Fun First, Winning Second.....The SSC Sportsmanship Policy

ABOUT SPORTSMANSHIP:
The SSC promotes sportsmanship above all else. The goal is for our players to have FUN, win or lose. All players who choose to play with the SSC are asked to bring their good sporting behaviour to the games and to promote and abide by the SSC sportsmanship policies.

1. Good sporting behaviour means treating all opponents with fairness, generosity, courtesy and respect.
2. Good sporting behaviour means not retaliating or reacting in a negative way to any situation or player regardless of the circumstance. Any players who are retaliatory or display revengeful types of behaviours will be subject to the same warnings/suspensions/ejections as an instigator.
3. Challenges during the game: DO NOT IGNORE ISSUES -- GIVE YOUR OPPONENT A CHANCE TO MAKE AMENDS. Each player is responsible to address any concerns with their captain DURING the game so the problem can be addressed IMMEDIATELY. Feedback should be given in a constructive way and received with an open mind.

The SSC does not tolerate players who can not follow the sportsmanship guidelines. These players will be swiftly suspended or ejected from the league so THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!

Specific Sportsmanship Rules for GC Sports
Floor Hockey, Dodgeball, Indoor Soccer, Basketball

THE SSC ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY

In order to promote a safe and sportsmanlike environment for its players, the SSC is clarifying its stance on unsportsmanlike behavior. All coordinators and players must understand the expectations for playing in SSC leagues. Games Coordinators are required by the SSC to ask players to leave the gym if they are involved with any of the following acts:

• Challenging the GC by Questioning Calls or their ability to call a good game.
• Swearing directly at another player or the GC
• Intentionally pushing, shoving or making physical contact with another player or the GC
• Making comments to instigate an altercation with another player or the GC

In addition to being dismissed from the game, a one week suspension (or more) may be assigned by the SSC to the involved player or team.

MORE SPORTSMANSHIP STUFF

Please show respect to your fellow players and the Games Coordinator - you have joined a co-ed, recreational sports league! Foul language or threatening/aggressive behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated!!

Challenging the Games Coordinator: The GC's monitor the games with the objective of making them safe and fun. They are not trained referees - they are sports enthusiasts who are familiar with the SSC Soccer Rulebook. ALL PLAYERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS BY PLAYING WITH FAIRNESS AND CALLING THEMSELVES ON THEIR OWN FOULS. PLAYERS MUST TREAT EACH OTHER AND THE GC WITH RESPECT. The GCs will step-in when they feel players are not following these guidelines. The GC's are instructed not to try to justify their decisions to any player and players are asked not to question the GCs judgement.

In order to protect the GC and maintain a fun spirit in the gym, certain actions will lead to an automatic game ejection and probably to a further suspension:
1. challenging the GC by questioning the call or their ability to call a good game
2. swearing or showing an outburst of anger after receiving a penalty
3. yelling at the GC from the bench to call a penalty or questioning a recent call
4. discussing the (poor) performance of the GC to a teammate in the gym or in the facility during or after the game-if the GC hears any comments the player will be penalized.
5. Lastly, we ask that you refer to the GC by their first name - do not call them "ref". Thank you!

If a player is ejected from a game due to unsportsmanlike play, they must leave the gym immediately. If they are suspended by the SSC for additional games, they may not watch the game from inside the gym.

If a Team Captain from either team sees any unsporting behaviour from a player, the captain of this player should ask him/her to sit off for 5 minutes (their team is not short-handed) or this player may be ejected from the game by the GC. If that player continues exhibiting unsporting behaviours in subsequent games, they will be ejected from the league.

After each game, team captains are required to submit a sportsmanship rating for their opponent to the Games Coordinator. These ratings will affect a team's playoff standings; any team averaging less than 0 over the course of the 7-game regular season will be bumped down by ONE PLAYOFF GROUPING (OF 4) in the standings.

SPORTSMANSHIP RATINGS - Updated August 11, 2006

Rating Sportsmanship: Each team will be given 3 sportsmanship ratings per game, one rating from the opponent and two ratings from the GC. The ratings are added together and become your rating for the game. The best rating you can receive per game is +3, the worst is –3. If a GC is not present to monitor your game, your opponent rating is doubled. The rating judges Spirit of the Game as well as Accountability for calling your own Infractions and Penalties. The GC will rate each of these areas as separate scores while the opponent will rate them together. The ratings work as follows:

"Accountability" Rating
This part of the rating is based solely on how you felt your opponent took responsibility for calling their own fouls. A team that does well on Accountability either: committed few or no fouls so it was not an issue, or committed several fouls and made a genuine attempt to call most of them.

"Spirit of the Game" Rating
This part of the rating is based solely on how Fun your opponent was. A high rating would be for a team that: appeared to put winning second and fun first, encouraged themselves or their opponent in a positive way.

Rating Explanation

The Sportsmanship Ratings that you receive from the GC and your opponent will affect your ratings and status in the league:

- In any game, should you receive a -1 rating from BOTH the GC and your opponent, your team will automatically lose 1 point in the standings.
- If the above happens a second time, you will lose another point in the standings AND automatically default/forfeit your next game. Your team will not be allowed to play and we will find a replacement team for your opponent.
- If it happens a third time, your team will be ejected from the league. There are no refunds for teams who are ejected from the league.
- At any time the SSC may penalize or suspend a team or player for unsporting actions regardless of the ratings given by your opponents or the GC.

The Sportsmanship Rating systems affect on the League Standings:

- REALLY REC and REC Divisions: Sportsmanship ratings will be combined with the game result for total points in the standings. The sportsmanship ratings you receive from the GC and your opponent will be added to the points your team was awarded for the win, tie or loss.
For example: a team who wins the game and gets three +1 ratings will receive a total of 5 points. Another example would be a team who tied the game and got one 0 rating and one +1 rating. This team would get a total of 2 points. The lowest score a team could receive would be a -4. This would occur when a team loses the game, gets three -1 ratings and also loses a point for getting two or more -1 ratings in one game.

- ALL Other Divisions: A team's ranking in the standings is determined first by the number of games you have won, tied or lost. A team gets 2 points for a win, 1 for a tie and 0 for a loss. Teams who share the same number of points will then be ranked according to whose team has a higher sportsmanship rating as determined by your peers and the GC (see above for more details). If that is tied, teams will be ranked according to which team has a better points for/against differential. A team who at the end of the regular season has an S/R rating of less than a '0' average, may not be able to continue with playoffs or in the next season. If a team receives a "-1" from both the GC and their opponent in a game, they will lose 1 point in the standings.
Reporting Sportsmanship Concerns:

If a team, at the end of the game, has an unresolved concern with respect to the other team’s sportsmanship please inform the GC at the game AND the SSC office . PLEASE NOTE: If rate your opponent a ‘-1’ YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SUBMIT A FORMAL COMPLAINT ONLINE by 5 PM the day after your game. You can submit this online complaint by going to the SSC website and going to your sports page. Once at the page, click on the “Scores” tab at the top of the page and choose ‘sportsmanship’ from the drop down box, an automatic form to be filled out will come up. If you choose not to submit a report, the rating will be changed to a ‘0’. No team or player will be allowed to continue in the league that does not meet the expected level of fair play.

The following is an outline of how the SSC handles complaints:

The captain of the team who was issued the complaint will receive feedback from the SSC based on comments from the GC and/or the opponent. This will be kept on file to compare any future complaints against the same team or player. At the SSC's sole discretion, the player or team may receive either:
- a warning;
- a game misconduct;
- a league ejection

Teams who have been issued a complaint are always welcome to provide their own feedback on the game in relation to the GC or their opponent.

No refunds are issued to players or teams that have been ejected from the league.

SPORTSMANSHIP/SPIRIT POINTS RATING SYSTEM - Updated for Fall 2006
Teams are awarded 3 points in each game, the totals below are a reflection the accumulated points at the end of the regular season and playoffs

ESSC Sportsmanship - It is a popularity contest!

LADY BING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Each season one team will be presented with the Lady Bing Sportsmanship Award. This will be a team who was nominated for EXCEPTIONAL sportsmanship by their peers. The team will be given a few fun things for being such a great team to play! Would you like to nominate a team? Click here.