Central Massachusetts Youth Basketball League

CONDUCT BOARD

The CMYBL Conduct Board was formed prior to the 2009-2010 season. The Board will review all conduct issues pertaining to CMYBL teams that occur during the course of CMYBL play.

Why?        This is a youth sports league where the games should be about the kids. To see (as we do each year) parents being ejected from the gym and in some cases the police being called, assistant coaches receiving technical fouls because they think it’s OK to yell at officials, the same players receiving technical fouls several times over the course of a season, players getting into fights, and scorekeepers jumping up from the table to protest calls with no real repercussions beyond “league discretion” for misbehavior is not appropriate for a league of this size.

Beginning with the 2009-2010 season, officials working CMYBL events as well as program coordinators that are in charge of each town have been instructed that if there are any conduct issues, they are to report the issue to the Conduct Board following the game. These issues include:

·        Technical fouls.

·        Flagrant fouls.

·        Ejections.

·        Mismanaged or unsafe game sites.

·        Unruly spectators.

·        Suspected cheating.

·        Scorekeeper misconduct.

·        Other issues that are felt to be conduct inappropriate.

Game officials have been instructed that they are not to interact at an extended level with coaches or spectators should any of these issues arise. They have been instructed to if appropriate, issue a warning, a technical foul, and/or an ejection and to resume the game. This is no different from before. If someone receives a technical foul, is ejected from the gym, etc. officials are never to “discuss” it with the offending team. The difference this year is officials are required to follow up following the game and the Conduct Board will handle the situation from there.

In general, issues that happen outside of league play will not be entertained by the Conduct Board. This includes any issues that happen in non-league events, tournaments, practices, inter-town politics, or personal issues (legal problems). In situations like that, dealing with issues will be left to the Program Coordinator in the individual town to resolve with no involvement from the league.

What will happen?    There are two sides to every story. We want to hear both sides and more than anything, work to ensure that problems are understood and that we come to a resolution that will help us to not see them happen again. In general when an incident is reported to the Conduct Board, they will get a report from the official who reported the incident. From there, the Conduct Board will follow up with the involved team to discuss the incident, work to figure out why it happened, and come to a resolution.

Issues will be logged and kept track of. In many cases, a simple technical foul will result in nothing beyond discussion to find out why it happened. It’s the hope that discussion will be enough to resolve the situation and prevent it from happening again. In situations that result in an ejection from the gym, flagrant fouls, fighting, cheating, or in situations of multiple issues occurring during the season with the same team or individual, the Conduct Board will have the authority to issue a judgment against any team or individual which can include sanctions ranging from suspension from the following game up to and including dismissal from the league.

In cases where anyone is ejected from a game, that person is suspended from attending the subsequent game and must discuss the ejection with the Conduct Board. This is not appealable. An ejected party must leave the gymnasium site immediately and may not reenter the premises while the officials are still on site. If the ejected party refuses to leave the game site immediately, attempts to confront the officials again (e.g. waiting for them after the game), and/or refuses to discuss the ejection with the Conduct Board, suspension for the remainder of the season may occur. Any individual ejected from the gym twice during a season will receive an automatic suspension from attending all CMYBL events for one calendar year.

Who reports issues?    In general, referees are the ones who are mostly responsible for reporting any issue to the Conduct Board following an incident. However, head coaches with permission of their Program Coordinator as well as any Program Coordinator may also report issues to the Conduct Board.

Any issues brought to the attention of the Conduct Board by Assistant Coaches, Parents, or other individuals will not be considered.

Who makes up the Conduct Board?          The Conduct Board has three members and two alternates. The three members include one representative appointed by the Small Town Commissioner, one representative appointed by the Large Town Commissioner, and one jointly appointed member who is also a certified referee. The alternate members are the Commissioners of the Small and Large Town Leagues.

The alternate members will not participate on the Conduct Board except in instances of a direct conflict of interest among one of the three primary members. An example of a direct conflict of interest is an issue that involves a program that one of the Conduct Board members is a part of. In situations when that arises, the alternate member who is Commissioner of the League that the team does NOT participate in will fill in for the primary member.

The Commissioners of the league will be kept apprised of issues the Conduct Board is dealing with however they will not offer input regarding disciplinary actions or how issues are dealt with. Any conduct issues this season will be deferred to the Conduct Board.

The three primary Conduct Board members for the 2009-2010 season are Daniel Matson (Acton-Boxborough; Large Town Representative), Pete Kodys (Narragansett; Small Town Representative), and Thomas Ruggiero (Nashoba Regional; Officials Representative). The two alternate Conduct Board members for the 2009-2010 season are Joshua Hammer (Acton-Boxborough; Large Town Commissioner) and Daryl Rupp (Winchendon; Small Town Commissioner).

Expectations?             Almost without exception, a head coach who is in control of his or her team will rarely see any sort of behavioral or conduct issues. As a coach, please know your duties extend beyond just running practices and showing up to games. For example, most teams have assistant coaches. Did you know that assistant coaches are not permitted to stand during the game? Often you’ll find that referees look the other way with this rule for a well behaved and well coached team. A team coaching roster is a hierarchy. The head coach needs to control his/her assistant coaches. Assistant coaches should never be vocally critical of the officials.

Particular emphasis will be placed this year on spectator behavior. If you have any unruly parents who are critical of the referees from the bleaches, please talk with them now otherwise expect that parent to be ejected this year early in the season. A second ejection of the same individual, that person will be banned from attending CMYBL events for one calendar year. In the event of an unruly fan or fans, the officials have been instructed to call a time out and inform the coaches of the issue and to identify the offending party or parties. Coaches are instructed to then address the issue with the offending individual(s). There will be no second warnings. Continued unruly behavior from any fans will result in ejection from the gym.

Officials have also asked we bring up the subject of scorekeepers. The person keeping score for you, if she or he is sitting at the scorekeepers table, is by definition, an “official” for that game and on the same “team” as the referees. That means they should not be shaking their head in disagreement over a call. If your scorekeeper wants to be a fan as opposed to the scorekeeper, she or he needs to remove themselves from the scorer’s table and sit in the bleachers. Keep in mind though that by doing that, the book that remains at the scorer’s table becomes by default, the “home” scorebook, even if it is the away team’s scorebook.