Grievance Policy
The Quakertown Soccer Club (“QSC”) programs include children, parents, coaches and other individuals who serve the club and participate on intramural or travel soccer teams. The QSC soccer community has historically achieved success in the resolution of disputes by the parents, players and coaches without intervention by the QSC. QSC encourages the resolution of soccer team issues (conflicts, grievances and discipline) to occur within each team. It is important to remember that QSC is an organization generally staffed with unpaid volunteers from the community who have made an extraordinary commitment to the organization for the benefit of the children in our community. Without these volunteers QSC would not be possible. The following outlines QSC’s policies and procedures relating to the reporting and handling of grievances:
Description of Grievance:
Grievances most often concern an incident during a game or practice, the clubs program in general or inappropriate behavior by a coach, player, parent or other individual affiliated with or attending a QSC intramural or travel event. Grievances do NOT include parental concerns that involve questioning the soccer judgment, decision making or coaching philosophy of the coach or assistant coach. Questions relating to coaching style are often answered by speaking directly with the coach in a non-judgmental, respectful and appreciate manner.
Grievance Procedures:
Step 1. Report grievance to the head coach of the appropriate intramural or travel team. If this is not feasible or fails to resolve the issue then proceed to Step 2.
Step 2. Report grievance to the QSC Intramural Coordinator or QSC Travel Coordinator. This can be accomplished by personal notification or email. If this fails to resolve the issue, or is not feasible, then proceed to Step 3.
Step 3. Report the grievance to the President. This can be accomplished by personal notification, or through email. The President may either take action on the grievance, or request that a formal grievance report be submitted to the Executive Committee. If you are requested to file a formal report, all of the following information shall be submitted:
1. Date of the grievance filing;
2. Name, phone number and e-mail address of the person filing the grievance;
3. Name of player;
4. Team identification, including:
a. Name of team;
b. Male or female;
c. Intramural or travel;
d. Age group;
e. Name of acting head coach.
5. Complete description of issue. (Include as much detail as possible, including
date/time/location/names of witnesses, etc. if relevant);
6. Summary of steps taken in an effort to resolve the problem.
Dispute Resolution: The Intramural Coordinator and Travel Coordinator may, at their discretion, bring any grievance reported to President for consideration. In order to resolve disputes in the best interests of QSC, including its players, coaches, parents and officials, the officers listed above and/or the QSC Executive Committee may conduct investigations as deemed appropriate. Investigations may include, without limitation, convening meetings involving the party asserting the grievance and any other interested parties and/or interviewing players, parents or other QSC members relating to the grievance. The QSC Executive Committee reserves the right to take any action it may deem appropriate in response to the grievance including, without limitation, expelling or suspending players, coaches, parents or others from participation in QSC intramural and/or travel programs. All decisions made by the QSC Board of Directors are final and unappealable at the club level.
General Protocol: QSC encourages parents not to accost coaches immediately
after a game or tournament. It is well recognized in youth sports that a “cooling off” period is in everyone’s best interest after a game has ended. Waiting at least “24 hours” after a game has ended before communicating with the coach or submitting a grievance enables the emotions to wane and is more likely to further productive dialog. Patience, understanding and respect go a long way in cultivating a productive and positive relationship between players, coaches and parents.
Confidentiality: QSC recognizes the sensitive nature of certain grievances and will take all reasonable steps to insure that the information reported and gathered through investigation be kept confidential and only shared with those individuals necessary to resolve the grievance.
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