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Guidelines:

1. Athletes’ Behavioural Guidelines

Definition – Anyone who participates in an athletic activity is considered an athlete. It is expected that each athlete will compete to the best of his or her abilities at all times, keeping in mind the spirit of competition and of the game.

Goal Statement – Anyone participating in the Gloucester Cumberland Basketball Association sanctioned events will be expected to adhere to the following Guidelines for Behaviour:

Actions – Always model mature behaviour consistent with that of Gloucester Cumberland Basketball Association’s Guidelines for Behaviour:

• FAIR PLAY is an athlete’s first priority.
• Participate for the love and enjoyment of the game.
• Respect the efforts and accomplishments of your teammates and your opponents.
• Respect officials, coaches, spectators and event organizers.
• Respect the facility you visit or in which you play.
• Respect the rules of the game.

2. Spectators’ Behavioural Guidelines

Definition – Anyone watching a particular athletic activity or event whether sitting or standing is considered a spectator. A spectator may be a parent, a relative, friend, teammate, opposing player, administrator or coach not directly involved in the game. Spectators are an important part of any athletic activity, however they are not essential . Spectators should never influence the outcome of an event and must never pose a distraction to players, other spectators, timers, score keepers or referees.

Goal Statement – Anyone in an audience watching a Gloucester Cumberland Basketball sanctioned event will be expected to adhere to the following Guidelines for Behaviour.

Actions – Always model mature behaviour consistent with that of Gloucester Cumberland Basketball Association’s Guidelines for Behaviour.

• Support the game of basketball!
• Stress the importance of participation.
• Avoid spectator imposed pressures to win.
• Be supportive of the athlete, team, coach, opponents and officials.
• Maintain a supportive, constructive atmosphere conducive to personal development.
• Refrain from negative communication with players, coaches, the scorers’ table or game officials.
• Remain in the spectators’ section, and refrain from entering the playing area at any time.

GCBA Safety Reminder – Responsibilities

What is the definition of Game safety in the GCBA?..and who is responsible for it?

Safety Is No. 1, being safe, freedom from danger or risks.

In reviewing our rules, regulations and Guidelines that we provide to convenors and coaches, we could not identify a specific section or paragraph dealing with safety responsibilities. There is no single individual in the association with this overall responsibility defined, as “safety”. We would suggest however, that in the definition of roles and responsibilities of all our coaches, convenors and other officials, it is implied. We highlight several instances in the paragraphs below.

Who is responsible for safety when the increased physicality of the game, or increased tempo of the game results in players running at top speeds and slamming into the mats mounted on walls, stages or other players?

We can tell you whose responsibility it is not. It is not the referees. The referees’ responsibility is to ensure that the game is called fairly. It is NOT the role of the referee in any game to “tone down” the play. This is solely the responsibility of the coach and barring this, the convenor above him, to counsel the players (or in the convenors case to counsel the coaches) to get themselves under control; to calm down and focus on the play. This means that BOTH coaches must agree to encourage FAIR PLAY and discourage excessively aggressive behaviour that increases the occurrences of fouls and safety concerns.

In several recent discussions, when asked, individuals clearly thought it was the referees’ job to calm down the play when the coaches perceived that it was getting out of hand! This is a wrong assumption and must be clarified to ALL convenors, coaches AND spectators.

The referees are only responsible to call the games as they see it! As we all know this does not mean they will see EVERYTHING. nor will they call EVERYTHING:because at various levels, they are not experienced enough to do this and because to call EVERY infraction would destroy the game flow…there would be only fouls shots being shot for lengthy periods of the game.

Part of the referee training is to distinguish what actions are patently causing disadvantage to the play…and making those calls. This calls for a pretty sophisticated level of assessment in some cases, by young inexperienced referees and therefore in all likelihood will not be consistently applied at this level of play. With this understanding in mind, if it is the coach/parents/convenor’s assessment that the play is getting “out of hand” then it is clearly the coach/convenor’s job to call the timeout and agree to lower the intensity level. If this is not possible through coaching alone, or one coach still wishes to “take advantage” through intimidation, then it is within the convenor’s authority to call for the suspension of the game (i.e.. The Convenor requests time out from referee and requests that referee/trainer rules that the game is over. The rules call this a “suspended game”.) 

The message the GCBA wishes to communicate to the players is – stay focused on playing the game within the rules. If it’s getting too rough, then stop fouling! PLAY BALL according to the rules of basketball!

It is the responsibility of each of the coaches to coach and focus their players where safety becomes a concern. Both coaches can work together to ensure the safety of the players. This can be accomplished by calling a timeout and coaching the players to focus and settle down. This will afford an opportunity to reduce the tempo of the game.

The following extracts from the GCBA Team Official Guideline are instances that the responsibilities for safety are implied.

• Convenor Responsibilities

Each Division Convenor shall, on behalf of the GCBA Executive to whom he is at all times accountable, oversee the operation of his/her division . ( Section 3a) Safety is an implied responsibility in the operation of the division.

Convenors shall be responsible for ensuring that players and team officials in their divisions follow the Rules and Regulations. Their authority shall complement, but in no way supersede the authorities of referees. ( Section 3c)

Promptly notify VP House League of any difficulties, or potential difficulties (this could be player, parent, facility or official related) within his/her division. ( Section 3p)

• Coaches Responsibilities

Coaches shall provide a positive role model for the players at all times, providing a good example both by word and action in the skills of sportsmanship. (Section 4b)
Follow basic goals, objectives and philosophy of the GCBA, ensuring that the players have fun and improve their skills. ( Section 4b )

• Fair Play Facility

A policy of zero tolerance is in effect throughout the GCBA and any incidents of verbal or physical abuse of team players, spectators, coaches or officials. ( Section 6). In summary, as an association it is clear that responsibility for safety is included in our roles and responsibilities for team officials. Accordingly, as all team officials follow these guidelines, we can be assured that players are afforded the opportunity to play in a Fair Play Facility and safe environment.