Invicta East Kent Athletic Club

Invicta East Kent Athletic Club

Code of Conduct and Guidelines for Coaches Final Jan 20 2015

The objective of Invicta East Kent AC is to promote community participation in healthy recreation by encouraging and improving performance in and development of athletics in the East Kent area. Coaches are appointed by the Management Committee and ratified by election at the AGM. Coaches are expected to assist the Club in its objectives by agreeing to follow our Code of Conduct and Guidelines as set out below.

As an Invicta coach you will:-

Comply with the Club constitution
Comply with the UK Athletics Code of Ethics and the terms and conditions of the UKA Coach Licence
Keep a register of athletes attending each of your training sessions to be reconciled with the membership list and subscriptions
Comply with the training times and use of facilities as drawn up by the Management Committee
Liaise with parents/guardians/friends to ensure that children aged 11 and under are accompanied at all times particularly before and after training sessions
Promote and encourage participation of athletes in your training group into nominated Club events
Be appropriately qualified including obtaining CRB clearance, updating your licence and education as and when required by the UKA
Respect the rights, dignity and worth of every athlete and treat everyone equally
Place the welfare and safety of the athlete above the development of performance
Ensure that activities you direct or guide are appropriate for the age, maturity, experience and ability of the individual athlete
At the outset clarify with athletes (and where appropriate, with parents or carers) exactly what it is that is expected of them and what athletes are entitled to expect from you
Encourage the free movement of athletes between coaching groups with the approval of the coaching co-ordinator but never try to actively recruit, either covertly or overtly, athletes who are already receiving coaching in another group. If approached by an athlete in another group (or parent of an athlete in another group) you will contact, as soon as practicable, the other Coach and also inform the nominated non-coach member of the Management Committee of the situation, in order for the nominated Committee member to mediate in the event of disagreement.In all cases the nominated Committee member will inform the Management Committee at the next Committee meeting of the whole situation
Try to observe a recommended maximum ratio of 1 coach to 12 young athletes at a training session or work in partnership with another coach/coaching assistant
Cooperate fully with others involved in the sport such as technical officials, team managers, other coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, sport scientists and representatives of the governing body in the best interests of the athlete
Consistently promote positive aspects of the sport such as fair play and never condone rule violations or the use of prohibited or age-inappropriate substances
Encourage and guide athletes to accept responsibility for their own performance and behaviour
Develop appropriate working relationships with athletes based on mutual trust and respect, especially with those athletes under 18 years or vulnerable adults
Avoid actions or critical language (e.g. sarcasm) which may undermine an athlete's selfesteem
Not exert undue influence to obtain personal benefit or reward
Strictly maintain a clear boundary between friendship and intimacy with athletes and will not conduct inappropriate relationships with athletes. Relationship with athletes can cause significant problems for other team members, raising concerns of favouritism and/or victimisation should the relationship later end

Not allow an intimate personal relationship to develop between yourself and any athlete aged under 18 years. Any violation of this could result in your coach licence being withdrawn. It may also be a criminal offence to conduct an inappropriate relationship with an athlete aged under 16 years. It is recommended that you do not keep the email addresses and phone numbers of athletes aged under 16 years. Be aware that it couldbe a violation of your coach licence to form an intimate personal relationship with a vulnerable adult coached by you
Avoid allowing intimate relationships to develop between yourself and athletes coached by you aged over 18 years

When participating in or attending any athletics activities, including training/coaching sessions and competition events you will:-

Act with dignity and display courtesy and good manners towards others
Avoid swearing, abusive language and irresponsible behaviour including behaviour dangerous to yourself or others, acts of violence, bullying, harassment and physical and sexual abuse
Challenge inappropriate behaviour and language by others
Be aware that your attitude and behaviour directly affects the behaviour of athletes under your supervision
Never engage in any inappropriate or illegal behaviour
Avoid destructive behaviour and leave athletics venues as you find them
Not carry or consume alcohol to excess and/or illegal substances
Avoid carrying any items that could be dangerous to yourself or others excluding athletics equipment used in the course of your athletics activity

The guidelines below on best coaching practice are particularly applicable to young athletes or vulnerable adults and you will:-

Comply with any Duty of Care and/or Child Protection policies and procedures in place such as Local Authority or school procedures that cover particular venues or athlete groups
Avoid spending time alone with young athletes unless clearly in the view of others to protect both yourself and the young athlete. In special circumstances, for example when coaching elite young athletes, one to one coaching sessions may form part of the required training schedule. In this circumstance, parental/guardian consent must be sought and obtained prior to sessions taking place. You must inform the parent/guardian of the venue for training and an emergency contact number should by provided by both yourself and the parent/guardian
Avoid taking young athletes alone in your car
Never invite a young athlete alone into your home
Never share a bedroom with a child not directly related to you
Any physical contact between you and an athlete should be appropriate to the athletic discipline
Ensure that parents/carers know and have given consent before taking a young athlete away from the usual training venue
Work in same-sex pairs if supervising changing areas
Respect the right of young athletes to an independent life outside of athletics
Report any accidental injury, distress, misunderstanding or misinterpretation to the parents/carers and Club Welfare Officer as soon as possible
Report any suspected misconduct by other coaches or other people involved in athletics to the Club, Regional, National or UKA welfare officer as soon as possible

I have read and understand the above and agree that I will abide by it at all times

Name

Signed Date

As an Invicta Coach what can I expect from the Club?

To enable coaches help fulfil the objectives of the Club and enable them to coach as effectively as possible the Club recognises that it has reciprocal responsibilities towards our coaches.

1.Coacheshave the right to be involved in the decision as to who is in their coaching group and anabsolute right of refusal

2. Coaches should expect to be involved in discussions about which competitions members of their coaching group should compete in

3. Coachesdecisions as to what competitions best suit members of their coaching groupwill berespected

4. Coaches should expect that the facilities and equipment provided by the Club are at standards that enable them to coachproperly.

5 Coaches should expect that the membership of their traininggroup is kept within reasonable maximum numbers.

6 Coaches should expect that training times and use of the facilities will be done in a way that ensuresa fair and evenapportionmentof both time andfacilities.

Name

Signed Date

On behalf of Invicta East Kent AC