding provisions may be modified, or added to, as required
by the provisions of any other pertinent SSC policy such as those dealing with
harassment, doping, personnel, or event specific matters.
6.13. Where the alleged offender acknowledges the facts of the
incident, he or she may waive the hearing, in which case the Panel shall
determine the appropriate disciplinary sanction. The Panel may hold a hearing
for the purpose of determining an appropriate sanction.
6.14. If the individual being disciplined chooses not to participate in
the hearing, the hearing shall proceed in any event.
6.15. After hearing the evidence presented the Discipline Panel
shall determine:
a) that
the complaint is without merit;
b) that
the complaint was brought forward in a vexatious manner; or
c) that
the complaint is valid and apply appropriate disciplinary action.
SANCTIONS
6.16. Actions:
a) the
complaint is without merit, no sanctions
b) the
complaint was brought forward in a vexatious manner; this is considered a major
infraction and the individual bringing the complaint forward will be subject to
the same sanctions had the complaint been found to be valid.
c) the
complaint is valid; the Discipline Panel may apply the following disciplinary
sanctions singly or in combination, for major infractions:
i.
written reprimand to be placed
in individual's file;
ii.
hand delivered written apology;
iii. suspension from certain SSC
events which may include suspension from attendance at games or practices,
from
coaching or from participation in future competitions;
iv.
payment of a financial fine in
an amount to be determined by the Disciplinary Panel;
v.
suspension of all SSC funding;
vi
suspension from certain SSC
activities (i.e. competing, coaching or officiating) for a designated period of
time;
vii.
suspension from all SSC
activities for a designated period of time;
viii.
expulsion from SSC
ix.
other sanctions as may be
considered appropriate for the offence
Parts iv, v, vi, vii, viii and ix will be reserved only for the most
serious of offences.
6.17. The preceding sanctions may be modified, or added to, as required
by the provisions of any other pertinent SSC policy, such as those dealing with
harassment, doping, personnel or event-specific matters.
6.18. In applying sanctions, the Disciplinary Panel may have regard to
the following aggravating or mitigating circumstances:
a) the
nature and severity of the offence,
b) whether
the incident is a first offence or has occurred repeatedly,
c) the
individual's acknowledgement of responsibility,
d) the
individual's extent of remorse,
e) the
age, maturity or experience of the individual, and
f) the
individual's prospects for rehabilitation.
6.19. Notwithstanding the procedures set out in this policy, any member
of Semiahmoo Soccer Club who is convicted of a criminal offence involving
sexual exploitation, invitation to sexual touching, sexual interference, sexual
assault, shall face automatic suspension from participating in any activities
of SSC for a period of time corresponding to the length of the criminal
sentence imposed by the Court, and may
face further disciplinary action by Semiahmoo Soccer Club in accordance with
this policy.
DECISION
6.20. The Discipline Panel should make and give its decision immediately
to the affected parties. Any decision will be accompanied by reasons.
a) Immediate,
verbal decisions will be followed with a written statement of the decision and
the reasons within one week;
b) In
complex cases requiring more time, the Discipline Panel will provide their decision
and reasons no later than seven (7) days after the hearing. Once a decision is
reached it will be communicated verbally with a written statement of the
decision and reasons within one week by mail; and
c) The decision of the Discipline Panel
must include reference to the next procedural step available to the affected
party (e.g. SSC's Appeal Policy) and the timeframe applicable to respond.
6.21. Unless the Discipline Panel decides otherwise, any discipline
sanctions applied shall take effect immediately.
6.22. A copy of the report may be forwarded to BC Soccer and the Club
Secretary who will keep a record of all Discipline decisions. After each
discipline hearing, the Discipline Panel should provide any administrative and
procedural recommendations it deems necessary to SSC.
6.23. Recommendations made by the Disciplinary Panel to Semiahmoo Soccer
Club shall be acknowledged, by the President to the Disciplinary Panel, as received
within seven days.
6.24. The President would forward the recommendations to the appropriate
body for consideration and action.
6.25. Within 30 days of receipt of the recommendations the appropriate
body would respond to the President with their plan and timeline to deal with recommendations.
6.26. Except where otherwise provided, an appeal of any disciplinary
matter will be done according to this Appeals section.
6.27. Sanctions
imposed by the Disciplinary Panel will remain in effect until such times
Appeal Procedures
7. A person (the "Appellant") who is
dissatisfied with a decision rendered under this Policy may, not more than 14
days after the decision, serve the President in writing with a Notice to Appeal
(Appendix "C").
7.1
Grounds for which an Appeal can be made are:
a. The Discipline Panel did not follow the
procedures laid out in the policies, rules, regulations, and or criteria of the
Club;
b. There
was an error in the information upon which the decision was made;
c. Members
of the decision-making group were influenced by bias; or
d. The
decision reached was grossly unfair or unreasonable.
7.2 The Notice of Appeal shall be in writing
and shall set out the grounds for appeal. The policy, procedure, rules,
regulation, and / or criteria on which the appeal is being made must be included.
7.3 Within 7 days of receiving the Appeal
Notice, the President shall review the notice, grounds, and summary of evidence
and shall determine whether there is sufficient basis to support an appeal
based on one or more of the grounds set out in Article 7.1.
7.4 If the appeal hearing is approved the
President will issue as soon as possible a
Hearing Notice which shall be sent at least 21 days in advance of
the scheduled hearing.
7.5 The Appeals Panel shall be comprised of members
of the Club Executive which shall govern the appeal by such procedures as it
deems appropriate, provided that:
a. The Appellant and affected
parties shall be given 14 days written
notice of the date, time and place of the appeal hearing;
b. A
quorum shall be a minimum of five (5) members of the Club Executive not
affiliated with the Appellant or affected Parties, and shall include the
President or (in his/her) absence, the Vice-President;
c.
Decisions shall be by majority vote;
d. Copies of written documents which any
of the parties would like the Panel to consider should be provided to each
member of the Panel, and all other parties at least 2 days in advance of the
hearing;
e. If the decision of the Panel may
affect another party to the extent that the other party could have recourse to
an appeal in their own right, that party shall have the right to become a party
to the appeal in question;
f. The
Panel may direct any other individual to participate in the appeal;
g. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties,
there shall be no communication relating to the merits of the appeal between
Panel members and the parties except in the presence of, or by copy to, the
other parties.
7.6 The Appeal Panel should make and give its
decision as soon as practicable after the hearing. In this regard:
a. A verbal decision will be communicated
immediately to the parties after the Appeal Panel has convened;
b. Within 14 days of concluding the
appeal, the Appeal Panel shall issue its written decision, with reasons; and
c.
A copy of the decision shall be
provided to each of the parties.
7.6 Decisions
of the Appeal Panel shall be final
8. REVIEW AND APPROVAL
8.1.
The Semiahmoo Soccer Club
Executive shall review this policy biennially.
Effective January
2007
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