The Corner Brook Minor Association (CBMSA) is committed to promoting positive behavior on and off the soccer field through the support of coaches, parents, players, volunteers and officials. Respect is the communal responsibility of each participant in soccer to create an environment that is both safe and enjoyable for all who take part.
The Corner Brook Minor Soccer Association (CBMSA) is a strong supporter of making sport safe for our youth. Over the last couple of years, verbal abuse directed toward referees, players and team officials has been a particular problem. Accordingly, CBMSA has established the Friendly Fan Policy for non-CBMSA registrants - anyone not individually registered with the CBMSA as either a Player, Team Official or Administrator (Registrant) - to enforce a set of expectations around inappropriate behavior for parents, legal guardians and spectators (collectively “Spectators”), including but not limited to offensive, insulting or abusive language or behavior, sexist or racist remarks, violence and vandalism, in order to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all. For the purposes of this policy, a spectator is defined as an immediate family member associated with a game participant, including aunts, uncles, grandparents or children.
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:
CBMSA wants to ensure soccer can be enjoyed in a safe, positive environment. Remember the game of soccer provides children the opportunity to develop their technical, physical, tactical and social skills. Winning isn’t everything.
1. I will not force my child to participate in sports;
2. I will remember that my child plays sport for his or her enjoyment, not for mine;
3. I will encourage my child to play by the rules and to resolve conflicts without resorting to hostility or violence;
4. I will teach my child that doing one’s best is as important as winning, so that my child will never feel defeated by the outcome of a game/event;
5. I will make my child feel like a winner every time by offering praise for competing fairly and trying hard;
6. I will never ridicule or yell at my child for making a mistake or losing a competition;
7. I will remember that children learn best by example. I will applaud good plays/performances by both my child’s team and their opponents;
8. I will remain outside the field of play and within the designated spectators’ area (where provided);
9. I will respect the match officials’ decisions and never publicly question the officials’ judgment or honesty;
10. I will respect and show appreciation for the volunteer coaches who give their time to provide sport activities for my child;
11. I will not interfere at any time with the duties and responsibilities of the coach or manager, including coaching from the sidelines during games or practices;
12. I will comply with the rules, policies and procedures of the team and the Club as they apply to me;
13. I will not act in any manner that is detrimental to the team or the Club;
14. I will support all efforts to remove verbal and physical abuse from children’s sporting activities; and
15. I will never engage in, or tolerate, offensive, insulting, or abusive language or behavior toward any official, coach, player or Spectator.
The goal of the Fair Play Code of Conduct operating procedure is to promote a positive, safe and supportive environment for all participants at CBMSA’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 OSC and the Spectator may be:
In extreme cases and/or depending on the nature of the behavior, as determined by CBMSA’s discipline committee, a suspension from attending future games or practices and/or the de-registration process may be invoked after a first or second offence.
This policy, as per the CBMSA 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 CBMSA 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 CBMSA registrants as set out in the CBMSA Policies (Section 9.0 - Discipline).
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 CBMSA, who will process this document in accordance with the rules defined by the CBMSA.
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.
Fair Play Code for Parents, Legal Guardians, and Spectators (Non-CBMSA Registrants)
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 CBMSA registrants as set out in the CBMSA Policies (Section 9.0 - Discipline).
In all cases the game official must file a Special Incident Report to CBMSA’s discipline board for review.
In the event that an incident of abuse is not recognized by a game official, or occurs in a non-game 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 CBMSA’s discipline committee. 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 written complaint to CBMSA’s discipline committee via the Discipline Coordinator who can be reached at ???? 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 CBMSA registrants, please refer to CBMSA Policies (Section 9.0 - Discipline).