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Codes of Conduct

All members upon joining or at the time of membership renewal, will have agreed to the Club Codes of Conduct, which run through the expected behaviours of all members including athletes, volunteers, officials, parents as well as coaches and teachers. If you are considered to have breached the Club Codes of Conduct, this document is designed to guide you through the club's internal disciplinary process to make sure that you are aware of how the codes of conduct are dealt with.

What this policy does not cover:

1. Safeguarding and Welfare. All members deserve the right to feel safe in our sport and it is important that all clubs adopt Wavepower, which is Swim England’s safeguarding policy. If you have a safeguarding concern, then please email the club's welfare officer by contacting welfare@swimleamington.org.
2. A dispute or complaint between two or more club members. This will follow the Club Complaints procedure (regulation 107). Please find more information here.
3. Breach of the Swim England Handbook (including the Code of Ethics). This will follow Swim England’s Judicial Complaint procedure (regulation 108). Please find more information here.

The Club disciplinary process

There will be five stages of the Club disciplinary process which will ensure a clear process in dealing with a breach of the Club Codes of Conduct and therefore all members know what to expect. This policy complements the Club Codes of Conduct and therefore should be read in conjunction with them.

Contents

• Stage 0 – Informal verbal warning
• Stage 1 – Formal verbal warning
• Stage 2 – Written warning
• Stage 3 – Final written warning
• Stage 4 - Further action including sanctions

Throughout all stages, those involved in the disciplinary action, have a right to complain via the Club Complaints route if either party is unhappy. More information can be found here: https://www.swimming.org/members/how-to-resolve-issues-with-your-club/.

The Club can issue a sanction for any breach of the Club codes of conduct at any stage. All sanctions must be time-bound and shared with all parties. Examples of a Club sanction include but are not limited to:

• Being removed for a period of a training session
• Being removed from the remainder of the session
• Having to complete additional educational training
• Temporarily excluded from club competition selection
• Temporarily excluded from club social activity
• Temporarily excluded from all club activity
• Issuing a written apology to those that the behaviour impacts
• Being monitored at training sessions for a fixed period of time
• Being issued with a performance review

Stage 0 – Informal verbal warning

Stage 0 will be an informal verbal warning and will involve a verbal request to modify behaviour from the coach, teacher, team manager or any other Club officer and will lead to a parent/guardian (if under 18) being informed.

Stage 1 – Formal verbal warning

Stage 1 will be a formal verbal warning and will involve a meeting with the relevant Club officer, athlete and parent/guardian (if under 18). The meeting will be followed up by an email from the Head Coach, Chair or Welfare Officer confirming the agreed change in behaviour.

Stage 2 – Written warning

Stage 2 will be a written warning, issued following repeated poor behaviour and a blatant disregard to the Club Codes of Conduct. This may or may not be the same behaviour previously shown. A meeting will be called and include the relevant Club officer, athlete and parent/guardian (if under 18). The meeting will be followed up with formal correspondence from the Head Coach, Chair or Welfare Officer confirming the meeting discussion, the required change in behaviour and an outline of the consequence of any further breaches.

Stage 3 – Final written warning

Stage 3 is the final written warning, following a disregard of the agreements as outlined in stage 2. A meeting will be called and include the relevant Club officer, athlete and parent/guardian (if under 18) to discuss a behaviour contract being issued.

The meeting will be followed up with formal correspondence from the Head Coach, Chair or Welfare Officer confirming the meeting discussion, a copy of the behaviour contract agreed by all parties and an outline of the consequence of any further breaches.

Stage 4 - Further action including sanctions

As indicated by the Club Codes of Conduct and throughout this policy, continued breaches following the final written warning being issued, may result in your dismissal from the club. Any dismissal will follow the formal club complaint process (regulation 107) involving the Club, athlete and parent/guardian (if under 18).