The Kincardine and District Minor Soccer Club is a strong supporter of making sport safe for our youth. Over the last couple of years, verbal abuse directed towards referees has been a particular problem. Accordingly, KDMSC has set up the following program to help ensure the safety and enjoyment of all.
Policy
Any coach, parent, grandparent or guardian determined by the KDMSC Executive Committee to be guilty of abusive conduct towards a game official during a KDMSC game will be reprimanded in writing. A second offence, during the same season will result in all playing members of the immediate family in question being de-registered from the Club. In extreme cases, as determined by the Executive Committee, the de-registration process may be evoked after the first offence. This policy applies to all non-playing attendees (i.e. spectators) at KDMSC games.
Procedures
When a game official feels that they are being abused, as per the scope of this policy, by either a coach or spectator, the official may suspend the playing of the game. The official will then verbally advise both coaches that the game has been suspended due to the abuse, and inform both coaches as to the source of the abuse. If the source is one of the coaches, the official will advise the coach that the next occurrence of a similar nature will result in the abandonment of the game and that a report to the Club Executive Committee will be sent in for review.
If the source is a spectator, the appropriate coach will provide the official with the name of the spectator and the coach must advise the spectator that the next occurrence of a similar nature will result in an abandonment of the game.
Further, a report to the Club Executive Committee will be sent in for review. If the spectator is not associated with either team, both coaches are asked to speak to the spectator and ask the individual to leave. Once the prescribed action has been completed, the game will restart with a dropped ball between the two teams at the location where the play was stopped. If the abuse continues, the official may stop any further playing of the game and advise the coaches that the game has been abandoned and that a Special Incident Report will be forwarded to the Elgin Middlesex Soccer Association and a copy to the KDMSC Executive Committee. The official must clearly indicate on the game sheet the reason the game was abandoned.
If the abuse is physical, the game official is advised to inform the coaches that the game has been abandoned and then proceed with Step 1 below.
Step 1 - The game official must contact the Club Head Referee and the District Referee Co-ordinator to verbally report the incident within 24 hours of the incident.
Step 2 - A Referee Assault Report (white form), must be forwarded to the Elgin Middlesex Soccer Association, the District Referee Co- ordinator and the Club within 48 hours of the incident.
Step 3 - The KDMSC Executive Committee will then review and deal with the report as appropriate and report the decision to the District Referee Co-ordinator.
Step 4 - If the game was abandoned due to the conduct of a spectator not associated with either team, the Club Executive will determine the status of the game.
If the game continues without any further incident, the game official is advised to inform the Club Head Referee that the game was temporarily suspended due to abuse towards a game official. Further, a note must be made on the game sheet.