Behaviour and Disciplinary Policy

At Portsmouth Gymnastics Club, we expect a high standard of behaviour amongst all our gymnasts and coaches.

Categorisation of inappropriate behaviour

In line with the Club’s Discipline Procedures, any inappropriate behaviour of a Gymnast may be categorised as: minor, moderate, serious, or very serious.

Examples of each are highlighted below:

Minor: A minor breach of Club rules on one occasion. E.g. answering back to a coach, being unkind to another gymnast, generally silly behaviour, lack of attention, time wasting, not trying their best.

These behaviours will be dealt with by the coach at the time. Parents may also be informed.

Moderate: A minor breach of Club rules on more than one occasion, or a more serious incident. E.g., using inappropriate language, evidence of bullying another child, persistent time wasting or silly behaviour, refusal to complete a task.

These behaviorus will be dealt with by the coach at the time using a verbal prompt, parents informed (Discipline Procedure: Stage 1).
Pending the severity of incident(s); the Welfare Officer Team may be informed,, a formal written warning issued, and gymnast placed on behaviour report (Discipline Procedure: Stage 2).

Serious: Persistent breach of Club rules on three or more occasions, or a serious incident involving some loss of personal control e.g., persistent bullying of another child/children, encouraging others to misbehave, inappropriate language directed at another child/coach, inappropriate use of social media

Dealt with by the coach at the time with support from a member of the Management Team or the Club Welfare Officer; formal written warning issued, and gymnast placed on behaviour report (Discipline Procedure: Stage 2)
Pending severity of incident(s), gymnast may be suspended (Discipline Procedure: Stage 3)

Very Serious: Repeated unacceptable behaviour, or physical/verbal abuse directed at another child/coach, or serious inappropriate use of social media.

Dealt with by the coach at the time with support from a member of the Management Team or the Club Welfare Officer; formal written warning issued, and gymnast placed on behaviour report (Discipline Procedure: Stage 2)
Pending severity of incident(s), gymnast may be suspended or excluded from the Club (Discipline Procedure: Stage 3)
Advice may be sought from external groups as required (e.g., BG/the Police)

Discipline Procedures

Gymnast’s behaviour will be monitored during each session in line with the Club’s Code of Conduct. Verbal reinforcement may be initially used, where appropriate, to remind gymnasts of behaviour expectations. Where a gymnast does not take on this prompt, the following sanctions will apply:

STAGE 1 (Likely a minor/moderate breach of Club Rules/Code of Conduct)

Informal verbal warning to gymnast (parents/carers informed)

STAGE 2 (Likely a moderate/serious breach Club Rules/Code of Conduct)

Formal written warning (parents/carers informed)

Gymnast to be placed on behaviour report for up to 6 weeks - Behaviour reports will vary in time. Halfway through the report period, parents will be requested to attend a brief meeting with the personal coach/Welfare Officer to evaluate the gymnast’s behaviour.

Following the report period, should the personal coach/Welfare Officer feel as though behaviour has consistently reached an appropriate level, the report period will end, and training will resume as normal

STAGE 3 Following the formal written warning and behaviour report period, if the personal coach/Welfare Officer still feel as though behaviour is still unacceptable, the case will be referred to the Committee/ welfare team. They will review the case, and implement one of the following actions:

Gymnast to continue training on a behaviour report - subsequent formal written warning
Suspension from the Club
Exclusion from the Club

Throwing objects and/or equipment within the gym;
Blatant disobedience and/or disrespect towards coaches or other gymnasts;
Disrupting any gymnasts training and/or work;
Inappropriate language/swearing;
Spitting at others;
Deliberately hurting another gymnast or causing an injury to a person due to poor behaviour/indiscipline; or hurting a gymnast through bullying (face to face/ online)

Should a gymnast receive a formal written warning resulting from such an incident, they will begin the disciplinary process at STAGE 2 and be placed on a behaviour report. Gymnasts may be automatically suspended or excluded, for very serious misconduct, such as:

Bullying (verbal, physical);
Discrimination (racism, sexism, homophobia, disability, religion);
Bringing dangerous and/or inappropriate items to the Gym, which could cause harm to gym users;
Causing a serious breach and/or risk to the health, safety and/or well-being of themselves, other gymnasts and gym users (including coaches);
Stealing;
Wilfully damaging property/vandalism.

Suspension: In the event of a suspension being sanctioned, the gymnast will not be permitted to attend training at PGC, any GB, Home Nation or Regional Squad, or compete within any competition representing PGC throughout the duration of the sanction. The length of the suspension will be at the discretion of the Welfare team/head coaches and managers/ committee. When the gymnast resumes training following a suspension, they will return to STAGE 2 of the disciplinary procedure, receive another formal warning, and be placed on a behaviour report.

Exclusion: Following an exclusion, the gymnast will not be permitted to attend training at PGC, any GB, Home Nation or Regional Squad, or compete within any competition representing PGC - effective immediately.

Appeals

There is no appeal process for a behaviour report or suspension. In the event of an exclusion, parents/carers can submit an appeal to the Committee. Parents have 14 days from receipt of the exclusion notice to submit an appeal. An independent member of the Commitee will review the case and reply with an outcome within 14 days. Gymnasts are excluded from all training/competition throughout the appeal process.