SAFETY OF OUR YOUNG ATHLETES

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Code of Conduct for the safety of young athletes……………………………………………………………….. 4
Rule of Two………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Guidelines for adults interacting with young athletes………………………………………………………… 11
Inappropriate behaviour reporting policy……………………………………………………………………….. 14

1. Introduction

This document covers the rules and policies enacted by the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club to protect its young athletes.

In the present document, « Coach or Adult » should be understood as an adult individual working as a volunteer and interacting with young athletes. The term « Young Athlete » should be taken as any individual, male or female, under 18 years of age.

This document concerns our young athletes, but the code of ethics is addressed to all our athletes, minors or adults, coaches, volunteers, members of the Board of Directors and parents of our athletes.

The NCCP acronym in this document means the NATIONAL COACHES CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.

Reporting a doubtful conduct must be done by order of importance at:

The police: 911
Child Protection (La protection de l’enfance par CyberAide): https://www.cyberaide.ca/app/en/report
Our Executive Vice-President (vpexecutive@soccerstl.ca)

2. Code of Conduct for the safety of young athletes

2.1. Introduction

The Saint-Laurent Soccer Club has written the present Code of Conduct for the safety of young athletes to set parameters for all interactions between its employees/volunteers and young athletes. The safety, the rights, and the wellbeing of the young athletes that we serve are always at the core of our programs. We aim to develop constructive relationships with young athletes within respected appropriate limits.

The Saint-Laurent Soccer Club made sure its policy covered at least the following topics:

Expected behaviour from volunteers and employees
Definition of an appropriate behaviour
Obligations in matters of reporting
Procedures to follow up on a report

2.2. The importance of the Code of Conduct for the safety of young athletes

We are a soccer club that cares about the protection and the safety of young athletes. The adoption of a Code of Conduct is an important step towards the establishment of a safe environment for young athletes. The protection of the rights and the well-being of young athletes taking part in our programs is an absolute priority of ours. The intent behind the Code of Conduct is to bring employees and volunteers to develop healthy relationships with young athletes participating in our sports programs and to set appropriate limits for themselves in their interactions with young athletes.

2.3. Treating young athletes with dignity and maintaining limits

All employees/volunteers must:

Always treat young athletes with dignity and respect
Define and apply appropriate limits with young athletes and the families that take part in the activities and programs of our club.

It is important to monitor your own behaviour towards young athletes and to pay special attention to the behaviour of your peers in order for everyone to act in an appropriate and respectful manner that will be perceived as such by everyone.

All your interactions and your activities with young athletes must:

Be known and approved by the Board of Directors, if necessary and by the parents of a young athletes.
Be a part of your duties
Aim to develop a young athlete’s sports skills

Always take into consideration a young athlete’s reaction in all activities, the conversations, the behaviour or interaction. Should you ever have doubts regarding your own behaviour or of that of other individuals, make sure to talk about the situations with the designated person within the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club (Executive Vice-President).

Examples of unacceptable behaviour towards a young athlete:

Embarrass him/her.
Dishonor him/her.
Blame him/her.
Humiliate him/her.
Belittle him/her.

2.4. General behaviour rules

Saint-Laurent Soccer Club employees/volunteers must never:

Having physical contact with a young athlete that would make the young athlete or a reasonable observer uncomfortable or which would exceed reasonable limits in the eyes of a reasonable observer.
Having communications with a young athlete, in or outside of their work with him, which would make the young athlete uncomfortable or which would exceed reasonable limits in the eyes of a reasonable observer.
Engage in a behaviour that goes (or seems to go) against our mandate, our mission or our Code of Conduct, when exercising their duties.
Carry out their own investigation into allegations or suspicions of potentially illegal or inappropriate actions; employees / volunteers have a duty to report the matter to the designated person, to Child Protection Services (cybertip.ca) or to the police, not to investigate.

2.5. What can be construed as “inappropriate behaviour”?

Behaviours construed as inappropriate are:

Inappropriate communications: Communicating with a young athlete or the family outside the context of one’s duties within the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club, no matter who initiated the first

For example:

Personal telephone call not related to the work with the young
Electronic communications (e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging, chatting, social networks, « friend request ») not related to the work with the young athlete.

Personal letters not related to the work with the young
Excessive communications (on-line or off-line).

Inappropriate contacts: Spending time with a young athlete without proper authorization outside

the limits of one’s duties within the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club.

Favoritism: Affording a young athlete or certain young athletes, special privileges and attention (for example, pay extra attention to a young athlete, send him/her personalized gifts or award him/her with unjustified, inappropriate or excessive privileges).
Taking personal photos or videos: Use a personal device (cell phone, camera or video camera) to take photos of a young athlete (or allow someone else to do so) and post or copy on the Internet or on a personal storage You may still take photos as part of your duties, but these photos must remain in the possession of Club de Soccer Saint-Laurent, and you are prohibited from using them for personal reasons.

The following behaviors are also considered inappropriate:

Telling a sexual joke to a young athlete or making suggestive, sexual or personal remarks to a young athlete.
Showing a young athlete material of sexual nature (drawings, animations, photo stories, calendars, texts, photos, screen savers, etc…), make such material easily viewable by the young athlete or make it easily available.
Intimidate of threaten a young athlete
Make fun of a young a young athlete

We do not tolerate any inappropriate behaviour among our employees and volunteers, above all if it undermines the wellbeing of young athletes participating in our activities and programs. It will be for the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club to judge whether a behavior or gesture constitutes

inappropriate behavior having regard to all the circumstances, including the individual’s previous

actions and allegations or suspicions relating to the behavior in question.

2.6. Obligations in matters of reporting

Employees/volunteers are all obligated to report any suspicion of pedosexual abuse, inappropriate behaviour and incidents that they were made aware of, whether or not they personally witnessed the behaviour or incident in question.

Who to report to:

All allegations or suspicion of potentially illegal behaviour (a pedosexual abuse, for example) that was witnessed by an employee/volunteer must quickly be reported to the police or Child Protection Services (Cyberaide.ca).

To ensure the safety of young athletes under our responsibility, all allegation and suspicion of potentially illegal behaviour brought to the attention of an employee/volunteer must also quickly be reported to the police or Child Protection Services (Cyberaide.ca). The police or Child Protection Services are responsible for determining if the allegation or suspicion justifies further
Any allegation or suspicion of inappropriate behaviour (see article 5) brought to the attention of an employee/volunteer or which was witnessed by an employee/volunteer must be reported to the person designated at the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club (Executive Vice-President).

It is possible that you may be made aware by a young athlete or another person of a potentially illegal or inappropriate behaviour or that you have witnessed yourself. Amongst the behaviours that may have been brought to you or you may have witnessed and that you have to report as per the procedures previously stated, you may find:

A potentially illegal behaviour by an employee/volunteer of the Saint-Laurent Soccer
A potentially illegal behaviour by another person (parent, teacher, babysitter, coach,

etc…).

If you are unsure that something you witnessed or that was brought to you constitutes a potentially illegal behaviour or an inappropriate behaviour, talk about it with the designated person, who will assist you in the process to follow. Never forget that it is your duty to report any suspicion of potentially illegal behaviour to the police or Child Protection Services (Cyberaide.ca).

2.7. Follow-up of a report

After reporting an allegation or a suspicion of a potentially illegal behaviour, the police or the Child Protection Service will be warned. The Saint-Laurent Soccer Club will follow-up internally if necessary.

After an allegation or a suspicion of inappropriate behaviour has been reported, the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club will complete a follow-up to establish the facts and determine the disciplinary or other measures that are required, if any are necessary.

In cases of inappropriate behaviour, the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club could decide to send the dossier to the police or the Child Protection Service:

If many incidents of inappropriate behaviours are reported
If the inappropriate behaviour is repeated
Or if the behaviour in question raises major questions

3. Rule of Two

3.1. Introduction

In creating the present policy, the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club aimed to deal with the following topics:

Team Trips
Locker Rooms and Meeting Rooms
Environment for training and games
Gender Identity

Adopting the Rule of Two of the Coaching Association of Canada means that there will always be two coaches, verified, certified and trained by the NCCP, with an athlete can be in potentially vulnerable situations. Individual interactions between a coach and an athlete, without the presence of another person, must be avoided at all time, except in cases of medical emergency.

3.2. Standards

The Coaching Association of Canada has developed Rule of Two standards.

Canada Soccer expects that all organizations will work towards the Gold Standard – always have two NCCP trained and certified coaches present with an athlete. If NCCP trained and certified coaches are not available, verified volunteers (such as managers, support personnel, chaperones and team/organization supervisors) should be available in their place. When verified volunteers are not available, parents or other athletes should be invited to replace them temporarily. If no adult is available, there should always be more than one athlete with the coach (which is the lowest standard and not recommended).

3.3. Guidelines

Canada Soccer strongly recommends that organizations follow the guidelines ensuring the Rule of Two is respected. Within the guidelines below, a person in authority is defined as a NCCP trained and certified coach, a verified volunteer or another adult. An organization reaches the Gold Standard if the person in authority always is a NCCP trained and certified coach.

3.4. Trips

The following guidelines are strongly recommended during trips with athletes:

A person in authority can not be alone in a car with an athlete unless the person in

authority is the athlete’s parent of legal guardian

A person in authority can not share a room or be alone in a hotel room with an athlete, unless the person in authority is the athlete’s parent of legal guardian
Checking the room on overnight trips must always be done by two persons in authority

3.5. Locker Rooms / Meeting Rooms

The following guideline are strongly recommended for locker rooms and meeting rooms:

Interactions between a person in authority and individual athlete must never take place in a room where there is a reasonable expectation in terms of privacy, such as locker rooms, meeting rooms or There should always be a second person in authority present for all interactions required in such rooms.
Whenever persons in authority are not present in the locker room, or their presence is forbidden, they must always remain available outside the locker room to enter if

3.6. Training / Competition Environments

The following guidelines are strongly recommended for the training and the competition environments (before, during and after practices and games):

A person in authority should never be left alone with an athlete before or after a game or a practice unless the person in authority is the athlete’s parent or legal guardian. If the athlete is the first to arrive, his or her parent or legal guardian should remain on site until another athlete or a person in authority arrives. If an athlete could find himself/herself alone with a person in authority after a game or a practice, the person in authority should ask another person in authority (or a parent or legal guardian of another athlete) to remain

on site until all the athletes have left the premises. If no other adult is available, then another athlete must be present to avoid having a person in authority alone with an athlete by himself/herself.

Persons in authority giving out instructions, demonstrating skills or helping an athlete with exercises or lessons on an individual level, should always do so in clear view and hearing distance of another person in authority.

3.7. Gender Identity

A person in authority interacting with athletes should be of the same sex as the athletes. The following guidelines are strongly recommended:

For teams made up of athletes of the same gender identity, there should always be a same sex person in authority available to take part or assist in each interaction.
For teams made up of athletes of more than one gender identity (Mixed teams for example), persons in authority of both sexes should be available to take part and assist in each interaction.

4. Guidelines for adults interacting with young athletes

4.1. Introduction

Sports provides young athletes with great experiences and opportunities that promote their development. Healthy relationships between athletes and coaches lead to rewarding experiences and generate the creation of safe surroundings where the adults are responsible for their actions and conduct. These guidelines are therefore intended to ensure a mutual understanding of the expectations of adults who interact with young athletes and to provide reassurance for those who would like to report misconduct against young athletes.

This document does not cover all possible situations and does in no way constitute a lengthy list of acceptable or unacceptable conducts. It aims to give the sports environment a framework where each participant must demonstrate common sense and judgement in all interactions with children.

4.2. The Coach – Athlete Relationship

Generally, a coach is always in a position of confidence. This relationship of confidence between a coach and an athlete is based on professional limits. Should these limits be violated, the foundations of the relationship are shaken.

Within a coach-athlete relationship, the balance of power is in favor of the coach. Athletes learn to respect and listen to the coaches and they rely on their knowledge and surroundings to keep on improving their skills.

The trust and the authority can both compromise a coach-athlete relationship and it is often through repeated transgressions of the limits that this happens, when an adult puts his/her own needs before those of the children and obtains personal or professional gratification at the cost of the children.

It is always up to the adult to establish and maintain appropriate limits with the children.

4.3. Appropriate and inappropriate behaviours

Any individual working or volunteering in the sport sector must have an exemplary behaviour in order to maintain public trust and generate healthy relations with children and their families.

Examples of appropriate behaviour:

Be respectful of others through proper language, the right tone and
Respect personal, physical and emotional
Meet the needs of the children, not of the
Act with children in a manner that, in the eyes of a reasonable observer, respects appropriate limits.
Never hide anything from the
Make sure that communications with children (including electronic ones) are transparent and justifiable.

Examples of inappropriate behaviour:

Disrespectful language
Humiliating or intimidating children
Inappropriate physical contact with children (ex.: massaging, caressing and tickling children or fighting with them).
Confiding in children by telling them about matters that are too personal
Asking children to keep a secret
Communicating electronically some personal matters (not related to the role of a coach) with children.
Sex or seduction related communications
Taking pictures with a personal camera or in locker rooms

4.4. Reference standards in terms or appropriate limits

All the interactions and activities with children (including electronic communications) must:

Be transparent.
Be justifiable.
Be linked to the tasks of the coach or the volunteer.
Serve to meet the needs of the children.

4.5. Parents and coaches have a role to play

It can be difficult to step in when observing a situation where there seems to be an inappropriate coach-athlete relation. Reporting inappropriate behaviour encompasses an obligation to follow-up and ensure that appropriate measures can be applied and meet repeated expectations. Concerned parents and coaches must make sure the supervisor of the coach in question is advised of the situation.

It is recommended that parents and coaches review on a regular basis the personal protection and the disrespectful behaviour of limits in their conversations with children, while adapting the

language to the children’s age. Remember that it is always right-minded to talk to children about healthy relations and the importance of personal limits and let them know where they can go to get help or when they are preoccupied by certain situations. For further information, see the Free Educational Tools, especially the Safety Sheets, of the Kids in the Know website (www.kidsintheknow.ca).

Should you have any concerns regarding sexually implicit pictures or videos circulating on the web, see www.cybertips.ca. This site offers information for both children and adults.

5. Inappropriate behaviour reporting policy

In creating the present policy regarding what should be done when someone witnesses what could be considered inappropriate conduct, based on the Commit to Kids – Steps to Reporting Inappropriate Behaviour, the Saint-Laurent Soccer Club aimed to outline the interactions between its employees/volunteers with the children. Protecting the rights and wellbeing of the children we serve has always been at the heart of our programs. We establish meaningful and constructive relations with the children that respect appropriate guidelines.

The Club made sure that the policy at least covers the following topics:

Behaviour expected from volunteers and employees.
Definition of an inappropriate behaviour.
Obligations in matters of reporting.
Follow-up procedures of a reporting.

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