West Chester Area YMCA Marlins Grievance Procedure

 

The West Chester Area YMCA (WCAY) Marlins Grievance Procedure provides swimmers, parents, coaches, club leaders and employees a system to address and report grievances in a productive, systematic way. Following these Procedures provides the appropriate parties a means to properly investigate, intervene, and take disciplinary action when needed.  

WHERE TO REPORT:
For issues dealing with sexual misconduct, sexual harassment and/or sexually explicit or inappropriate communication through social media:

·       U.S. Center for SafeSport: 833-5US-SAFE (587-7233) or https://safesport.i-sight.com/portal

For issues dealing with physical abuse, emotional abuse, criminal charges and the use, sale or distribution of illegal drugs:

·       USA Swimming Safe Sport: [email protected] or https://fs22.formsite.com/usaswimming/form10/index.html

For issues dealing with known or suspected child abuse:

West Chester Area Police Department https://www.west-chester.com/183/Police-Department
Emergency Services
610-431-1212
610-696-2700

Emergency: 911

Pennsylvania State Police
https://www.psp.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx

PA Department of Human Resources
https://www.dhs.pa.gov/KeepKidsSafe/Pages/Report-Abuse.aspx
ChildLine: 1-800-932-0313
Child Welfare Portal: https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home 

WCAY Marlins Safe Sport Coordinator: Dave Acker <[email protected]>, 610-564-7265

For issues dealing with peer-to-peer bullying, coach-athlete bullying, parent issues, violations of the WCAY Marlins Code of Conduct and violations of the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policy.

·       These issues are handled at the club level following the procedures outlined below

WHOM TO NOTIFY OF A GRIEVANCE (Chain of Command)

Regarding the Conduct of a Swimmer - Contact the swimmer’s coach.

·       Should a parent or swimmer feel another swimmer’s conduct is inappropriate or violates the WCAY Marlins Code of Conduct, the parent/swimmer should discuss these concerns with the coach of the swimmer responsible for the violation (Responsible Coach). This complaint should be made in person or in writing. 

Regarding the Conduct of an Assistant or Age Group Coach - Contact the Head Coach

·       Should a parent or swimmer feel an Assistant or Age Group Coach’s conduct is inappropriate or in violation of any Club policies or procedures, the parent/swimmer should notify the Head Coach of this violation.  This complaint should be made in person or in writing.

Regarding Conduct of Head Coach – Notify the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director

·       Should a parent or swimmer feel the Head Coach’s conduct is inappropriate or violates any Club policies or procedures, the parent/swimmer should notify the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director of this violation.  This complaint should be made in person or in writing.   If the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director is not immediately available, this complaint may be presented to the WCAY Marlins Safe Sport Coordinator, with notification made in writing to the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director.  This complaint will be subject to review and discussion by the West Chester Area YMCA senior management and YMCA of Greater Brandywine senior management.

 

Regarding West Chester Area YMCA Staff Conduct - Notify the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director

·       Should a parent or swimmer feel a West Chester Area YMCA staff member’s conduct is inappropriate or violates any Club policies or procedures, the parent/swimmer should notify the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director of this violation in person or in writing. If the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director is the staff member whose conduct is in question, the Vice President of Operations for the YMCA of Greater Brandywine should be notified in writing or in person instead of the West Chester Area YMCA Executive Director. This complaint will be reviewed and discussed by the full YMCA of Greater Brandywine senior management.

 

Regarding Parent or Swim Official Conduct - Notify the Head Coach and Safe Sport Coordinator

·       Should a parent or swimmer feel another WCAY Marlins parent’s or an official’s conduct is inappropriate or violates any Club policies or procedures, the parent/swimmer should notify the WCAY Marlins Head Coach and WCAY Marlins Safe Sport Coordinator of this violation in person or in writing. If the WCAY Marlins Safe Sport Coordinator is the official whose conduct is in question, only the WCAY Marlins Head Coach should be notified.

 

Note: With the exception of issues which immediately affect the health and safety of swimmers, all matters should be discussed before or after a coaching session, as coaches should not be expected to deal with issues during water time.

 

HOW GRIEVANCES WILL BE HANDLED

The WCAY Marlins Coaching staff and West Chester Area YMCA senior management have the authority to impose penalties for infractions of the WCAY Marlins Athlete, Parent and Coach Codes of Conduct or any behavior(s) they deem not conducive to the best interests of the Club or other swimmers. Consequences are at the sole discretion of the coaches and/or West Chester Area YMCA senior management and may include, but aren’t limited to, verbal warnings, dismissal from practice, contacting parents, temporary suspension from club activities and expulsion. Involved parties will be informed of the processes and range of potential consequences. The U.S. Center for SafeSport, USA Swimming and local law enforcement (if applicable) will be contacted within 24 hours if a coach, parent, or swimmer violates the SafeSport Code for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movements, the USA Swimming Code of Conduct, Athlete Protection Policy, or local laws.

 

  1. Gathering Information: The appropriate individuals will contact the person who filed the grievance, and the person against whom the grievance is being filed, to ask questions about what happened. In addition, other witnesses may be contacted for more information.  All information will be recorded on the WCAY Marlins grievance procedure form. 

  2. Assessing Behavior: The behavior of the person(s) against which the grievance was brought, will be assessed using club policies and facility rules, USA Swimming Code of Conduct, USA Swimming Safe Sport policies, as well as applicable local and state laws.

  3. Consequences will be given and disciplinary action will be taken, if appropriate. These consequences and disciplinary actions will be decided using the following general guidelines: 

a.     Nature of the misconduct

b.     Severity of the misconduct

c.     Prior disciplinary actions

d.     Adverse effect of the misconduct

e.     Application of the Code of Conduct