OKEHAMPTON OTTERS PARENT/GUARDIAN DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

Objective

Okehampton Otters is committed to enforcing the relevant club ‘codes of conduct’ relating to its members. If a breach is considered to have been made by a member, then this document is designed to guide the Okehampton Otters Committee and inform parents/guardians of the discipline process. The primary objective is to encourage members to comply with the Code of Conduct and fulfil their obligations as set out in the club's constitution.

General Problems

Okehampton Otters seeks to create the right environment to ensure every child is able to maximise his/her potential as a swimmer. Parents and guardians of all swimmers, have an important part to play by encouraging their child in supporting and respecting the role of the coach to develop and deliver the training regime. Parents/guardians must also respect and support the Committee, whose role it is to run the day-to-day business of the Club. Parents/guardians have a responsibility to use procedures set down by the club to raise matters in a respectful way, whether matters are related to their child's swimming performance or any administrative issues.

Membership may be suspended where there are outstanding issues with parents and guardians conduct, until either a meeting clearing the matter has been held or an investigation etc has been positively concluded.

Three Stages of Disciplinary Action

Stage 1 - Normal Coaching or Administrator Intervention/interaction:

It is anticipated that most issues can be appropriately, effectively and quickly dealt with through normal and informal intervention, interaction and discussion by the Coaches, Club secretary /Welfare Officer with those parties responsible. The Coaches or Club Secretary/Welfare may use their discretion and judgement to initiate and repeat Stage 1 on any number of occasions or they may choose to issue a verbal warning, a note of which will be entered into the parent’s club membership file, copied to them in writing and may be referred to should there be any further incidents arising. To help the parent resolve their problems a Behaviour Contract may be issued, prior to moving to Stage 2, which should always be the next step once it is clear that normal interventions or interactions are not resolving the matter.

Stage 2 - Verbal Warning: In the case of more serious incidents, or if a further offence occurs (whether of a similar or different nature) a written warning will be issued to the parent/guardian by the Club Secretary /Head of Welfare. This will give reasons for the warning, the improvement required and the date when the warning expires - it will warn that action under Stage 3 of the disciplinary procedure will be considered if there is no satisfactory improvement or further acts of misconduct occur and will advise of rights of appeal. A note of which will be entered into the swimmer's club membership file, action under Stage 3 of the disciplinary procedure will be considered if there is no satisfactory improvement or further acts of misconduct occur.

Stage 3 - Suspension or Termination of Membership: If conduct is still unsatisfactory and the member still fails to reach the prescribed standards despite receiving a written warning, or if the member has committed an act of gross misconduct, their membership to Okehampton Otters may continue to be suspended and/or terminated. Suspension or termination of membership may result from a serious breach of any of the Club codes or policies or those of Swim England. The individual will not be re-admitted to the Club. Any appeal against termination of membership must be submitted to the Club Secretary within 14 days by formal letter. Upon receiving an appeal, the Committee will organise a review of the case and report within 28 days unless there is good reason to extend the time frame.

Misconduct: The following are examples of behaviours which are considered to be acts of misconduct. In serious cases they may be deemed to be acts of gross misconduct and may lead to instant suspension or termination.

• Bullying Swimmers, Committee members and other Club members physically, orally or in written communication, either directly or indirectly.
• Sharing inappropriate information about the club will be treated as a breach of Swim England’s Code of Ethics and the club’s code of conduct.
• Inappropriate image capturing on any devices
• Undermining coaching staff either orally or in written communication either directly or indirectly.
• Acting in conflict with Okehampton Otters Code of Conduct, Wavepower or any other policy documents.
• Physical or Oral abuse or refusal to obey lawful instructions.
• Gross breach of safety requirements likely to endanger other people or you or to cause damage to Club/hired property.
• Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs or possession of illegal drugs.
• Theft, fraud, or other criminal acts.
• Fighting, assaulting and/or deliberately intimidating another person.
• Causing deliberate damage to Club/hired property.
• Gross negligence which causes unacceptable loss, damage or injury.
• Sexual or racial harassment or discrimination of any kind.
• Harassment or discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or religion or religious belief.
• Showing a lack of respect towards coaches, officials, swimmers, Club administrators or any other member of Okehampton Otters.

General Principles: Okehampton Otters disciplinary procedures are based on the following principles:

• The disciplinary rules and procedures are designed to be non-discriminatory and are to be applied irrespective of sex, racial group, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, or any other bias.
• All matters will be dealt with in accordance with the Club Constitution and Swim England law.
• It is expected that most matters will be dealt with
• at the point of incidence informally at the time of the event.
• Any behaviour that is considered to be unacceptable by coaching staff or team managers may lead to a 'behaviour contract' being issued.

• All matters relating to disciplinary action will be handled as speedily as possible.
• A person wishing to make a complaint about inappropriate conduct should normally do so at the time. Persistent or serious breaches of conduct will be reported to the Welfare Officer / Club Secretary preferably in writing.
• No member will be dismissed or suspended from the Club for a first breach of conduct except in the case of serious or gross misconduct.
• Misuse of image capturing devices (including where images are taken and are not welcomed by the member concerned), social media & gaming platforms against members (this list is not exhaustive).
• Club Members will have the right of appeal against any formal disciplinary action.

These measures are linked to the club’s Code of Conduct and will be placed on the website for future reference.

To resolve a complaint through Swim England, please follow this link How To Resolve Issues or Disputes | Swim England Member Support (swimming.org) https://www.swimming.org/members/how-to-resolve-issues-with-your-club/ Here you will find guidance, together with a form to submit to your club chair.