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    "Codes of Conduct" for coaches/parents

    I've been reading threads here on and off for a couple of years at least. More often than not I'm continually reminded of those aspects of soccer that should be better than they are. Most are in the hands of coaches or parents or both. Most of the time it's a case of knowing better, just not walking the walk. Club and youth program administrators hold the power influence their communities of coaches and parents. Most don't do much beyond lip service though.

    At its mid-year meeting in 2001, the NSCAA Board of Directors approved the following Code of Ethics and Conduct:

    - Soccer is the players' game. The paramount concern of coaches is the holistic development, welfare, enjoyment and safety of their players.
    - Coaches bear responsibility for teaching their players to strive for success while playing fairly, observing the Laws of the Game and the highest levels of sportsmanship.
    - Coaches shall treat officials with respect and dignity, and shall teach their players to do the same.
    - Our opponents are worthy of being treated with respect. Coaches will model such respect for opponents and expect their players to do likewise.
    - In both victory and defeat, the behavior of a coach shall model grace, dignity and composure.
    - Coaches shall adhere to the highest standards and the regulations of the institutions they represent: clubs, schools, sponsoring organizations and sports governing bodies.
    - Coaches have a responsibility to promote the interests of soccer, including treating media with courtesy, honesty and respect.
    - Coaches shall model inclusive behavior, actively supporting cultural diversity while opposing all types of discrimination, including, but not limited to, racism and sexism, at all levels of soccer.
    - Coaches are responsible for taking an active role in education about, and prevention and treatment of, drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, both in their own lives and in the lives of their players.
    - Coaches shall refrain from all manner of personal abuse and harassment of others, whether verbal, physical, emotional or sexual, and shall oppose such abuse and harassment at all levels of soccer.
    - Coaches shall respect the declared affiliations of all players, and shall adhere to all guidelines and regulations on recruiting established by the governing bodies having oversight of their teams and leagues.
    - Coaches shall seek to honor those who uphold the highest standards and principles of soccer and shall use appropriate protocol to oppose and eliminate all behavior that brings disrepute to the sport - violence, abuse, dishonesty, disrespect and violations of the Laws of the Game and rules governing competition.

    #2
    Given the amount of violence I have witnessed this on the girls side perhaps the officials might be included in this as well.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      I've been reading threads here on and off for a couple of years at least. More often than not I'm continually reminded of those aspects of soccer that should be better than they are. Most are in the hands of coaches or parents or both. Most of the time it's a case of knowing better, just not walking the walk. Club and youth program administrators hold the power influence their communities of coaches and parents. Most don't do much beyond lip service though.

      At its mid-year meeting in 2001, the NSCAA Board of Directors approved the following Code of Ethics and Conduct:

      - Soccer is the players' game. The paramount concern of coaches is the holistic development, welfare, enjoyment and safety of their players.
      - Coaches bear responsibility for teaching their players to strive for success while playing fairly, observing the Laws of the Game and the highest levels of sportsmanship.
      - Coaches shall treat officials with respect and dignity, and shall teach their players to do the same.
      - Our opponents are worthy of being treated with respect. Coaches will model such respect for opponents and expect their players to do likewise.
      - In both victory and defeat, the behavior of a coach shall model grace, dignity and composure.
      - Coaches shall adhere to the highest standards and the regulations of the institutions they represent: clubs, schools, sponsoring organizations and sports governing bodies.
      - Coaches have a responsibility to promote the interests of soccer, including treating media with courtesy, honesty and respect.
      - Coaches shall model inclusive behavior, actively supporting cultural diversity while opposing all types of discrimination, including, but not limited to, racism and sexism, at all levels of soccer.
      - Coaches are responsible for taking an active role in education about, and prevention and treatment of, drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, both in their own lives and in the lives of their players.
      - Coaches shall refrain from all manner of personal abuse and harassment of others, whether verbal, physical, emotional or sexual, and shall oppose such abuse and harassment at all levels of soccer.
      - Coaches shall respect the declared affiliations of all players, and shall adhere to all guidelines and regulations on recruiting established by the governing bodies having oversight of their teams and leagues.
      - Coaches shall seek to honor those who uphold the highest standards and principles of soccer and shall use appropriate protocol to oppose and eliminate all behavior that brings disrepute to the sport - violence, abuse, dishonesty, disrespect and violations of the Laws of the Game and rules governing competition.
      <Sigh>...If only.

      It is so rare that I see anything approaching this level of behavior that I am truely surprised when I do. And that is shameful.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        Given the amount of violence I have witnessed this on the girls side perhaps the officials might be included in this as well.
        There is certainly reasonable criticism to be given there as well, but so much is shaped from home to the training ground that it amounts to a different problem really. I think you can make an argument that there is a shortage of quality of referees (and I have), but that's something completely different than the culture of the game in need of finding a higher level.

        Comment


          #5
          Seems a bit ironic that on the same day I post this I find myself reading an over the line of decency thread about a U12/13 keeper. Telling.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            There is certainly reasonable criticism to be given there as well, but so much is shaped from home to the training ground that it amounts to a different problem really. I think you can make an argument that there is a shortage of quality of referees (and I have), but that's something completely different than the culture of the game in need of finding a higher level.
            Clearly you haven't watched many high school tournament games. Lots of concussions, broken bones and acls. If they are not going to use the colored cards to control the violence then they are just as much a part of the problem as any other groups. Maybe more so because a parent typically only has control over one two players on a field. The officials should have control over all of them. If they don't start reining in some fouls then the game is going get ruined by law suits and counter violence.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              Clearly you haven't watched many high school tournament games. Lots of concussions, broken bones and acls. If they are not going to use the colored cards to control the violence then they are just as much a part of the problem as any other groups. Maybe more so because a parent typically only has control over one two players on a field. The officials should have control over all of them. If they don't start reining in some fouls then the game is going get ruined by law suits and counter violence.
              They are getting paid to ref. It is a job, isn 't it? They should be held 100% responsible if a game gets out of hand land a kid gets seriousy injured. l If they don't start doing that they will be facing charges themselves.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                Clearly you haven't watched many high school tournament games. Lots of concussions, broken bones and acls. If they are not going to use the colored cards to control the violence then they are just as much a part of the problem as any other groups. Maybe more so because a parent typically only has control over one two players on a field. The officials should have control over all of them. If they don't start reining in some fouls then the game is going get ruined by law suits and counter violence.
                Directing your comment at me is truly idiotic - first because you have no basis to know whether it's true or isn't, secondly because it's typically TS classless form and third because (again, you wouldn't know) that I'm highly critical of the fact that I think refs (premier even more than HS) are extremely hesitant to book players and engaged in plenty of TS threads making that case.

                But this isn't a ref thread and tried to objectively and diplomatically address that point with my prior post. Once again though, it's TS...

                Comment


                  #9
                  Qualified immunity statutes generally refer to liability for physical harm sustained during athletic contests, as opposed to financial harm resulting from an improper call. Numerous states have granted sports officials qualified tort immunity to civil suit. When present, qualified immunity jurisdictions require a showing beyond simple negligence before
                  liability is found. Rather, qualified immunity jurisdictions require a showing of either
                  “recklessness” or “gross negligence” before the courts will recognize a claim for negligent officiating. If you were to start to see a rise of lawsuits against referee's, all youth sports would immediately end. Would you want to risk your home, your income, your life savings to officiate a u-little match for $20/hour?

                  Referee's carry liability coverage through their state and national associations. That is why referee's are advised NOT to ref scrimmages due to lack of coverage. However, if player "A" reels back and hits player "B", assault and battery charges can be filed between the 2 players.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    They are getting paid to ref. It is a job, isn 't it? They should be held 100% responsible if a game gets out of hand land a kid gets seriousy injured. l If they don't start doing that they will be facing charges themselves.
                    Always the refs fault........... coaches, parents, and players are absolutely blameless. The claim about a rash of ACL and broken bone injuries from aggressive play is absolute horsepoop. The vast majority of ACL injuries are non contact. The vast majority of broken bones, (typically tibia and fibia) are challenge based contact in which neither (or both) players are to blame. The other problem with broken legs is the trend to smaller mostly useless shin pads. Concussions are usually not aggression caused either.

                    Your overstatement and exageration of the problem takes the focus away from where it belongs and that is the responsibility of the coaches to control their teams and for players to control themselves. My experience is that coaches don't like cards, AD's and the MIAA don't like cards and parents don't want cards. I show them when I need to but they are in no way a deterrent to aggressive play when a coach riles up their players. I gave out two yellow cards in U13 games this weekend. Both coaches are notorious for their bad behavior. One charge that led to a yellow could have resulted in serious injury. All the coach cared about was expressing his expectation that I would card the other team to even things up. Nitwit.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      Qualified immunity statutes generally refer to liability for physical harm sustained during athletic contests, as opposed to financial harm resulting from an improper call. Numerous states have granted sports officials qualified tort immunity to civil suit. When present, qualified immunity jurisdictions require a showing beyond simple negligence before
                      liability is found. Rather, qualified immunity jurisdictions require a showing of either
                      “recklessness” or “gross negligence” before the courts will recognize a claim for negligent officiating. If you were to start to see a rise of lawsuits against referee's, all youth sports would immediately end. Would you want to risk your home, your income, your life savings to officiate a u-little match for $20/hour?

                      Referee's carry liability coverage through their state and national associations. That is why referee's are advised NOT to ref scrimmages due to lack of coverage. However, if player "A" reels back and hits player "B", assault and battery charges can be filed between the 2 players.
                      Good post - I am not going to risk my assets for a 60$ paycheck. You think their is a shortage now? Change the tort laws..... I did 5 games this weekend, another ref who is a friend did 6. I could have done another 12 if I had the time.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        Good post - I am not going to risk my assets for a 60$ paycheck. You think their is a shortage now? Change the tort laws..... I did 5 games this weekend, another ref who is a friend did 6. I could have done another 12 if I had the time.
                        There's no debate on the shortage of refs. Seeing a single ref at a HS JV game is all you need to see to know that it's a serious problem that really needs to get better.

                        And bringing it back to the point of this thread, all you need to do is watch any division of some U10 or U12 travel league game to see why the supply of good referees is in jeopardy. Hearing parents, never mind a coach, scream at a teenager to blow the whistle simply for a player being in an offside position when that they all have at best a shaky understanding of the rule perfect illustrates the underlying problem.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          They are getting paid to ref. It is a job, isn 't it? They should be held 100% responsible if a game gets out of hand land a kid gets seriousy injured. l If they don't start doing that they will be facing charges themselves.
                          Using your logic, take into consideration the following scenario...

                          I worked a lot of games in the summer/fall, both HS and youth (NEP/Maple/tournaments); about 60+ in total. In several of those matches, coaches are screaming at players to the point of abusing them, when they make a mistake. This puts a lot of pressure on the player, which may cause them to play in a reckless manner they may not otherwise do so. If that player commits a foul that causes serious injury, who's at fault? The ref who has to act after the fact; the coach who put that player under pressure; or the player his or herself?

                          I've warned several coaches who I believe went over the line and asked them to modify their behavior. Sometimes players, parents and coaches get so wrapped up and behave in a manner they would not normally do. They seem to lose all sense of rationality in a span of 2 hours over a kids game. And you want to blame the official?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            Using your logic, take into consideration the following scenario...

                            I worked a lot of games in the summer/fall, both HS and youth (NEP/Maple/tournaments); about 60+ in total. In several of those matches, coaches are screaming at players to the point of abusing them, when they make a mistake. This puts a lot of pressure on the player, which may cause them to play in a reckless manner they may not otherwise do so. If that player commits a foul that causes serious injury, who's at fault? The ref who has to act after the fact; the coach who put that player under pressure; or the player his or herself?

                            I've warned several coaches who I believe went over the line and asked them to modify their behavior. Sometimes players, parents and coaches get so wrapped up and behave in a manner they would not normally do. They seem to lose all sense of rationality in a span of 2 hours over a kids game. And you want to blame the official?
                            Couldn't have said it better.

                            To add a little perspective, here's a link to MAPLE's "Coach's Ethics": http://www.maplesoccer.com/learn-abo...coachs-ethics/

                            And MAPLE's "Coaches Code of Conduct": http://www.maplesoccer.com/learn-abo...de-of-conduct/

                            Lip service "eenie meenie minie mo"

                            Comment


                              #15
                              How quickly some coach deflected all blame for any problems with soccer from his shoulders to the referees.
                              .

                              Comment

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