PARENTS'/SPECTATORS' CODE OF CONDUCT IN CITY RECREATIONAL FACILITIES POLICY

Preamble

The City of Moncton encourages the proper use of its recreational facilities which includes good sportsmanship and behavior that is appropriate and respectful. Therefore, the City of Moncton believes that all people involved in sports need to advocate and model the fundamentally positive aspects of sports, e.g., sporting and human excellence, fair play, honest competition and effort, self-discipline, integrity, personal growth and development.

Policy Statement
In an effort to make all sporting events in City of Moncton recreational facilities a more desirable and rewarding experience for all participants, the City of Moncton has implemented a Parents'/Spectators' Code of Conduct in City Facilities Policy. The Policy is designed to require parents/spectators to maintain a sportsmanlike atmosphere during all sporting events held at City recreational facilities.

It should be noted that although coaches, officials and players within the leagues have their own mechanisms in place to deal with issues relating to unacceptable or disruptive behavior, the City of Moncton expects everyone during a sporting event to conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner and abide by the Policy.

Definitions
"City Facility" means all City of Moncton recreational facilities, e.g., arenas, sport fields, pools, and gymnasiums.

"Parent" means a mother or father, a guardian, and a person with whom the child ordinarily resides who has demonstrated a settled intention to treat the child as a child of his or her family.

"Spectator" means any person who attends a sporting event in a City of Moncton recreational facility but is not participating in the event.

"Executive representative" means any person with managerial or administrative responsibility for the league.

"League representative" means any person officially associated with a sports team (i.e. coach, assistant coach, etc.).

"Official" means any person who supervises a sporting event to ensure that the competitors obey the rules.

General
The leagues' executive representatives are responsible to ensure that coaches meet with the players' parents at the start of the season to review the Parents'/Spectators' Code of Conduct Policy and ensure both parents of the player(s), where applicable, sign the Code of Conduct Agreement.

The City of Moncton will ensure that the expected behavior of all participants is clearly posted at all City recreational facilities. This will act as an educational tool as well as a quick reference to remind the unruly parent(s)/spectator(s) of the expected behavior in City recreational facilities.

Parents'/Spectators' Code of Conduct Agreement
Both parents, where applicable, must sign the Parents'/Spectators' Code of Conduct Agreement (see appendix A) provided by the league's executive using City of Moncton recreational facilities. The purpose of this agreement is to ensure that everyone taking part in a sporting event in a City of Moncton recreational facility is aware of the policy and the conduct expected during a sporting event.

Unacceptable Behavior
Inappropriate and disruptive behavior shall include but not limited to:

Physical violence or threats of physical violence;
Use of obscene or vulgar language in a boisterous manner to anyone at any time;
Taunting of players, coaches, officials or other spectators by means of baiting, ridiculing, threatening gestures, abusive or demeaning language;
Throwing of any object in the spectators' viewing area, players' bench, penalty box, where applicable, or on the playing surface, directed in any manner as to create a safety hazard.
Making a Complaint
Once a complaint has been made regarding the inappropriate or disruptive behavior of a parent(s)/spectator(s) in a City recreational facility to an official, a league or an executive representative, the complaint will be recorded in writing and forwarded to the league's governing body for review and investigation. The person making the complaint will receive written acknowledgement by the league's governing body of the receipt of the complaint and once a decision has been made regarding the incident, a letter will be forwarded to the person who initiated the complaint explaining the course of action being taken by the league's governing body.

Disciplinary Action
7.1 The league is responsible for the enforcement of all aspects of this policy including the section on disciplinary action.

7.2 Officials have the authority to stop a game where a parent(s)/spectator(s) is displaying inappropriate and/or disruptive behavior that interferes with other spectators or the game. The official(s) will identify the violator(s) to a league or an executive representative who is responsible for speaking to the individual and/or removing the disruptive individual from the facility/game area. Once the individual is under control of his/her emotions or removed from the facility, play will resume.

7.3 Consequences of the parent(s)/spectator(s) disruptive behavior will result in the following action(s) being taken by a league or executive representative:

Physical abuse violations will result in an immediate and permanent dismissal from all league activities.
Non-physical violations:
A 1st violation will result in a league or an executive representative speaking with the violator(s) and requesting compliance with the policy.
A 2nd violation will result in an immediate ejection from the City recreational facility and the league's governing body will meet with the individual and communicate the importance of the policy and remind the individual of the fact that they signed a Code of Conduct Agreement and if one was not signed, get the individual to sign one.
A 3rd violation will result in the individual being banned from all league activities.
If the league and the executive representatives do not enforce this policy, the City of Moncton will reduce the amount of recreational facility time available to the user group and/or impose sanctions.