Beechgrove Lawn Tennis Club  Code of conduct for coaches

Beechgrove Lawn Tennis Club Code of Ethics and Conduct for Accredited Coaches and Assistants.

LTA accredited coaches and coaching assistants are deemed to be bound by, and to have accepted this code of ethics and conduct. This sets out responsibilities to tennis players and parents, to coaching and other colleagues, to the LTA, to their coaching employer and to society.

Coaches will

1. Always put your players best interests at the centre of everything you do.
2. Treat players with respect always. Be honest and consistent with them.
3. Treat all players fairly, regardless of (but not limited to) athletic potential, socio-economic status, age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity status, religion/belief or sexual orientation.
4. Encourage all players, fellow coaches and assistants to have respect for one another.
5. Encourage players to develop and maintain integrity.
6. Prepare players to respond to success and failure in a dignified manner.
7. Respect the confidentialities of players/parents/officials as appropriate.
8. Clarify in advance with players/parents/employers the number of sessions, fees, method of payment; explain expected outcome and progression from the coaching or sessions.
9. Be sensitive to your players’ self-esteem when providing constructive feedback to them.
10. Encourage and facilitate players’ independence and responsibility for their own behaviour, performance, decisions and actions.
11. Involve players in decisions which will affect them.
12. Recognise players’ rights to consult with other coaches and advisers. Co-operate fully with other specialists (e.g. sports scientists, doctors, physiotherapists).
13. When asked to coach a player, ensure that any previous coach/player relationship has been ended by the player/others in a professional manner.
14. Be acutely aware of the power that coaches and coaching assistants develop over players in the coaching relationship and avoid any intimacy (sexual or otherwise) with players.
15. Avoid situations with players that could be construed as compromising and actions that others could perceive inappropriate.
16. Actively discourage the use of performance enhancing drugs or any illegal substances.
17. At all times act as a role model by maintaining the highest standards of personal conduct and projecting a favourable image of tennis and of coaching at all times.
18. Accept and respect the role of officials in ensuring that competitions are conducted fairly and according to the rules.
19. Ensure that qualifications and affiliations to associations are not misrepresented.
20. Following completion of your DBS check, report any alleged criminal offence, police investigation, court case or social care investigation to the LTRA at the earliest opportunity.
21. Know and abide by tennis rules, regulations and standards and encourage players to do likewise.
22. Know and abide by the LTA Anti-Doping programmes. Any breach of this will be deemed a breach of the Code of Ethics
23. Know and abide by the terms of the Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Programmes. Any breach of this will be deemed a breach of this code of ethics.

Any breach of the provisions of this Code of Ethics and Conduct by an accredited coach or coaching assistant shall constitute a breach of the Rules of the LTA Coach Accreditation and shall be dealt with under the procedure as set out in those rules.

This code is part of the full LTA Disciplinary Code.

Reviewed: May 2024. To be reviewed May 2026