A COACH'S ETHICS

Conduct at the Game

Remain within the technical area; keep your comments positive; do not abuse your players verbally.

Do not address the referee or the assistants during the game.  If you have a question or criticism, make it privately to the official after the game.

Never comment on the other team.

Responsibility for Others

If an assistant, manager or parent becomes abusive in any way, and you cannot quiet them, ask them to leave before the referee has to.  They are all your respons ibility from the time you come on to the field until you leave.

Explain to parents that, however the referee may appear, he or she is trained in the laws of the game, and is almost always better positioned than a spectator to see what actually happened.  Point out that much of refereeing  is  judgment  and  that  the  referee  is  neutral,  parents  are  not.    Let  them  know  that  top international referees miss and make wrong calls in every game; three people watching 22 in constant motion over 2 acres cannot see everything.

Recruiting

Before inviting a player to try out for or join your team, ask him/her if he/she has signed with  or is committed to  another team; if he/she has or is, leave him/her alone.  Do not try to exploit technicalities; if the player believes he/she is dedicated to the other team for the year, that is sufficient.  We are trying to teach fair play, not sharp practice.

Do not approach,  or encourage the approach of, an individual player on another team for the following year, or for guest tournament play during the current year, until the current playing season has ended for that team.  Let the player focus on the task at hand, not on where he/she might be headed.

Do not hold any tryouts for your team until all MASC, MAPLE and State Cups play is over for the previous year.

Player Selection

Notify each player who tries out for your team of your decision as to him/her; if you are cutting him/her or not picking him/her up, tell him/her why; if you cannot, you did not give him/her a fair look.  Try to make a painful experience as productive and helpful as possible.  Notify promptly; the player may lose opportunities to play with other teams.

Give marginal or provisional players an early and honest estimate of their chances of making the final roster and of playing regularly.  Let them have enough information to make intelligent decisions about their own future.

Do not roster a player you do not intend to use regularly, for any reason.