Safe Sport at PCV

Intro

Pride Capital Volleyball works hard to promote a safe, respectful and inclusive environment. That’s why we’ve developed our new Safe Sport Policy.

This applies to all programming and events offered by the Organization.

It applies to all venues, facilities, and online platforms where the Organization conducts its activities.

It should be followed by all athletes/participants, workers, volunteers, coaches, team captains, officials, and anyone else affiliated with the Organization.

PCV makes the following commitments to a sport environment free from Maltreatment:

All Participants in sport can expect to play, practice, and compete, work, and interact in an environment free from Maltreatment.
Addressing the causes and consequences of Maltreatment is a collective responsibility and requires the deliberate efforts of all Participants, sport stakeholders, administrators, and organization leaders.
Participants in positions of trust and authority have the general responsibility to protect the health and well-being of all other Participants.
Adult Participants have a specific ethical and statutory duty and the additional responsibility to respond to incidents of Maltreatment involving Minors and other Vulnerable Participants.
All Participants recognize that Maltreatment can occur regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, ethnicity, Indigenous status, or level of physical and intellectual disability and their intersections. Moreover, it is recognized that those from traditionally marginalized groups have increased vulnerability to experiences of Maltreatment.
All Participants recognize that individuals who have experienced Maltreatment may experience a range of effects that may emerge at different time points and that can profoundly affect their lives.
All adults working with children and youth have a duty to prevent or mitigate opportunities for misconduct.
In recognition of the historic vulnerability to discrimination and violence amongst some groups, and that continues to persist today, Participants in positions of trust and authority have a duty to incorporate strategies to recognize systemic bias, unconscious bias, and to respond quickly and effectively to discriminatory practices.

Discipline and Disputes

How complaints may be submitted, assessed and resolved

PCV’s discipline policy applies to all programming and events, but it also applies to particpant’s conduct outside of programming and events when the conduct adversely affects the relationships or work or sport environment of the organization.

The policy also still applies to minors. Complaints can be brought forward for or against minors, but a parent or guardian must be present. Communication to a minor must be directed to the parent or guardian.

Reporting a complaint

Any complaint follows our Policy on Harrassment except for Code of Conduct complaints, which follow their own process in that policy.

Discipline at Third-part hosted events

Third-party Hosted Events can include but are not limited to, regional, national, or international tournaments or other sporting event where the Organization coordinates and sends a team or multiple teams. It does not include teams made up of participants that choose to participate in a tournament on their own. It does not include teams that have received sponsorships dollars or financial support.

If the Event is being sanctioned by another organization other than the Organization that has a similar policy or procedure in place, the procedures for event discipline of the host organization will replace this procedure. Incidents involving Participants connected with the Organization (such as Athletes, coaches, and Directors and Officers) must still be reported by the Organizational Representative or team representative to the Organization to be addressed under the respective policies, if necessary.

Procedure to Address an Incident

At Third-party hosted events

Notify the involved parties that there has been an incident that violated or potentially violated the Code of Conduct.
Convene a panel of either one person or three people (one of whom shall be designated the Chairperson), who shall not be in a conflict of interest or involved in the original incident, to determine whether the Code of Conduct has been violated. The designated person at the Event may serve on the panel.
The panel will interview and secure statements from any witnesses to the alleged violation.
If the violation occurred during a competition, interviews will be held with the officials who officiated or observed the competition and with the coaches and captains of each team when necessary and appropriate.
The panel will secure a statement from the person(s) accused of the violation.
The panel will render a decision and determine a possible penalty.
The Chairperson of the panel will inform all parties of the panel’s decision.

Note: The panel does not have the authority to determine a penalty that exceeds the duration of the Event. A full written report of the incident and the panel’s decision shall be submitted to the Organization by the Chair of the panel following the conclusion of the Event. Further discipline may then be applied in accordance with Code of Conduct, if necessary.

Managing Risk

Whistleblowing

Whisteblowing helps protect us from wrongdoing.

Wrongdoing can be defined as:
- Violating the law;
- Intentionally or seriously breaching of the Organization’s Code of Conduct;
- Committing or ignoring risks to the life, health, or safety of a Participant, volunteer, Worker, or other individual;
- Directing an individual or Worker to commit a crime, serious breach of a policy, or other wrongful act; or,
- Fraud.

Our Pledge

The Organization pledges not to dismiss, penalize, discipline, or retaliate or discriminate against any Worker who, in good faith, discloses information or submits a report against a Worker or Director under the terms of this Policy.

Any individual affiliated with the Organization who breaks this Pledge will be subject to disciplinary action.

Reporting Wrongdoing

A Worker who believes a Director or another Worker has committed an incident of wrongdoing should prepare a report that includes the following:

written description of the act or actions of the alleged wrongdoing, including the date and time of the action(s);
Identities and roles of other individuals or Workers (if any) who may be aware of, affected by, or complicit in, the wrongdoing;
Why the act or action should be considered wrongdoing; and
How the wrongdoing affects the Worker submitting the report (if applicable).

Risk Management

Successful risk management has the following benefits:

Prevents or limits injury or losses to participants, volunteers, and staff;
Helps to protects the Organization against unnecessary litigation;
Ensures that the Organization is compliant with all applicable laws, regulations, and standards;
Improves the quality and relevance of the programs and services that the Organization provides to its members, partners, and sponsors;
Promotes improved business management and human l management practices;
Enhances the Organization’s brand, reputation, and image in the community; and,
Overall, enhances the Organization’s ability to achieve its strategic objectives

The Risk Manager

The President is the designated Risk Manager for the Organization and is responsible for the implementation, maintenance, and communication of this policy. This policy applies to all decision and activities undertaken on behalf of the Organization.

The Organization acknowledges that risk management is a broad activity and a shared responsibility. All Directors, Officers, staff, and volunteers have an ongoing responsibility to take appropriate measures within their scope of authority and responsibility to identify, assess, manage, and communicate risks to those that they report to including but not limited to, the Risk Manager.'

Managing Risks

Identifying potential risks using an informed, environmental scan approach; Assessing the significance of a risk by considering its likelihood and consequences; and, Developing and implementing measures to address those risks deemed significant by reducing likelihood, consequences, or both.

Types of risk include: operational, compliance, communications, external, governance, financial and health/safety.

Addressing Risk

The organization may decide to retain the risk, reduce the risk, transfer the risk or avoid the risk.

Screening

The Organization understands that screening personnel and volunteers is a vital part of providing a safe sporting environment and has become a common practice among sport organizations that provide programs and services to the sport community.

Not all individuals associated with the Organization will be required to obtain a criminal record check or submit screening documents because not all positions pose a risk of harm to the Organization or Participants.

The Organization will determine which individuals will be subject to screening.

For the purposes of the Policy, the Organization defines a young person as someone who is younger than 18 years old. When screening young people, the Organization will:

Not require the young person to obtain a VSC or E-PIC; and
In lieu of obtaining a VSC or E-PIC, require the young person to submit up to two (2) letters of reference.

Athlete/Participant Protection

Rule of Two

‘Rule of Two’ be followed for Persons in Authority who interact with Athletes/Participants, to the maximum extent feasible.

The ‘Rule of Two’ is a directive that says that an Athlete/Participant must never be alone one-on-one with an unrelated Person in Authority.

To the maximum extent possible, the training environment should be visible and accessible so that all interactions between Persons in Authority and Athletes/Participants are observable.

Private and one-on-one situations that are not observable by another adult or Athletes/Participant should be avoided to the maximum extent possible.

A Vulnerable Participant may not be alone under the supervision of a Person in Authority unless prior written permission is obtained from the Vulnerable Participant’s parent or guardian.

Persons in Authority may not invite or host Vulnerable Participants in their home without the written permission from parents or guardians or without parents or guardians and an Executive having contemporaneous knowledge of the visit.

Communications

For communication between Persons in Authority and Athlete/Participants, the Organization recommends:

Group messages, group emails or the Organization’s website are to be used as the regular method of communication between Persons in Authority and Athletes/Participants.
Persons in Authority may only send texts, direct messages on social media or emails to individual Athlete/Participants when necessary and only for communicating information related to issues and activities (e.g., non-personal information). Any such texts, messages or emails shall be professional in tone and include a second person.
Electronic communication between Persons in Authority and Athletes/Participants that is personal in nature should be avoided. If such personal communication is unavoidable, it must be recorded and available for review by another Person in Authority and/or by the Athlete/Participant’s parent/guardian (when the Athlete/Participant is a Vulnerable Participant).

For communication between Persons in Authority and Athlete/Participants, the Organization recommends:

Parents/guardians may request that their child not be contacted by a Person in Authority using any form of electronic communication and/or may request that certain information about their child not be distributed in any form of electronic communication.
All communication between a Person in Authority and Athlete/Participants must be between the hours of 6:00 am and midnight unless extenuating circumstances justify otherwise.
Communication concerning drugs or alcohol use (unless regarding its prohibition) is not permitted.
No sexually explicit language or imagery or sexually oriented conversation may be communicated in any medium.
Persons in Authority are not permitted to ask Athletes/Participants to keep a secret for them.
Athletes/Participants should also refrain from initiating communications by phone, text, or other electronic means with an unrelated Person of Authority. When receiving such communications from an Athlete/Participant, the Person of Authority should ensure the Athlete/Participant is aware of the Rule of Two.

Transportation

Persons in Authority should avoid transporting a Vulnerable Persons in all situations except very extenuating circumstances. In this case, a Person in Authority should ideally have a second Person in Authority with them and maintain the Rule of Two.

Locker Rooms and Changing Areas

Interactions between Persons in Authority and Athletes/Participants should not occur in any area where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy such as a locker room, washroom or changing area. A second adult should be present for any necessary interaction between an adult and an Athlete/Participant in any such area.

If Persons in Authority are not present in the locker room or changing area, or if they are not permitted to be present, they should still be available outside the locker room or changing area and be able to enter the room or area if required, for reasons including but not limited to team communications and/or emergencies.

Safety and Reporting

Concussions

This Policy is intended to be compliant with Ontario’s Rowan’s Law (Concussion Safety), 2018. If any provision of the policy conflicts with Rowan’s Law, the legislation shall take precedence.

Individuals must provide written or electronic confirmation that they have reviewed concussion awareness resources within the past 12 months.

Recognizing Concussions

If a Participant demonstrates or reports any of the following red flags, an on-site licensed healthcare professional shall be summoned and, if deemed necessary, an ambulance should be called (if an onsite healthcare professional is not available, an ambulance should be called):

Neck pain or tenderness
Double vision
Weakness or tingling / burning in arms or legs
Severe or increasing headache
Seizure or convulsion
Loss of consciousness
Deteriorating conscious state
Vomiting more than once
Increasingly restless, agitated, or combative
Increased confusion

Observable Signs

The following observable signs may indicate a possible concussion:

Lying motionless on the playing surface
Slow to get up after a direct or indirect hit to the head
Disorientation or confusion / inability to respond appropriately to questions
Blank or vacant look
Balance or gait difficulties, absence of regular motor coordination, stumbling, slow laboured movements
Facial injury after head trauma

Actions to Take

In the event of a Suspected Concussion where there are observable signs of a concussion, symptoms of a concussion, or a failure to correctly answer memory questions, the Participant should be immediately removed from participation by the Organization staff member and/or the coach or captain of the team.

After removal from participation, the following actions should be taken:
The designated person who removed the Participant should consider calling 9-1-1;
The Organization must make and keep a record of the removal;
The designated person must inform the Participant’s parent or guardian if the Participant is younger than 18 years old, and the designated person must inform the parent or guardian that the Participant is required to undergo a medical assessment by a physician or nurse practitioner before the Participant will be permitted to return to participation; and
The designated person will remind the Participant, and the Participant’s parent or guardian as applicable, of the Organization’s Return-to-Sport protocol as described in this Policy.

Once Removed from Sport

Participants who have a Suspected Concussion and who are removed from participation should:

Be isolated in a dark room or area and stimulus should be reduced
Be monitored
Have any cognitive, emotional, or physical changes documented
Not be left alone (at least for the first 1-2 hours)
Not drink alcohol
Not use recreational/prescription drugs
Not be sent home by themselves
Not drive a motor vehicle until cleared to do so by a medical professional

Environmental Safety

When do we cancel programming?

Programming will be adapted or cancelled when:

Air Quality - measured or projected at a level 7 or above is considered high risk.
Heat Waves and Extreme Heat - when a Heat Wave or Extreme Heat Event has been declared by the Government of Canada or local weather officials.
Thunderstorms and Lightning - hears thunder or sees lightning, programming and events should stop immediately.
Extreme winter weather events - including but not limited to, ice storms, blizzards, freezing rain, heavy snow fall and snow squalls, the Government of Canada may issue a weather alert.
Other extreme weather event - any other extreme weather event is measured or expected, including but not limited to a formal “watch” or “warning”, for a weather event including but not limited to a tornado, flood or extreme winds.

Incident Reporting

An incident is defined as any event that results in the injury or potential injury of a person, facility or piece of equipment or other situation that requires the intervention of a Person of Authority to resolve.

Every Person of Authority and worker of the Organization is responsible for reporting incidents as soon as possible through the Incident Report Form within 24 hours of when it occurred.

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