Constitution
IOC CONSTITUTION
Membership
1. Full Membership costs to be decided upon by the committee.
All players are required to apply to the British Octopush Association for insurance cover. Prices for this are decided by the BOA committee.
Fees may change and the club will try to give at least 4 weeks’ notice as to the changes.
2. junior age range is 13-15 years, Adult is 16+ years; Student is to anyone who is attending further education (including still attending school at 16-17 years).
3. Membership is available to anyone who is able to assist in the running of the club. Honorary for time in office.
Affiliations
1. The club shall be affiliated to the British Octopush Association.
Terms and Conditions
1. All Inverness Octopush Club members must abide by the club constitution.
2. Competing members should aim to attend a minimum of 75% of all practices
3. Members will be notified after 1 month of non-payment/absence to be reminded of the terms of the contract they agreed to and to help find a way forward.
4. Failure to respond or if response is deemed to be unsatisfactory, disciplinary action may be enforced possibly resulting in the member being removed from the club roster and all associated roles within the club.
5. Failure to pay fees for two consecutive months or more will result in the offending player’s temporary termination of their contract and all related roles and privileges. Upon return to the club any monies owed must be repaid before returning.
6. All members joining the club will be required to accept any by-laws passed by the club or their affiliations.
7. Memberships are non-refundable
Administration
1. Inverness Octopush Club will be a committee ran club where the committee is elected annually.
2. The committee will consist of:- Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and four ordinary members
3. Committee members will be elected at Annual General Meeting
4. Committee to meet: - September
5. A quorum will constitute of 5 members
6. Committee shall have the power to co-opt for the purpose of filling vacancies which occur between the Annual General Meeting.
7. All members will receive minutes off all meetings held.
8. Treasurer will be responsible for the preparation of annual accounts of the club. All cheques drawn against the club must be signed by the treasurer and either the chairperson or secretary or any other nominated signatory.
9. In the event of Dissolution of the club, any assets shall be split evenly between all members/ or donated to a charity upon members vote.
Code of Conduct
1. Members must support a safe environment at all times. This includes:-
Wearing the appropriate safety equipment- Cap with ear protection, Mouth guard and glove on appropriate hand e.g. Left/right.
All equipment must be suitable for use in octopush. All equipment either owned by players or by the club must be maintained to a SAFE/CLEAN condition. Ensuring the equipment remains safe and does not present a hazard for other players or members of the public.
Never train or take part in competition whilst pregnant, intoxicated i.e., drugs, alcohol or medication (including hangover as this affects abilities), or during injury against your doctor’s orders.
Members must report injuries to an appropriate committee member (Chair, Treasurer, Secretary) or elected coaches in training sessions.
Bring to the attention of a committee member any unusual significant hazard in their presence or participation.
Supply relevant contact information in case of emergency or to provide you (the player) information to local hospital etc.
2. Members should have a strong team ethos and should practice good sportsmanship at all times:
Play by the rules and encourage other athletes to do the same.
Treat all players and officials with respect in victory and defeat. Never argue with an official. If you disagree have the team captain or coach deal with the issue. Verbal abuse of officials or players is unacceptable and not permitted.
Don’t take up valuable swim time discussing training or disrupting training for other Members. Comments/concerns must be voiced to the coaches.
Show respect and follow instruction from coaches at all times.
Any member who disrupts training will be asked to remove their fins and leave the session.
3. Inverness Octopush Club will always abide by the equal opportunities act: can be found on legislation.gov.uk. Opportunities will be made available to all, limitations to ones capabilities may require certain tasks or roles to be amended to suit differing needs as and when applicable.
4. All members are expected to make an effort to learn the rules and the skills to play octopush and commit to improving themselves as athletes and team-mates.
5. To be eligible for competitions all players must be of full fitness to compete and any injury must be reported. All juniors must have parental consent to compete in any games or tournaments that have adult competitors.
6. Members must conform to the rules regarding public relations for the club:
At practices/promotional/public events whether IOC sponsored or not all members must be conscious of their actions. We ask that you present yourself in a way that represents IOC as a professional club. Only main committee approved members may represent themselves to the media as a spokesperson for the club. All members must maintain confidentiality regarding club matters. No member may disclose information that the club has not publically broadcasted. No member is allowed to accept any monies in exchange for interviews or public appearance, all monetary donations must go towards the club. Players must not make any negative comment regarding any other club or player publically, this includes online, through the media or any other way.
7. The objectives of the club are as follows: Participate and promote the sport of Octopush, snorkelling and water safety. Involvement with appropriate clubs for the purpose of establishing regular competitive play. To apply for insurance via the British Octopush Association on an annual basis.
Code of Behaviour
1. IOC will not accept any slanderous remarks/ smear campaigns on any public level i.e. Facebook/websites/forums
2. IOC will not accept any threatening, violent or intimidating behaviour towards any player or towards the club; any aforementioned behaviour is regarded as gross misconduct and will be dealt with immediately with the possibility of expulsion from the club and associated roles within.
3. Officials must be consistent, objective and courteous in calling all infractions.
4. Never advocate or condone the use of drugs or other illegal substances.
5. At no time solicit or request sexual favours, or use the threat of reprisal for the rejection of such favours.
6. Any member found in violation of this code will have their membership reviewed by the main committee, and action such as a formal warning to expulsion without refunds of dues paid, may be taken.
Official Grievance Procedure for IOC
If you become aware of any action that violates any part of the IOC code of conduct, if you feel you are having an issue with and individual/group within the club, or you feel you are being harassed or discriminated against, you have the right to contact a member of the team committee, who will allocate two advocates if required. An advocate will be selected after an issue has been raised, on the grounds that they are a neutral party. The advocate is there to provide a formal structure for the voicing/hearing of complaints.
IOC will always encourage members to try and resolve any issues direct with the person in question- preferably outside of training and with a witness present.
If issues are not resolved this way then there are stages to follow during a grievance procedure:-
1. Contact a member of the main committee to voice concerns and discuss reasonable expectations and course of action.
2. You and the other party will be brought together for an informal mediated discussion with the presence of the main committee
3. If no agreement/resolution is reached, the committee has the right to temporarily ban both parties from training, this will allow them to focus on the issue and give it proper priority.
4. Formal mediation will commence. Each party involved has the right to bring one other person along. The meeting will be recorded on a grievance form and any evidence in support must be provided.
5. If issue is not resolved, or 30 days pass since formal mediation began, both parties will be invited back to training and requested to adhere to the code of conduct and treat each other professionally, if either party fails to adhere to the code of conduct he/she will be asked to leave the club permanently.
In a situation where one member/group within the club repeatedly causes issues or is subject to multiple complaints, said member(s) can be ejected from the club following a review by the main committee. The club typically abides by the 3 strikes policy: 1st strike- verbal warning, 2nd strike- written warning and 3rd strike final written warning. A strike will remain on a members file. All grievances must follow the grievance procedure but not all may apply. In the case of gross misconduct or criminal behaviour, the club committee can with the support of the member advocate(s), decide which if any procedures must be followed, and immediate ejection from the club is a permissible course of action. If a main committee member is involved in the issue at hand, they will not be involved in any official capacity of the grievance procedure, and will not be permitted to attend any official meetings until issue is resolved.
Health and Safety Policy
To support our health and safety statement we are committed to the following duties:
1: All safety equipment will be checked prior to each training session, if any item is viewed upon as unsafe (too big, damaged etc.), the player will be asked to address this issue before being cleared to enter the pool.
Your own equipment is your own responsibility and will not be checked before training, if in the event there is a malfunction you will be asked to address this. (Please note that this is not a subject open to negotiation the team take the safety of all players very seriously, and hope you all do too.)
2: No Member will be permitted to take part at any IOC training session/sponsored event whilst pregnant. Active roles such as assisting with other non-player related tasks can be undertaken during pregnancy and many other duties can be carried. (This will be passed by coach). 3. Undertake regular, recorded risk assessment of the team premises and all activities undertaken by the club.
4. Create a safe environment by putting health and safety measures in place as identified by the assessments.
5. Appoint a component club member to assist in all responsibilities of health and safety.
6. Ensure that all members are given the appropriate level of training for safe development.
7. Ensure that all members are aware, understand and follow the policy.
8. Ensure that emergency operating procedures are in place and known by all members.
9. Provide access to adequate first aid facilities/ first aider at all times.
10. Document any injuries/accidents sustained during any team activity or while on the team premises. To be completed by committee member only.
11. Ensure that the implementation of this policy is reviewed regularly and monitored for effectiveness.
As a member you have a personal duty to:
• Co-operate with the team on health and safety issues.
• Correctly use all equipment provided by the club.
• Do not interfere with or misuse anything provided for your health, safety or welfare.
• Immediately inform the appropriate official of any injuries/ ailments which could affect your ability.
• To ensure you're fully recovered from any injuries the club reserves the right to request a doctor’s approval before re-joining training.
• Respect any decisions made by session trainers with regards to your ability to participate in some or all of the session.
• To ensure you complete any accident report form after any incident at training.
Location of first aid facilities: - Swimming pool reception Location of telephone: - Main reception of swimming pool or pool side kiosk
Qualified first aiders: 1-Pool staff.
Declaration
I (print name) ………………………………………………………………………………………..
Accept the above terms and conditions held within the IOC constitution and understand that my signature and return of this form are taken as my compliance and agreement to the IOC constitution.
Player Signature: .......................................................
Parent Signature for under 16s………………………………………………………
Date…………………………………….
