We all have a responsibility to promote high standards of behavior in the game. In particular, Spectators’ expectations and attitudes have a significant bearing on a child’s attitude toward:

 

• Other players;

• Referees;

• Team officials; and

• Spectators

 

The goal of the Fair Play Code of Conduct operating procedure is to promote a positive, safe and supportive environment for all participants at SSC’s soccer activities. If a Spectator chooses not to follow the Fair Play Code of Conduct, any, or all, of the following actions may be taken by SSC and the Spectator may be:

 

• Issued with a verbal warning from SSC or league official;

• Obliged to leave the match venue by SSC or game official;

• Required to meet with the SSC’s discipline board;

• Requested by SSC not to attend future games or practices; and

• Suspended or have SSC membership revoked.

 

Parent/Guardian participation is very important for SSC to help us achieve our goals in developing youth soccer. Children often take their cues from older role models and will follow the example that we set for them. We expect all members of our SSC community to adhere to the following code of conduct;

 

I will:

1. Respect the decisions of players, coaches, game officials and club officials.

2. Not publicly question referee judgment and never their honesty.

3. Recognize the value and importance of volunteer coaches, referees and officials and give them their due respect.

4. Promote respect for the laws of the game and good sportsmanship.

5. Promote the willing participation of children in sport; no child should be forced to play.

6. Promote skill improvement, hard work and an honest effort over winning at all costs.

7. Promote the independent thinking of players by refraining from shouting or giving instructions.

8. Refrain from criticizing mistakes of players and recognize that mistakes are part of the development process.

9. Praise good plays and the meaningful efforts of all participants on the field of play.

10. Support all efforts to remove verbal and physical abuse from youth sporting activities.

11. Adhere to all host facility/field rules and regulations

12. Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.

13. Raise any concerns you have in an appropriate and professional manner

By following this Code of Conduct, our collective actions will ensure that every player, coach, referee and spectator has a positive experience and will look forward to coming back for years to come!

 

NOTE:

As a member of our SSC community, you are responsible for the conduct of any additional spectators that you bring to our games, practices or other activities.

Please ensure that these spectators are aware of the norms stated in our SSC Parent/Guardian and Spectator Code of Conduct.

 

Friendly Fan Policy

1. 1st OFFENCE (Written warning): Any Spectator judged by SSC’s discipline committee to be guilty of abusive conduct towards anyone in attendance at an SSC event will be reprimanded in writing.

2. 2nd OFFENCE (Discipline by hearing): Any Spectator judged by SSC’s discipline committee to be guilty of a second conviction of abusive conduct towards anyone in attendance at an SSC event will be required to attend a hearing with SSC’s discipline committee to address their behavior. A second offence may result in a Spectator being suspended from attending future games and practices for a specified period of time as determined by SSC’s discipline committee.

3. 3rd OFFENCE (Discipline by hearing): Any Spectator, judged by SSC’s discipline committee to be guilty of a third conviction of abusive conduct towards anyone in attendance at an SSC event will be required to attend a hearing with SSC’s discipline committee to address their behavior. In the unfortunate circumstance and as a last resort, for the protection of all participants associated with SSC’s soccer activities, a third conviction may result in all playing members of the immediate family in question being de-registered from SSC for a period of time of SSC’s choosing that may be, at SSC’s discretion, unlimited.  In extreme cases and/or depending on the nature of the behavior, as determined by SSC’s discipline committee, a suspension from attending future games or practices and/or the deregistration process may be invoked after a first or second offence.

This policy, only covers non-playing Spectators which are associated with a game participant. For incidents not related to the event or involving non associated spectators SSC cannot enforce the Friendly Fan Policy and/or Discipline Policies, however civil action may be sought by the parties involved.  If the source of the abuse is from a Registrant such as a team official, discipline procedures for the individual(s) involved will follow the policies for discipline management for US Club Soccer

registrants as set out in the US Club Soccer Policies.

 

Reporting Abusive Behavior

Game Officials

When a person(s) in attendance, including but not limited to the game official, feels they are being abused, as per the scope of this policy, by a Spectator, the game official will be allowed to suspend the game. In all cases, the game official must inform the coaches from both teams that the game has been suspended and file a  Special Incident Report with SSC, who will process this document

in accordance with the rules defined by US Club Soccer.

 

If a Spectator’s behavior results in the game official suspending play, the appropriate coach will provide the game official with the name of the individual(s) that is identified by the game official and the coach must advise the individual(s) that the next occurrence of a similar nature will result in an abandonment of the game. If the individual(s) is not associated with either team, the individual(s) may be warned that local authorities may be called to deal with the incident.

 

Where the situation cannot be rectified the game will be abandoned. However, where the incident has been resolved and the game continues without any further incident, the game official will inform his/her referee coordinator that the game was temporarily suspended, including providing a detailed explanation of the reason for the suspension of play and toward whom the abuse was directed.

If the source of the abuse is from a Registrant, the game official should conduct himself/herself according to the policies for discipline management for US Club Soccer registrants as set out in the US Club Soccer Policies.

 

Incidents that violate the above Code of Conduct can be reported by filing out our SSC Incident Form.

 

Non-Game Officials

In the event that an incident of abuse is not recognized by a game official, or occurs in a nongame situation, for example during a practice session, it is the obligation and duty of the coach and/or other team officials to report such incident to SSC. Details such as the day, time and location that the incident occurred, the parties involved, description of the abusive behavior and to whom the behavior was directed must be provided in the report.

 

A Spectator who feels that they have been the subject of, or witness to, abusive behavior, including but not limited to a team official such as a coach, may submit a SSC Incident Form to SSC via SSC’s Administrator who can be reached at via email.

 

Details such as the day, time and location that the incident occurred, the parties involved, description of the abusive behavior and to whom the behavior was directed must be provided in the report.

For direction regarding policies for discipline management for US Club Soccer registrants, please refer to US Club Soccer Policies.