Policies and Guidelines
NAFC Code of Conduct to Protect Children
Introduction
North Atletico Football Club has developed the following Child Protection Code of Conduct to guide our employees/ volunteers in their interactions with children. The safety, rights and well-being of children we serve are at the core of our daily programs. We nurture supportive relationships with children while balancing and encouraging appropriate boundaries.
Why a Child Protection Code of Conduct is important?
Our organization is committed to ensuring all children are protected and safe. A Code of Conduct is an important part of creating safe environments for children. The safety, rights and well-being of children participating in our programs is a priority in our daily operations.
The intent of the Code of Conduct is to guide our staff/volunteers in developing healthy relationships with the children involved in sport programs delivered by our organization and to model appropriate boundaries for children.
Treating Children With Dignity and Maintaining Boundaries
All staff/volunteers must:
● Treat all children with respect and dignity
● Establish, respect, and maintain appropriate boundaries with all children and families involved in
activities or programs delivered by the organization
It is important to monitor your own behavior towards children, and pay close attention to the behavior of your peers to ensure that behavior is appropriate and respectful, and will be perceived as such by others.
All of your interactions and activities with children:
● should be known to, and approved by the board, where applicable, and the parents of the child
● tied to your duties , and
● designed to develop the child’s skills in the sport program
Always consider the child’s reaction to any activities, conversations, behavior or other interactions. If at any time you are in doubt about the appropriateness of your own behavior or the behavior of others, you should discuss it with the designated person within your organization.
Examples of unacceptable behavior toward a child:
● Embarrassing
● Shaming
● Blaming
● Humiliating
● Putting them down
General Rules of Behaviour
Staff/volunteers of the organization must not:
● Engage in any sort of physical contact with a child that may make the child or a reasonable observer
feel uncomfortable, or that may be seen by a reasonable observer to be violating reasonable
boundaries.
● Engage in any communication with a child within or outside of duties with the child, that may make the
child uncomfortable or that may be seen by a reasonable observer to be violating reasonable
boundaries.
● Engage in any behavior that goes against (or appears to go against) the organization’s mandate,
policies, or Code of Conduct to Protect Children, regardless of whether or not they are serving the
organization at that moment
● Conduct their own investigation into allegations or suspicions of potentially illegal or inappropriate
behavior – it is astaff/ volunteer’s duty to report the matter to the designated person, Child Welfare Agency, or law enforcement, not to investigate.
What Constitutes Inappropriate Behavior
Inappropriate behavior includes:
1. Inappropriate Communication. Communication with a child or his/her family outside of the context of
duties for the organization, regardless of who initiated the exchange. For example:
● Personal phone calls not tied to duties with the child
● Electronic communications (email, text message, instant message, online chats, social
networking including “friending”, etc.) not tied to duties with the child
● Personal letters not tied to duties with the child
● Excessive communications (online or offline)
2. Inappropriate Contact. Spending unauthorized time with a child outside of designated duties with the organization.
3. Favoritism. Singling out a child or certain children and providing special privileges and attention. (for example, paying a lot of attention to, giving or sending personalized gifts, or allowing privileges that are excessive, unwarranted or inappropriate.)
4. Taking Personal Photos/Videos. Using a personal cell phone, camera or video to take pictures of a child, or allowing any other person to do so, as well as uploading or copying any pictures you may have taken of a child to the Internet or any personal storage device. Pictures taken as part of your job duties are acceptable, however, the pictures are to remain with the organization and not be used by you in a personal capacity.
Inappropriate behavior also includes:
5. Telling sexual jokes to a child, or making comments to a child that are or is in any way suggestive,
explicit or personal.
6. Showing a child material that is sexual in nature, including, signs, cartoons, graphic novels, calendars,
literature, photographs, screen savers, or displaying such material in plain view of a child, or making
such material available to a child
7. Intimidating or threatening a child
8. Making fun of a child
Inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated, especially as it relates to the well-being of the children involved in activities or programs delivered by the sport organization.
Whether or not a particular behavior or action constitutes inappropriate behavior will be a matter determined by the organization having regard to all of the circumstances, including past behavior, and allegations or suspicions related to such behavior.
Reporting Requirements
All staff and volunteers must report suspected child sexual abuse, inappropriate behaviour or incidents that they become aware of, whether the behaviour or incidents were personally witnessed or not.
Where to report:
1. All allegations or suspicions of potentially illegal behaviour (for example, child sexual abuse) that a
staff/volunteer witnesses first-hand, must be promptly reported to police and/or child welfare.
2. To ensure the protection of all children in our care, all allegations or suspicions of potentially illegal
behavior that a staff/volunteer learns of must also be promptly reported to police and/or child welfare. Police and/or child welfare will make the determination as to whether the allegation or suspicion requires further investigation.
3. All allegations or suspicions of inappropriate behavior (see above examples), that a staff/volunteer learns of or witnesses first-hand, must be reported to the designate for the sport organization.
Keep in mind that you may learn of potentially illegal or inappropriate behavior through the child or some other third party, or you may witness it first-hand. Examples of the type behavior you may learn of or witness and that you must report as set out above includes:
a. Potentially Illegal behavior by a Staff/Volunteer of the organization
b. Potential Illegal behavior by a third party, such as a Parent, Teacher, Babysitter, Coach
If you are not sure whether the issue you have witnessed or heard about involves potentially illegal behavior or inappropriate behavior, discuss the issue with the designated person within your organization who will support you through the process. Remember: You have an independent duty to report all suspicions of potentially illegal behavior directly to police and/or child welfare.
Follow up on Reporting
When an allegation or suspicion of potentially illegal behavior is reported, police and/or a child welfare agency will be notified. The sport organization will follow up internally as appropriate.
When an allegation or suspicion of inappropriate behavior is made, the sport organization will follow up on the matter to gather information about what happened and determine what, if any, formal or other disciplinary action is required.
In the case of inappropriate behavior, if:
● multiple behaviors were reported
● inappropriate behavior is recurring, or
● the reported behavior is of serious concern
the organization may refer the matter to a child welfare agency or police.
Pledge to Coaching Movement
NAFC is committed to providing coaching incentives for all its members to attend all possible coaching courses and participate in any coaching experience that will further its practical and theoretical knowledge of the game. From Soccer For Life all the way thru to ASA, CSA, and UEFA Licenses.
Our Staff Consists of our Head Technical Director Filipe Fidalgo who is currently studying to achieve his UEFA C License from the Portuguese Football Federation and coaching within the District of Viana Do Castelo in the current season of 23/24. Fidalgo also holds a current CSA Provincial B license. Along from being the clubs director he is also a mentor to our young and growing coaching staff at NAFC.
Our Staff also consists of Tony Costa who is our Goalie Coach and currently holds
NAFC provides financial assistance for all our Coaches to reach their potential within the sport. Not only do we look to push our athletes to their highest potential we also look to push our coaches to reach greater heights in the sport.
NORTH ATLETICO FC RULE OF TWO
Purpose
The Coaching Association of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport support the Canadian sporting community in improving practices that ensure the health, safety and well-being of all participants.
The Responsible Coaching Movement (RCM) is a call to action for sport organizations, parents/guardians, and coaches to enact responsible coaching across Canada – on and off the field.
The three pillars of the RCM are: Background Screening, Ethics Training and Rule of Two. The Rule of Two helps to ensure participants and coaches benefit fully from sport participation.
The goal of the Rule of Two is to ensure all interactions and communications are open, observable, and justifiable. Its purpose is to protect participants (especially minors) and coaches in potentially vulnerable situations by ensuring that a coach is never alone with an athlete. There may be exceptions for emergency situations. The Rule of Two states that there will always be two screened and NCCP-trained or certified coaches with an athlete in situations where the athlete is potentially vulnerable. One–on–one interactions between a coach and an athlete, without another individual present, must be avoided in all circumstances except medical emergencies.
Standards
The following standards have been developed for the Rule of Two. Canada Soccer expects that all organizations will work toward the safest possible environment by having two screened and NCCP-trained or certified coaches always present with an athlete. If NCCP-trained or certified coaches are not available, a screened “Person in Authority” (such as managers, support personnel, chaperones, or director of the club or organization) should be present instead. If a screened Person in Authority or other volunteer is not available, another adult (such as a parent/guardian of another athlete in a youth environment or another athlete in a senior environment), should be asked to temporarily substitute. If another adult is not available, there should always be more than one athlete with the coach (this is the lowest standard and is not recommended).
Parent/Player Inclusivity Policy
Pledge to ALL PLAYERS/PARENTS/STAFF/VOLUNTEERS
At North Atletico Football Club, we are committed to providing an
accessible, and welcoming soccer environment for all participants.
We are dedicated to removing barriers that may limit participation at every
level whether on the field, or within our staff…
We celebrate and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our programs..
We are focused on creating an environment where everyone feels safe and supported.
By recognizing that inclusivity goes beyond just physical accessibility and are always open to
providing adapted sports programs for those who would love to participate in our amazing sport.
We are committed to providing accommodations and support for all
Individual on and off the field.
Physical and Emotional as well as Financial support is provide thru various avenues.
Our Board and Staff are continually striving to educate ourselves and our
community on ways to become more inclusive to all in all matters, by actively seeking opportunities to
learn, grow, and challenge any biases or prejudices.
We welcome communication, and suggestions from all participants to
help us create an open environment. All backgrounds, abilities,
genders, orientations, and identities to collaborate for a better club.
It is our goal to allow all those who love participating in the beautiful game to be able to do so in any capacity, whether it be coaching or playing!
North Atletico FC Bullying Policy
At NAFC, we take bullying and harassment of any kind very seriously. Our mandate is to provide the best soccer experience possible for every child and member in our program and we strive to create a caring, friendly, safe, and harassment-free sports environment.
If any type of bullying or harassment is reported, the Club will investigate in a prompt, objective, and sensitive manner, take necessary corrective action, and provide appropriate support for victims. We want to ensure that no individual is penalized for making a complaint or giving evidence in a bullying or harassment investigation. All complaints will be kept private unless necessary.
