1. Overview
1.1. All GVMBHA teams are expected to be well disciplined, exhibit good sportsmanship and aim to complete games with no penalties.
1.2. All GVMBHA team officials, players, parents, and family members are expected to demonstrate high levels of sportsmanship and treat others within the ball hockey community with respect.
1.3. Players, parents, family members, and team officials are expected to observe the letter and spirit of the GVMBHA Codes of Conduct, as well as the playing rules, regulations, and policies that govern GVMBHA. For examples, verbal abuse, physical abuse, racism, sexism, or vandalism have no place in ball hockey, will not be tolerated, and will be subjected to disciplinary action, and in some instances may be referred as necessary to authorities.
1.4. The coaching staff is responsible for ensuring a high level of sportsmanship, maintaining team discipline and, when appropriate, taking disciplinary action within a game for one of their own players so to maintain the integrity of the game, protect player safety (for both teams), and diffuse any situations to the best of their abilities.
1.5. Coaches are expected to ensure that players respect the rules of the game and play in a manner that does not create unreasonable risks for the player or for his / her teammates or opponents. In appropriate circumstances, coaches are expected to further discipline players who have received, or should have received, a penalty during a game. In particular, coaches are expected to take further action in connection with instances of checking from behind and other dangerous conduct.
1.6. The GVMBHA committee is also expected to ensure that players, team officials, parents and all other representatives of the association respect the rules of the game and exhibit good sportsmanship.
2. Interpretation
2.1. References in this policy to “parent” shall include both parents and / or guardians.
2.2. References in this policy to “coaching staff’ shall mean the Head Coach, or a person designated by the Head Coach, when there is a difference in opinion between or among members of the coaching staff.
2.3 References in this policy to ‘the association’ shall mean the GVMBHA.
2.3. The refusal or neglect of a parent to attend a meeting set up pursuant to this policy shall not invalidate a decision made at such a meeting. Similarly, if for good reason a parent cannot be notified of a meeting, the absence of that parent from a meeting shall not invalidate a decision made at such a meeting.
3. Team-Initiated Discipline and Suspension Policy
3.1. The coaching staff may, at its sole discretion, suspend a player for disciplinary reasons for one game, whether the conduct for which the player is being suspended occurs on or off the floor, and the coach must notify the GVMBHA Disciplinary Committee of the decision within 24 hours of issuing the suspension. The manner of administering the discipline needs to be procedurally fair and shall include:
a) A player’s right to know why one is to be disciplined, which needs to be communicated in writing (via an email to the player’s contact email) and verbally to the player;
b) A player’s right to defend or explain or to dispute the appropriateness of the discipline handed out;
c) Except in the case of minor disciplinary matters, the right of a parent of the player to be informed of the reason for discipline and to be given an opportunity to comment;
d) A player’s right to have a disciplinary decision reviewed by the GVMBHA Disciplinary Committee;
e) A right of persons in addition to the coach and player to be involved in the disciplinary process when the issue significantly affects those other persons;
f) An expectation that similar conduct shall merit similar disciplinary consequences.
3.2. Where appropriate, a parent may be invited to become involved in the disciplinary process.
3.3. If the coaching staff wishes to suspend a player for more than one game or issue a second one game suspension then the GVMBHA Disciplinary Committee must be notified immediately and involved in the process to determine the appropriateness and severity of the suspension, if any. To ensure procedural fairness, the following conditions apply:
a) Any player who has been identified by the coaching staff as potentially being suspended under Rule 3.3 is not able to continue to play until the matter has been decided by the GVMBHA Disciplinary Committee.
b) All procedures outlined in Rule 3.1 a-f shall apply.
3.4. A decision to suspend a player for the balance of the season may only be made by a majority of the President, Head of Disciplinary Committee, Division Manager, Vice-President and Head Coach.
3.5. A decision to suspend a player for more than one game may be reviewed by the GVMBHA Disciplinary Committee. However, a decision to suspend a player for one game only is not reviewable under this policy.
3.6. The results of any disciplinary action shall be communicated in writing.
4. Other-Initiated Discipline & Suspension Policy
4.1. Disciplinary action may be assessed pursuant to this Policy against any player, team, team official, parent or any person associated with the team or with the Association for unfair or unsportsmanlike conduct, for conduct which brings discredit to the Association, or for failure to comply with the Policies of the GVMBHA Association.
4.2. Any person who is of the view that disciplinary action should be considered against any person described in section 4.1 above shall report his / her concern to the President (at a minimum in writing), within 7 days of the event occurring, who will then in turn notify the Disciplinary Committee.
a) The Disciplinary Committee will review the matter in a timely fashion (usually within 2 days of being given written notification) and will issue a written decision of disciplinary action commensurate with the nature and severity of the matter at hand.
i) Disciplinary action may range from warning (written and verbal), to being suspended for the remainder of the season, to being removed from the association indefinitely.
b) The Disciplinary Committee reserves the right to seek additional information at their discretion to gain a better understanding of the matter.
4.3 The manner of administering the discipline needs to be procedurally fair and as part of each investigation the person(s) who is (are) the subject of the investigation shall be provided an opportunity to present his / her version of the matter in question and to respond to the alleged incident(s), prior to consideration of the disciplinary action. In addition, the following processes are applicable:
a) A player’s right to have a disciplinary decision reviewed by the GVMBHA President;
b) A right of persons in addition to the coach and player to be involved in the process when the issue significantly affects those other persons;
c) An expectation that similar conduct shall merit similar disciplinary consequences;
d) Any player who is subject of a disciplinary review under Rule 4.1 is not able to continue to play until the matter has been decided by the GVMBHA Disciplinary Committee. However, if the team has issued a one-game suspension in relation to the disciplinary concern aforementioned, then this one-game suspension is not contestable.
4.4. The coach and manager of any team whose player(s), parent(s) or team official(s) are involved in the investigation shall be notified in writing of the investigation. The parents of any player who is the subject matter of an investigation shall also be notified in writing of the investigation.
4.5 Any person who is of the view that the disciplinary action that was handed out under Rule 3 (outlined above) or Rule 4 requires an additional response other than, or in addition to, the response that had been handed out by the coaching staff or Disciplinary Committee shall report (at a minimum in writing) his / her concern to the President.
4.6 Any disciplinary action that is automatically attached to penalties assessed by the in-game referees of the game in question, as outlined in the rules of the game, are not contestable under this Disciplinary Process.
4.7. In the instance that the person under disciplinary review (ie., player, parent, spouse, partner) is related to a member of the Disciplinary Committee or President, then this person shall be removed from the disciplinary process and the outcome of the process will be determined by the remaining members of the Disciplinary Committee.
4.8. The results of any disciplinary action shall be communicated in writing to all parties involved.
(last updated: March 2018)
SUSPENSION & DISCIPLINARY POLICY (PDF)
