Codes of Conduct

 

All members of staff and volunteers agree to:

 

• Prioritise the well-being of all children and adults at risk at all times

 

• Treat all children and adults at risk fairly and with respect

 

• Be a positive role model. Act with integrity, even when no one is looking

 

• Help to create a safe and inclusive environment both on and off court

 

• Not allow any rough or dangerous behaviour, bullying or the use of bad or inappropriate language

 

• Report all allegations of abuse or poor practice to the club Welfare Officer

 

• Not use any sanctions that humiliate or harm a child or adult at risk

 

• Value and celebrate diversity and make all reasonable efforts to meet individual needs

 

• Keep clear boundaries between professional and personal life, including on social media

 

• Have the relevant consent from parents/carers, children and adults before taking or using photos and videos

 

• Refrain from making physical contact with children or adults unless it is necessary as part of an emergency or congratulatory (e.g. handshake / high five)

 

• Refrain from smoking and consuming alcohol during club activities or coaching sessions

 

• Ensure roles and responsibilities are clearly outlined and everyone has the required information and training

 

• Avoid being alone with a child or adult at risk unless there are exceptional circumstances

 

• Refrain from transporting children or adults at risk, unless this is required as part of a club activity (e.g. away match) and there is another adult in the vehicle

 

• Not abuse, neglect, harm or discriminate against anyone; or act in a way that may be interpreted as such

 

• Not have a relationship with anyone under 18 for whom they are coaching or responsible for

 

• Not to have a relationship with anyone over 18 whilst continuing to coach or be responsible for them

 

All children agree to:

 

• Be friendly, supportive and welcoming to other children and adults

 

• Play fairly and honestly

 

• Respect club staff, volunteers and Officials and accept their decisions

 

• Behave, respect and listen to your coach

 

• Take care of your equipment and club property

 

• Respect the rights, dignity and worth of all participants regardless of age, gender, ability, race, culture, religion or sexual identity

 

• Not use bad, inappropriate or racist language, including on social media

 

• Not bully, intimidate or harass anyone, including on social media

 

• Not smoke, drink alcohol or drugs of any kind on club premises or whilst representing the club at competitions or events

 

• Talk to the club Welfare Officer about any concerns or worries they have about themselves or others

 

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All adults agree to:

 

• Positively reinforce your child and show an interest in their tennis

 

• Use appropriate language at all times

 

• Be realistic and supportive

 

• Never ridicule or admonish a child for making a mistake or losing a match

 

• Treat all children, adults, volunteers, coaches, officials and members of staff with respect

 

• Behave responsibly at the venue; do not embarrass your child

 

• Accept the official’s decisions and do not go on court or interfere with matches

 

• Encourage your child to play by the rules, and teach them that they can only do their best

 

• Deliver and collect your child punctually from the venue

 

• Ensure your child has appropriate clothing for the weather conditions

 

• Ensure that your child understands their code of conduct

 

• Adhere to your venue’s safeguarding policy, diversity and inclusion policy, rules and regulations

 

• Provide emergency contact details and any relevant information about your child including medical history

 

 

 

Appendix A:

 

Glossary of terms

 

Age: This refers to a person belonging to a particular age group, which can mean people of the same age (e.g. 32-year old’s) or range of ages (e.g. 18 - 30-year old’s, or people over 50).

 

Bisexual or Bi: – refers to a person who has an emotional and/or sexual orientation towards more than one gender.

 

Bullying: can involve any form of physical, emotional, sexual or discriminatory abuse. It can also include cyber-bullying – using social media or mobile phones to perpetrate bullying.

 

Direct discrimination: treating someone less favourably than another person because of a protected characteristic.

 

Disability: A person having a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

 

Discrimination: treating someone in a less favourable way and causing them harm, because of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

 

Discrimination by association: discrimination against someone because they are associated with another person who possesses a protected characteristic.

 

Discrimination by perception: discrimination against someone because of the belief that someone possesses a protected characteristic.

 

Diversity: acknowledging and celebrating the differences between groups of people and  between individuals.

 

Equality: treating everyone with fairness and respect and recognising and responding to the needs of individuals. Taking positive actions to address existing disadvantages and barriers affecting how people engage with and participate in tennis. Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents, and believing that no one should have poorer life chances because of where, what or whom they were born, what they believe, or whether they have a disability. Equality recognises that historically, certain groups of people with particular characteristics e.g. race, disability, sex and sexuality, have experienced discrimination. 

 

Ethnicity: the social group a person belongs to, and either identifies with or is identified with by others, as a result of a mix of cultural and other factors including language, diet, religion, ancestry and physical features traditionally associated with race. Ethnicity is essentially self-defined and may change over time.

 

Gay: refers to a man who has an emotional, romantic and/or sexual orientation towards men. Also, a generic term for lesbian and gay sexuality - some women define themselves as gay rather than lesbian.

 

Gender identity: this is an individual’s internal self-perception of their own gender. A person may identify as a man, as a woman, as neither man or woman (non-binary) or as androgyne/polygender.

 

Gender reassignment: The process of changing or transitioning from one gender to another.

 

Harassment: unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating and intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. The focus is on the perception of the complainant not the intent of the perpetrator. Employees can complain of behaviour they find offensive even if it is not directed at them.

 

Hate crime: crime that is targeted at a person because of hostility or prejudice towards that person’s disability, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender identity. This can be committed against a person or property.

 

Homophobia: the fear, unreasonable anger, intolerance or/and hatred toward homosexuality, lesbian gay and bisexual people whether that person is homosexual or not.

 

Inclusive leadership – leaders who are aware of their own biases and preferences, actively seek out and consider different views and perspectives to inform better decision-making. They see diverse talent as a source of competitive advantage and inspire diverse people to drive organisational and individual performance towards a shared vision.

 

An Inclusive Leader – is a role model exemplar of inclusive behaviour; listens to and seeks out the views of diverse people and takes account of these views, without bias, in the decisions they make; appreciates that a diverse group of people will generate more creative solutions to problems and encourages this; inspires people through a shared vision of future success and motivates them to deliver it; leverages difference for high performance and provides responsive excellence to customers’, clients’ and service users’ needs; provides positive feedback to boost people’s self-efficacy; puts effort into helping diverse people identify their talents and develop them for performance now and future advancement; communicates authentically and honestly in a way that inspires trust, loyalty and well-being.

 

Inclusion: recognising that people from different backgrounds may have difference needs and expectations and may experience barriers in trying to access tennis. An inclusive venue is one that takes steps to attract and engage with people from many different backgrounds and meet  their needs so that everyone has a positive experience and has the opportunity to achieve  their potential.

 

Indirect discrimination: a practice, policy or rule which applies to everyone in the same way, but that has a worse effect on some people than others.

 

LGBTQ: an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Questioning.

 

Lesbian: a woman who has an emotional romantic and /or sexual orientation towards women.

 

Monitoring equality: refers to data collection and analysis to check if people with protected characteristics are participating and being treated equally. For example: monitoring of the number of people with a disability who play tennis at our venue.

 

Non-binary – an umbrella term for a person who does not identify as only male or only female, or who may identify as both.

 

Positive action: a range of lawful actions that seek to overcome or minimise disadvantages (for example in employment opportunities) that people who share a protected characteristic have experienced, or to meet their different needs.

 

Pregnancy and maternity: pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to maternity leave in the employment context. In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding.

 

Questioning: it refers to the process of exploring your own sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

 

Race: refers to the protected characteristic of race. It refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, and nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins.

 

Radicalisation, extremism and terrorist behavior: Radicalisation is the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and/or forms of extremism. Extremism is vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. There is no single way to identify an individual who is likely to be susceptible to extremist ideology. The internet and the use of social media can be a major factor in the radicalisation of people.

 

Reasonable adjustment: What is considered reasonable will depend on all the circumstances of the case including the size of an organisation and its resources, what is practicable, the effectiveness of what is being proposed and the likely disruption that would be caused by taking the measure in question as well as the availability of financial assistance

 

Religion or belief: religion has the meaning usually given to it but belief includes religious and philosophical beliefs including lack of belief (e.g. atheism). Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live for it to be included in the definition.

 

Sex: refers to the biological makeup such as primary and secondary sexual characteristics, genes, and hormones. The legal sex is usually assigned at birth and has traditionally been understood as consisting of two mutually exclusive groups, namely men and women.

 

Sexual orientation:  a person’s emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction to another person.

 

Trans: an umbrella term to describe people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth. Trans people may describe themselves using one or more of a wide variety of terms, including (but not limited to) transgender, cross dresser, non-binary, genderqueer (GQ).

 

Transphobia: the fear, unreasonable anger, dislike, intolerance or/and hatred toward trans people, whether that person has undergone gender reassignment or is perceived to have done that.

 

Transsexual Person: someone who has started the process of changing their gender identity is undergoing or has undergone gender reassignment.

 

Unconscious bias or implicit bias: this refers to a bias that we are unaware of, and which happens outside of our control. It is a bias that happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick judgments and assessments of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences.

 

Victimisation: when someone is treated badly because they have made or supported a complaint or grievance.

 

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