Team Swoop Parent/Guardian
Code of Ethics
As a parent or guardian, you play a special role in the development of
your child, and his teammates. Your encouragement and good
example will do more to ensure good sportsmanship and self-discipline than any other
influence. It is a privilege to have your son on Team Swoop and we will do our very best
to teach them that while winning is important; playing well and fairly is the essence of
the game. The other team is the opponent, not the enemy, and should be treated with
respect. The following is a list of guidelines we ask you to be familiar with and which
will help all of us achieve our goals.
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Support your child: Support your child by giving encouragement and showing
interest in his team. Teach your child that hard work and an honest effort are
often more important than victory.
Always be positive: Children learn more by example than by criticism. Work to
be a positive role model, and reinforce positive behavior in others. Applaud good
plays by others on your child’s team. Do not criticize any child’s performance
from the sidelines. Accept the results of each game. Teach your child to be
gracious in victory and to turn defeat into victory by learning and working
towards improvement. We often learn more from failure than from success.
Don’t be a sideline coach or referee: Refrain from coaching or refereeing
from sidelines. The coach should be the only sideline voice and chastising the refs
never helps our team. Remain within the spectator area and well back from the
sidelines. You and your child will both enjoy the game more if you put some
emotional distance between yourself and the court of play.
Demonstrate a positive attitude toward your opponents and their
families: Take care to show good hospitality local games and to represent Team
Swoop in a positive way when traveling to other venues. Never allow yourself to
be drawn into verbal disagreements with opposing parents or coaches. No one
has ever regretted letting "cooler heads prevail.”
Remember that your child wants to have fun: Your child is the one playing
basketball, not you. Take care not to impose unreasonable demands on your
child. Let him experience the fun of playing as well as the challenge of excelling.
Maintain a family friendly atmosphere: Remember that Team Swoop isn’t
solely about winning basketball games. We are striving to teach our players
about winning in the game of life. We encourage you and your child to bond with
his teammates and other families during social events that we at times attend.
Being anti-social and not wanting to do things as a team promotes individualism
and selfishness that will eventually transfer negatively onto the court. It’s about
the kids and them having friendships and memories with one another that will
last a lifetime. Always be mindful that children learn much more from what we do
than what we say.
To ensure that we can make this the best possible experience for your kids, we ask that
you set good examples by adhering at all times to these simple things:
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We will give only positive feedback to players.
We will not undermine any of Team Swoop’s coaching staff.
We understand that travel basketball is more challenging and intense than
recreational basketball and that because our child was the star in those leagues
doesn’t guarantee he will have the same success on the travel team level.
We will not approach the sidelines in the middle of the game and disrupt the
coach or the players.
Please be mindful that after games especially after any tough loss, please schedule
or talk with the coaches on the following Monday after an event is over regarding
any personal issues or concerns. Players, coaches, and parents are all emotional
at these times and it’s better to talk after everyone has had some time to clear
their heads. Often times, the coaches are more disappointed than you.
We will do our best to teach our players to become students of the game.
We will keep all negative thoughts to ourselves and will not corrupt or negatively
influence any other Team Swoop parents in the stands during games. If we have
an issue we will schedule a meeting with the coach in private.
We will show the quality of our sportsmanship during and after each game and
help our child to learn that by example.
We will do our best to have our child prepared before every game.
We will support the learning efforts of the players and coaches by demonstrating
our patience.
We will not question the coach regarding playing time of our child in the front of
everyone and will wait for an appropriate opportunity to do so in private. Best
practice is to approach coach and say “Coach what does our son need to do or
work on in order to play more.” A coach will be more open and honest with you if
you approach it that way.
We will not question the coach’s decision on which players start during games
and no player has any entitlement to specific playing time. Be mindful, especially
if you not familiar with the sport, that this is often the most difficult part of
coaching. Coaches have different philosophies and look for other things during
games besides who scores the most points. Our offense is designed for everyone
to score and we don’t want players trying to outscore one another by looking
other players off who may be open. Unselfish play, consistent effort on defense,
and good attitude is key. The coaches are here to help prepare and educate the
parents as well as players for the next level.
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We understand that improper behavior at a game may result in a parent being
asked to leave the gym by an official or tournament Director so the coach doesn’t
receive a technical foul due to the action of the parent or spectator.
We will leave the coaching to the coach during the game. We will not give our
child instructions during the game as this may confuse him.
We agree to do our best to have as much fun watching the game as the players
should have playing the game.
Acknowledgement
I have read, understand and agree to abide by and support this Team Swoop
Parent/Guardian Code of Ethics.
Parent/Guardian’s name: _______________________________ Today’s date: ___________
Parent/Guardian Signature: _____________________________________________________
Parent/Guardian’s name: _______________________________ Today’s date: ___________
Parent/Guardian Signature: _____________________________________________________