Vision

The West Sacramento Girls Softball (WSGS) strives for a safe and healthy environment for all participants and espouses the ideals of positive sportsmanship and behavior appropriate for supporting a climate that nurtures the development of good moral, physical, and mental standards for its youth players. As such, WSGS expects all participants in the league to understand the ideals reflected in the Code of Conduct and demonstrate acceptable behavior at

all times.

Responsibility for Conduct

The following section outlines six areas of unacceptable behavior and provides the potential minimum and maximum penalties for violations. Players, league volunteers, parents, and spectators with past Code of Conduct violations may face more severe penalties than those identified as potential maximum penalties below.

It is the expectation of the league that managers are responsible for keeping league volunteers associated with their team, as well as their players, parents, and spectators, to a standard of behavior aligned with WSGS’s vision. Managers are responsible for the behavior of all parties related to their team.

Players, league volunteers, parents, and spectators shall not:	Potential minimum penalty	Potential maximum penalty
Consume alcohol or use illegal drugs, marijuana, or tobacco on the field or in the playing area (bleacher and other areas routinely used by spectators) during practices, games or other activities where players are present	Ejection from field or playing area	Ban from field or playing area for all practices, games, or other league activities and report to appropriate authorities, where applicable
Signal “time”, “safe”, “out”, “fair ball”, or “foul ball” or use any other phrases such as “swing” or signals of the umpires that could confuse the players, managers, or coaches	Suspension for remainder of game	Suspension for two full games following the game of incident
Initiate unwanted physical contact or demonstrate hostile behavior or be physically aggressive toward any player, game official, league volunteer or director, or spectator during practices, games, or other league activities	Ejection from practice, game, or other league activity and suspension for two full games immediately following the ejection	Suspension for remainder of the season and the next full season
Use vulgar language or hate speech or be verbally abusive toward any player, game official, league volunteer or director, agency representative, or spectator during practices, games, other league activities, or via social media or other settings including, but not limited to, taunting, harassment, intimidation, threats, bullying, or offensive gestures	Ejection from practice, game, or other league activity and suspension for two full games immediately following the ejection	Suspension for remainder of the season and the next full season
Refuse to abide by a decision or ruling made by a game official or league volunteer or director in the course of a practice, game, or other league activity	Ejection from practice, game, or other league activity and suspension for the next full game immediately following the ejection	Suspension for remainder of the season
Fail to leave the field or playing area immediately if ejected	Suspension for next full game immediately following the game of ejection	Suspension for remainder of the season

Violation Review Process

If unacceptable behavior is witnessed and/or a manager’s attempt to resolve a problem directly or with the assistance of a league Board member is unsuccessful, a formal complaint should be submitted in writing to the league President, including date and time of offense, details or the event, and names and contact information of witnesses where available. The Board President will coordinate with the board to determine if the complaint may be a violation of the Code of Conduct and gather additional information where necessary.

A Code of Conduct violation review will be initiated for complaints deemed to be a potential violation. The league President has the power to immediately suspend any person with a serious enough charge against the person to warrant such action, until after the hearing. The following process will be used as a general guide for the Code of Conduct violation review.

Violation review hearing scheduled for next regularly-scheduled league Board of Directors meeting
Involved parties invited to address Board members in an time-limited (no more than 10 minutes) open session during the Board of Directors meeting
Violation review completed by Board members during closed session at the Board of Directors meeting
After the completion of the hearing, the Board of Directors will do one of the following: admonish, temporarily suspend, expel, establish probationary period, or acquit the accused
Involved parties will be notified in writing of the results of the hearing within 10 days following the Board of Directors meeting

Acknowledgement

A registered player or league volunteer will not be permitted to participate in practices, games, or other league activities until this document is signed and returned to the manager.

By signing below, I/we:

Agree to abide by the Code of Conduct as outlined above
Acknowledge that the Code of Conduct has been described in detail to the registered player, where applicable
Understand that spouses, relatives, or friends that attended practices, games, or other league activities are subject to the Code of Conduct

Parent/Guardian/League Volunteer Signature: ______________________________________

Print Name: ______________________________________

Date: ______________________________________

For parents/guardians, please list the name(s) of the registered player(s):

Player 1: ______________________________________

Player 2: ______________________________________

Player 3: ______________________________________

For league volunteers, please check the appropriate box:

Manager
Coach
Dugout parent
Scorekeeper
Other, please specify: ______________________________________