1. Individuals are expected to fulfill certain responsibilities and obligations including, but not limited to, complying with the policies, Bylaws, rules and regulations of the Feildians Athletic Association (“FAA”) and governing bodies including the NLSA and CSA. Non-compliance may result in the imposition of sanctions pursuant to this Policy.
2. This Policy applies to all Individuals.
3. This Policy applies to matters that may arise during the business, activities, and events of the FAA including, but not limited to, competitions, practices and training, treatment or consultations (e.g., massage therapy), camps and clinics, travel associated with the activities of the FAA, and any meetings.
4. This Policy also applies to Individuals’ conduct outside of the business, activities, and events of the FAA when such conduct adversely affects the relationships of the FAA (and the work and sport environment) or is detrimental to the image and reputation of the FAA. Accordingly, applicability of this Policy will be determined by the FAA upon its sole discretion.
5. Applicability of this Policy will be determined by the FAA at its sole discretion and shall not be subject to appeal.
6. In the event that it is considered appropriate or necessary on the basis of the circumstances, immediate discipline or the imposition of a sanction may be applied, after which further discipline or sanctions may be applied according to this Policy. Any infractions or complaints occurring within competition will be dealt with by the procedures specific to the competition, if applicable. In such situations, disciplinary sanctions may be for the duration of the competition, training, activity, or event only.
7. In addition to being subject to disciplinary action pursuant to this Discipline and Complaints Policy, an employee of the FAA who is a Respondent to a complaint may also be subject to consequences in accordance with the employee’s Employment Agreement or policies for human resources, if applicable.
8. Complaints may be brought for or against an Individual who is a Minor. Minors must have a parent/guardian or other adult serve as their representative during this process.
9. Communication from the Club Head Coach or President must be directed to the Minor’s representative.
10. A Minor is not required to attend an oral hearing, if held.
11. Any person may report a complaint to the Club Head Coach or to the President of the FAA.
12. At the discretion of the FAA, the FAA may act as the Complainant and initiate the complaint process under the terms of this Policy. In such cases, the FAA will identify an individual to represent the FAA.
13. Complaints or incident reports should be made in writing and the person making the complaint may contact the Club Head Coach for direction. The Club Head Coach may accept any report, in writing or not, at their sole discretion.
14. Upon receipt of a complaint from an Individual (or Individuals), the Club Head Coach shall determine whether the complaint should be handled by the FAA or by the NLSA.
15. The Club Head Coach shall make this determination by taking into consideration whether the incident has occurred within the business, activities or events of the FAA or the NLSA. If the incident has occurred outside of the business, activities or events, the Club Head Coach will determine whether FAA’s relationships are adversely affected or whether FAA’s image or reputation will be detrimentally affected by the incident.
16. The Club Head may determine that the complaint is more appropriately directed to the FAA President. In this case, the Club Head Coach, in their sole discretion, refrain from dealing with the complaint.
17. If the Club Head Coach determines the complaint is frivolous or outside the jurisdiction of this Policy, the complaint will be dismissed immediately.
18. The Club Head Coach’s decision to accept or dismiss the complaint may not be appealed.
19. Thereafter, the Club Head Coach shall determine if a breach occurred, if so, if one or more of the following sanctions should be applied: a) Verbal or written reprimand b) Verbal or written apology c) Service or other contribution to the FAA or a Member d) Removal of certain privileges e) Suspension from certain teams, events, and/or activities for a designated period f) Any other sanction considered appropriate for the offense
20. The Club Head Coach may apply the following disciplinary sanctions, singularly or in combination:
a) Verbal or written reprimand
b) Verbal or written apology
c) Service or other contribution to the FAA or a Member
d) Removal of certain privileges e) Suspension from certain teams, events, and/or activities
f) Suspension from certain activities for a designated period
g) Payment of the cost of repairs for property damage
h) Suspension of funding from the FAA or from other sources
i) Expulsion from the FAA, temporary or otherwise
j) Any other sanction considered appropriate for the offense
21. Unless the FAA decides otherwise, any disciplinary sanctions will begin immediately, notwithstanding an appeal. Failure to comply with a sanction as determined by the FAA will result in an automatic suspension until such time as compliance occurs.
22. Records of all decisions will be maintained by the FAA.
23. The FAA may determine in its sole discretion that an Individual’s conviction for a Criminal Code offense will be deemed an infraction under this Policy and will result in expulsion from the FAA. Criminal Code offences may include, but are not limited to:
a) Any child pornography offences
b) Any sexual offences
c) Any offence of physical violence
d) Any offence of assault
e) Any offence involving trafficking of illegal drugs
24. The discipline and complaints process is confidential and involves only the FAA, the parties, the Club Head Coach, the President, and any independent advisors to the FAA. Once initiated and until a decision is released, none of the parties will disclose confidential information relating to the discipline or complaint to any person not involved in the proceedings.
25. Any failure to respect the aforementioned confidentiality requirement may result in further sanctions or discipline by the Club Head Coach or FAA President (as applicable).
26. If the circumstances of the complaint are such that adhering to the timelines outlined by this Policy will not allow a timely resolution to the complaint, the Club Head Coach may direct that these timelines be revised.
27. Other individuals or organizations, including, but not limited to, national sport organizations, provincial/territorial sport organizations, sport clubs, etc., may be advised of any decisions rendered in accordance with this Policy.
As a general rule, Feildians are expected to play with their birth age group and “playing up" is generally discouraged. However, we recognize that in exceptional cases, providing opportunities for a player to play in an age group one year up may be appropriate for a player’s development.
Playing up requests can be made for the advancement of “exceptional” players - i.e. a younger player who would be amongst the top 5% of players (based on technical and physical ability) in the age group above. Additional factors to be considered include the availability of space in desired age group as well as the player’s game awareness/knowledge of the game and social/emotional maturity.
Request to play up
Each year, players desiring to “play up” shall submit a request to the club. After consultation with the coaches from the age groups involved, the Technical Committee, led by the Club Head Coach, will determine if the club feels it would be best for the player’s development to play up.
Method for Onboarding Additional Players for Summer Season
Purpose: In the spring of the year, there are often additional spaces in some age groups available to bring new players on for the summer season. In the spring (typically mid-April), players who were with the Metro program throughout the winter will be given priority to sign up for the summer season before general registration. At the end of that priority period, if there are additional open spaces, they will be made available to players who did not play all winter in the method as outlined below.
U7/U8/U9
These spaces will be filled on a first come-first served basis. There are no tryouts or evaluations for these age groups. The coach will work with individual players and assign them to skill-appropriate groups for the Metro weekends.
U10/U11/U13/U15
These spaces will be filled in a “first come-first evaluated” process. This means any additional spaces will be open to a waitlist only to start. The waitlist will be evaluated in the order in which they register. Based on the evaluation, if the player fits appropriately into one of the spaces available, they will be offered the space. We will move down the list in registration order until all the available spaces are appropriately filled.
As a rule, players that play all winter will be prioritized when assigned to tiered teams. Players returning for summer only will generally be assigned to tier 2 and tier 3 teams.