NSCA Policies: Code of Conduct
It is the policy of the NSCA to expect that every competitor and coach shall conduct themselves in a manner that respects the NSCA, other competitors and the competition sponsors.
1. DEFINITIONS
- NSCA - Nova Scotia Curling Association including its Board of Directors, Championship Liaison Representatives, Head Officials, and any appointed representatives.
- Competitor - Any person (athlete or coach) who is participating in, or who has participated as a member of any team in any competition or event sponsored, promoted, endorsed or supported by the NSCA.
- Decision - Any decision or rule interpretation made, or disciplinary measure taken, by the NSCA.
2. OBLIGATIONS OF COMPETITORS AND COACHES
Each Competitor shall comply with all reasonable directions and instructions given to them by the NSCA, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each Competitor is obligated to:
- avoid any action or conduct that would reasonably be expected to reflect adversely upon the NSCA and its athletes, teams, coaches, employees, officers, directors, members or sponsors and to conduct themselves in a manner which will bring credit to the NSCA;
- rely upon and utilize the Appeal procedure established hereunder to resolve any issues, rulings, complaints or conflicts that may arise during any competition and to exhaust all such Appeal procedures before making any disputed issues, ruling, complaints or conflicts public;
- avoid any action or conduct that would reasonably be expected to significantly disrupt or interfere with a competition or the preparation of any Competitor for a competition;
- avoid alcoholic consumption to a level which would cause a Competitor to behave in a disruptive manner during any competition; (Note: Consumption of alcoholic beverages during a Junior event sanctioned by the NSCA, from the time of arrival at the competition until the time of final departure from the competition, is prohibited);
- avoid the use of drugs, other than those prescribed by a Medical Doctor;
- avoid the use of Video Lottery Terminals (VLT's) or any other means of gambling at any time during a Junior event sanctioned by the NSCA;
- during stays in hotels/motels, be subject to all provisions of this policy. If any damage is occurred to the hotel/motel by members of the team, the player(s) involved shall be solely responsible for restitution to the hotel/motel. The NSCA may also administer disciplinary action in accordance with section 4 of this policy;
- abide by the rules of the competition;
- attend the designated competition team meeting and any banquet held in conjunction with the competition. If a competitor must be absent from the team meeting or banquet because of illness, accident or other extenuating circumstances, prior permission must be granted by the Championship Liaison Representative. Failure to do so may result in the competitor being dealt with in accordance with section 4 of this policy.
3. APPEAL PROCEDURE
- A Head Official may be appointed by, and serve at the direction of, the NSCA.
- Where a Head Official has not been appointed by the NSCA the Championship Appeals Committee has the general supervision of and shall govern the competition. Issues the competitors cannot settle themselves shall be referred to the Championship Appeals Committee. All decisions by the Championship Appeals Committee on the rules of curling shall be final. All decisions not covered by the rules of curling may be appealed to the NSCA Board of Directors as outlined in section 3(j) below.
- The Head Official has the general supervision of and shall govern any competition to which he/she is assigned and shall rule on all infractions of the rules of curling arising on-ice at the Competition. His/her decision on the rules of curling shall be final and cannot be appealed beyond the Head Official.
- The Head Official is authorized to make decisions on matters not covered by the rules of curling and may directly intervene at any time in any game and give such directions concerning conduct of the game as he/she considers proper. The Head Official may expel a competitor from the game or competition area for what he/she considers to be abusive or unacceptable behavior.
- A Competitor may appeal a decision of a Head Official under 3(d) above to the Championship Appeals Committee. The Competitor must notify the Head Official before the game is completed that an appeal is being taken and that the game is being played under protest.
- A Notice of Appeal shall concisely state the reasons and grounds for the appeal and shall be delivered to the Championship Liaison Representative within one-half (1/2) hour after the conclusion of the game.
- The Championship Appeals Committee shall consist of persons who are not competing in the championship and shall include the Championship Liaison Representative of the NSCA, the Chairperson or Co-Chairperson of the Host Committee, a member of the NSCA Competitions Committee, and a second NSCA Board member. Any three of these shall constitute a quorum and shall rule on any matter properly brought to their attention.
- The Championship Appeals Committee shall meet, make a decision and notify the grieved within 24 hours of receipt of the appeal.
- All interested parties shall have a right to attend at the Appeal and be entitled to be represented at the Appeal by an agent or by legal counsel and shall have the right to present evidence and arguments thereat, provided however, that the Championship Liaison Representative shall be entitled to refuse adjournments including adjournments that are being requested to enable an agent or legal counsel to attend.
- In the event the party with a grievance which was properly taken before the Championship Appeals Committee finds the decision of the appeal not satisfactory, a written appeal may be made within thirty (30) days of the decision by the Championship Appeals Committee to the NSCA Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will review the grievance within fourteen (14) days of receipt and shall notify the grieved within five (5) days of their decision to support or reject the decision of the Championship Appeals Committee. The decision of the NSCA Board of Directors shall be final.
4. DISCIPLINARY MEASURES
- The NSCA shall investigate at its discretion any infractions to the Code of Conduct Policy by a Competitor(s). The procedure shall be as follows:
- The President shall appoint an Investigator(s) to review the incident and the Investigator(s) shall be empowered to reach a settlement. The appointed Investigator(s) will normally be a Director of the NSCA;
- Should the Investigator(s) not reach a settlement the President will appoint a Discipline Committee to hear the report of the Investigator(s) in the presence of the Competitor(s). The Discipline Committee shall consist of three persons from the current Board of Directors of the NSCA of which only one shall be a member of the Executive Committee;
- The Discipline Committee will rule on the contravention as per the discipline measures listed in 4(b) below;
- The Competitor(s) may appeal the decision of the Discipline Committee to the NSCA Board of Directors Executive Committee by Notice of Appeal within 7 days. The Notice of Appeal shall concisely state the reasons and grounds for the appeal and shall be delivered in writing to the NSCA Secretary. The decision of the Executive Committee shall be final and binding on both the NSCA and the Competitor. There shall be no further appeal from the decision of the Executive Committee.
- The NSCA shall have the right to administer disciplinary measures in the event of contravention of any of the above-specified obligations by a Competitor. Such disciplinary measures shall include but are not limited to:
- Informal reprimand (verbal);
- Formal reprimand (written);
- Temporary suspension from a competition;
- Permanent suspension from a competition;
- Disqualification from any/all competitions;
- Dismissal from any team competing in a competition.
Approved September 28, 2001