Dear Members,
As a new season is now upon us it seems an opportune time to draw your attention to one of the more unsavoury, but necessary, aspects of running a hockey club such as ours.
Your Management Committee strongly believes that the actions and behaviour of club members sets the standards by which the club is judged by other members, parents and external parties. High standards enhance the experience for all and we have a responsibility to maintain those standards. Unfortunately, breaches of discipline, both on and off the pitch, are something which your Management Committee is called upon to address from time to time. In the past year there have been three unrelated issues that have required our attention. In each case, the matter was dealt with by an independent panel who considered evidence from all concerned parties, including independent witness testimony where available, before reaching a decision and imposing appropriate sanctions where they found there had been a breach of discipline. While it would be completely inappropriate to comment on the details of individual cases, your Management Committee are satisfied that the formal process followed has helped ensure all cases have been dealt with fairly and justly.
Those of you who are familiar with the Club Constitution will probably already know that the rules afford the Management Committee scope to deal with the broadest possible range of offences and to impose any sanctions they sit fit, including expulsion from the Club. However, as we’ve recently updated the document, we felt it would be useful to make you aware of the guidelines we follow when dealing with disciplinary matters. While you can also find this document on the Policies and Procedures page of this web site, it is published here for your convenience:
If you have any questions regarding general disciplinary matters or these guidelines then please speak to me or one of the other Management Committee members.
David Kitchiner
Chairman, Chelmsford HC