Wolverhmpton Swimming Club

Code of Conduct

 

The aim of WSC is to promote competitive swimming with a friendly open approach. The club is committed to treat everyone equally within the context of their activity, regardless of sex, ethnic origin, religion, disability or political persuasion. WSC believes that the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility and that all children and young people have a right to have fun, be safe and protected from harm.

As a club affiliated to the ASA, we are expected to conduct our activities within the rules of the Association. These rules include the Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct and Equity Policy. In addition all club members are expected to conform to the following code.

General Code of Behaviour

All members and parents are expected to:

• Maintain a high standard of personal behaviour at all times.
• Respect the rights, dignity and worth of others regardless of their gender, abilities, cultural background or religion.
• Be aware of, and operate with the rules of the sport.
• Refrain from any acts of aggression, physical or verbal.
• Show respect to other people’s property and the pool facilities.
• Obey the general regulations for users at both Central Baths and Aldersley School.

WSC will ensure that it provides a child-friendly and safe environment and that all officials, teachers, coaches and other volunteers abide by the ASA Child Protection Policy.

WSC will provide a structured swimming development program that will enable all swimmers to reach their full potential in competitive swimming. To achieve this it is necessary for swimmers to attend regularly.

Swimmers Code of Behaviour

All swimmers are expected to:

• Attend regularly, be on time and ready to start session.
• Train and compete to the best of their ability.
• Show respect to each other, Coaches, Poolside Staff and Officials.
• Do precisely what Coaches/Poolside Staff ask them to do.

Please also refer to the club handbook for further guidance on club discipline during training and when competing.

Parents/Guardians Code of Behaviour.

Parents/Guardians are expected to:

Teachers & Coaches Code of Conduct and Ethics

All Staff representing the club must:

• Put the well-being, health and safety of members above all considerations including developing performance
• Comply with the codes, rules and laws within the guidelines set out by the ASA
• Work without discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, language, religion, birth or social status as set out in the equal opportunities policy.
• Respect the basic human rights, worth and dignity of each member.
• Not encourage swimmers, volunteers, officials or parents to violate the rules of the club or the sport.
• Observe the authority and the decisions of all officials.
• Encourage all swimmers to obey the spirit of the rules and laws both in and out of the pool.
• Ensure that all teaching and training and competition programmes are appropriate for the age, ability and experience of the individual swimmer.
• Treat other competitors and teams with respect, in victory and defeat.
• Be able to present evidence of qualifications on request.
• Treat all personal information about individual members as confidential except in exceptional circumstances regarding health and safety, medical requirements, disciplinary action or in accordance with ASA Child Protection procedures and guidelines.
• Display the highest standards of personal hygiene.
• Not drink alcohol before or during teaching or coaching sessions or competitions.
• Seek ways of and be willing to increase the development of their current qualifications.

Failure to comply with these codes will result in the Coach/Team Manager (competition) taking the following action:

• 1st offence - verbal warning.
• 2nd offence - name recorded in log book and parents informed - valid for 1 week.
• 3rd offence - name recorded in log book and asked to leave pool - staff will endeavour to contact parents to collect swimmer.

Swimmers names regularly appearing in the log book will be spoken to along with their parent.

If a swimmer is asked to leave the pool 3 or more times in a 4 week period the matter will be referred to a Disciplinary Panel as set out below.

In cases of serious misconduct eg. Verbal abuse or physical violence, swimmers will be asked to leave the water immediately and staff will attempt to contact parents to collect the swimmer. The matter will then be referred to a Disciplinary Panel.

The Disciplinary Panel will consist of 1 committee member, 1 member of poolside staff, 1 parent/adult club member and 1 adult independent of the club, who are not related to the swimmer or directly involved in the incident. The Panel will decide on an appropriate sanction, eg. A fixed term suspension, withdrawal of membership.

Dated 19th October 2007