Code of Conduct | Empower North County

Soccer CODE OF CONDUCT

All parents, guardians, friends, or family members associated with Empower Soccer are invited to share in the pleasure of watching their children participate. For the safety and wellbeing of our players and families, we have clear behavioral expectations that we refer to as Code of Conduct. See also Cheering v Coaching.

PLEASE REVIEW THESE BEFORE YOU REGISTER WITH EMPOWER SOCCER

CODE OF CONDUCT EXPECTED EVERYONE AT ALL EMPOWER SOCCER FACILITIES

Conduct should be in the spirit of good sportsmanship
Rude, inappropriate, and disrespectful language is not tolerated
Children must be supervised at all times
We do not assume responsibility for any items lost or stolen
No alcoholic beverages are allowed on the fields
Facilities are absolutely NO SMOKING of any substance
No chewing tobacco, sunflower seeds are permitted on the fields
No glass containers are allowed on the field or in the facility
No pets inside the facility
No firearms or items perceived as weapons are permitted on or near the fields
We reserve the right to refuse play and or service to anyone
If we decide to close or cancel due to the weather we will post the cancellations on our social media platforms
If we remain open for league games and you feel that it is unsafe to come, please stay at home.

CODE OF CONDUCT EXPECTED OF PLAYER PARENTS & FAMILY

Empower Soccer places significant value on having respectful and engaged families, and we ask that parent, guardian, friend, or family members continue to adhere to these guidelines.

A parent, guardian, friend, or family member should:

Foster an environment of respect for referees, players, coaches, and spectators of the opposing team through words of encouragement and support.
Cheer on players from the sidelines – do not coach. SEE SECTION BELOW ON 'Cheering v Coaching'.
Applaud superior play, effort, and sportsmanship by players on both teams.
Support your coaches and managers consistently regardless of the results on the field. Coaches contribute many hours of their time to your children. They deserve your congratulations when the team wins and your encouragement when the team doesn’t.
Communicate any concerns to the coach at the appropriate time away from the playing location and players (we recommended 24hr cool off time).
Always remain at least two yards from the playing field so our young players have room to play and enjoy the game.
NEVER coach or correct a player that isn’t your child.
Your cooperation with these standards before, during, and after each game or practice will make Empower Soccer more enjoyable for everyone.

A parent, guardian, friend, or family member should:

NEVER use foul language or obscene gestures at a game or practice site.
Avoid comments and gestures that express disagreement with referee decisions.
Cooperate with any request by the game officials.
NEVER consume alcoholic beverages on the field location at practices or games.
NEVER smoke or vape (tobacco or marijuana or whatever else) at the field location of practices and/or games.

A parent, guardian, friend, or family member should understand that:

Any parent or spectator who fails to adhere to these standards will be required to leave the playing area, and play will be suspended until he or she does so.
Empower Soccer reserves the right to suspend or terminate a player’s enrollment for his or her parent’s persistent or extreme sideline misbehavior, and there will be no refunds of player fees in such cases.
Parents or guardians are responsible for their guests’ behavior and must inform their guests of the applicable rules of conduct.

Any breaches of this Code of Conduct can result in your child’s suspension and a member’s removal from Empower Soccer Club. Comments and behavior of any member which contradict the mission statement or disrupt the functioning of a team can result in the suspension and/or removal from Empower Soccer Club.

CHEERING v COACHING (as a parent)

When you register a player with Empower Soccer, you agree to a ‘code of conduct’ on the registration form that we ask you, and your family members, to adhere to. One of those is to cheer players from the sidelines of a game versus coaching them. Soccer is different to other sports in that is a continuous, free flowing game where players must make quick decisions when they are on the ball. The better they get at making those quick decisions and executing them, the better they become as soccer players. For that reason, we want to ensure they are not hearing multiple voices and multiple directions that result in them being indecisive and not making the plays they have practiced or been instructed to make by their coach.

It is also important to note that we are discussing ‘recreational’ level soccer (though these concepts apply at all levels). In recreational soccer, there are players of all different skill levels. The goal of 'recreational' leagues is to introduce players to soccer and develop their skills. In recreational soccer, winning is not the primary objective. We want players to be competitive about improving their level of play that contributes to a winning team. We wholeheartedly celebrate winning but we also wholeheartedly celebrate when teams have improved their individual skills and team performances, even though they lost a game. If players have the ability and skill to move on to ‘select level’ teams, the objective will shift.

What is the difference between cheering and coaching as a parent?

Cheering - this may celebrating a particularly nice pass, a great save by the goalkeeper, a cool dribble, etc., but it does not always have to be outcome oriented. For example, the player that got beat by the dribble move may have immediately turned back around and hustled to try and recover the ball. The fact that he got beat is irrelevant; the fact that he responded positively (instead of just standing still, throwing arms up in the air, etc.) is worth cheering. It’s OK to energetically cheer and encourage. We are not trying to create a tepid environment, just a positive one.

Coaching – soccer is a team sport and positioning is a very important part of tactics. If you tell your child to ‘move up the field’ it may be in opposition to what the coach has instructed. YOUR CHILD WILL LISTEN TO YOU OVER THEIR COACH, so you are hurting the team if you provide instructions that are different. Coaches may be emphasizing passing rather than hoofing the ball up the field, so ‘kick it’ may not be the best thing to shout.

Grey Area – as always, there are some grey areas. Is telling a player to ‘hustle’ coaching? Probably not if they are kicking dirt and picking grass, UNLESS they are in a position that the coach has told them to stay in. Is telling a player something obvious like ‘dribble towards the goal’ coaching? Maybe – I tell my players to go down the sides of the field instead of down the middle because at rec level the middle of the field tends to be blocked by bunched up players. They may be dribbling backward to get out of a congested part of the field. So, while you maybe vocalizing an ‘encouraging’ instruction, it may still be coaching.

Let us be clear - NEVER COACH another child on your team. It’s not your role and it WILL cause conflict.

Finally, HERE'S A TOP FIVE of reasons why parents shouldn’t try and coach from the sideline that I have borrowed from another coach:

It’s off-putting to the player. By the time they have heard you, processed the information, and then tried to implement it (or not), the situation has likely changed.
It is probably wrong information. I say this because you may or may not have soccer playing experience. You may or may not have soccer coaching experience. But it is highly doubtful that you have been at every practice, heard every talk the coach has given to his/her team, and know the coach’s strategy (collectively and individually) for that particular game. Therefore, even if you can argue that the information is “correct,” it is probably “wrong” or incorrect in this context.
It puts the player in a difficult situation. During the game, are they supposed to listen to you or their coach? It should be the coach! If you disagree, please feel free to submit a coaching application, as we are always on the look out for more coaches. In the meantime, make the game easier for your child by simply being their greatest cheerleader.
It creates a negative environment on the sidelines and causes the players to be more worried about what is going on off the field rather than on the field! Don’t be that parent who “gets into it” with another parent, the ref, or worse, the other team.
It undermines the coach. It is the coach who is volunteering his/her time so this group of kids can have a team. They are there before the beginning and stay after the end of each practice. They are going above and beyond. Allow them to do what they signed up for and don’t confuse your son/daughter at the same time! You may disagree with the coach’s lineups, their playing philosophy, you may know more than the coach, but if you undermine him/her, then maybe they won’t coach again next season. Will your child have a team to play on? Maybe someone else’s son/daughter now can’t play because there aren’t enough coaches. In short, support the coach and let the kids play!

PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO ON SOME DOS AND DON'TS OF SOCCER PARENTING - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLRkOW-v-ck.

I hope this helps clarify 'cheering' versus 'coaching' as a parent on the sideline for you.

Andrew Fitzgerald

Empower Soccer

Cheering v Coaching