Code of Conduct

It is the policy of the Manitoba Curling Association to expect that every competitor and coach shall conduct himself or herself in a manner that respects the MCA, other Competitors, Competition Sponsors, the Host Committee, the Host Curling Club and Curling Fans.

1. DEFINITIONS

MCA - Manitoba Curling Association including its Board of Directors, Championship Liaison Representatives, Staff, Officials, and any appointed representatives.
Competitor - Any person (athlete or coach) who is participating in, or who has participated as a member of any team in any competition or event sponsored, promoted, endorsed or supported by the MCA.
Decision - Any decision or rule interpretation made, or disciplinary measure taken, by the MCA.
Competition – Any local, provincial, national or international event promoted, endorsed or supported by the Manitoba Curling Association. A competition shall include the timeframe covered by the entire time from departure to the competition through to and including arrival at home from the endorsed event.

2. OBLIGATIONS OF COMPETITORS AND COACHES

Each Competitor shall comply with all reasonable directions and instructions given to them by the MCA, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each Competitor is obligated to:

avoid any action or conduct that would reasonably be expected to reflect adversely upon the MCA and its athletes, teams, coaches, employees, officers, directors, members or sponsors and to conduct themselves in a manner which will bring credit to the MCA;
rely upon and utilize the Appeal procedure established hereunder to resolve any issues, rulings, complaints or conflicts that may arise during any competition and to exhaust all such Appeal procedures before making any disputed issues, ruling, complaints or conflicts public;
avoid any action or conduct that would reasonably be expected to significantly disrupt or interfere with a competition or the preparation of any Competitor for a competition;
avoid alcoholic consumption to a level which would cause a Competitor to behave in a disruptive manner during any competition; (Note: Consumption of alcoholic beverages during a Junior event sanctioned by the MCA shall include the timeframe covered by the entire time from departure to the competition through to and including arrival at home from the endorsed event, is prohibited);
avoid the use of drugs, other than those prescribed by a Medical Doctor; during stays in hotels/motels, etc., be subject to all provisions of this policy. If any damage is occurred to the hotel/motel by members of the team, the player(s) involved shall be solely responsible for restitution to the hotel/motel. The MCA may also administer disciplinary action in accordance with section 4 of this policy;
abide by the rules of the competition;
attend the designated competition team meeting and any banquet held in conjunction with the competition. If a competitor must be absent from the team meeting and/or banquet because of extenuating circumstances, prior permission must be granted by the Championship Liaison Representative. Failure to do so may result in the competitor being dealt with in accordance with section 4 of this policy.

3. APPEAL PROCEDURE

A Head Official may be appointed by, and serve at the direction of, the MCA (Officiated Play).
Where a Head Official has not been appointed by the MCA (Unofficiated Play), the MCA appointed Event Chairman will provide general supervision of and shall govern the competition. Issues the competitors cannot settle themselves shall be referred to the Event Chairman. All decisions by the Event Chairman on the rules of curling shall be final. All decisions not covered by the rules of curling may be appealed to the MCA as outlined in the MCA Policy Manual.
The Head Official has the general supervision of and shall govern any competition to which he/she is assigned and shall rule on all infractions of the rules of curling arising on-ice at the Competition. His/her decision on the rules of curling shall be final and cannot be appealed.
The Head Official is authorized to make decisions on matters not covered by the rules of curling and may directly intervene at any time in any game and give such directions concerning conduct of the game as he/she considers proper. The Head Official may remove a competitor from the game or competition area for what he/she considers to be abusive or unacceptable behavior.
A participating team may appeal a decision of a Head Official under 3(d) above to the Championship Appeals Committee. The Competitor must notify the Head Official before the game is completed that an appeal is being undertaken and that the game is being played under protest.
A Notice of Appeal shall concisely state the reasons and grounds for the appeal and shall be delivered to the Championship Liaison Representative within one-half (1/2) hour after the conclusion of the game.
The Championship Appeals Committee shall consist of persons who are not competing in the championship and shall include the Championship Liaison Representative of the MCA, the MCA Championship Event Coordinator, the Chairman of the Host Committee, a Member of the MCA Management Committee, the President of the Host Curling Club and a Member of the MCA Board of Directors. Any three of these shall constitute a quorum and shall rule on any matter properly brought to their attention. The Championship Liaison Representative of the MCA shall act as Chairman of this committee and preside over the selection of its members.
The Championship Appeals Committee shall meet, make a decision and notify the aggrieved within 24 hours of receipt of the appeal.
Only those parties directly affected by the decision, shall have a right to attend at the Appeal and be entitled to be represented at the Appeal by an agent or by legal counsel and shall have the right to present evidence and arguments thereat, provided however, that the Championship Liaison Representative shall be entitled to refuse adjournments including adjournments that are being requested to enable an agent or legal counsel to attend.
In the event the party with a grievance, which was properly taken before the Championship Appeals Committee, finds the decision of the appeal not satisfactory, a written appeal may be made within twenty-one (21) days of the decision by the Championship Appeals Committee, to the MCA Executive Director, as per the MCA Appeals Policy. The Executive Director will review the grievance within fourteen (14) days of receipt and shall notify the aggrieved within five (5) days of his decision to support or reject the decision of the Championship Appeals Committee. The decision of the MCA Executive Director shall be final.

4. DISCIPLINARY MEASURES

The MCA shall investigate at its discretion any infractions to the Code of Conduct Policy by a Competitor(s). The procedure shall be as follows:
1. The President shall appoint an Investigator(s) to review the incident and the Investigator(s) shall be empowered to reach a settlement. The appointed Investigator(s) will normally be a Director(s) of the MCA;
2. Should the Investigator(s) not reach a settlement the President will appoint a Discipline Committee to hear the report of the Investigator(s) in the presence of the Competitor(s). The Discipline Committee shall consist of three persons from the current Board of Directors of the MCA of which only one shall be a member of the Management Committee;
3. The Discipline Committee will rule on the contravention as per the discipline measures listed in 4(b) below;
4. The Competitor(s) may appeal the decision of the Discipline Committee to the MCA Board of Directors by Notice of Appeal within 7 days. The Notice of Appeal shall concisely state the reasons and grounds for the appeal and shall be delivered in writing to the MCA Executive Director. The decision of the Board shall be final and binding on both the MCA and the Competitor. There shall be no further appeal from the decision of the Board of Directors.
The MCA shall have the right to administer disciplinary measures in the event of contravention of any of the above-specified obligations by a Competitor. Such disciplinary measures may include but are not limited to:
1. Informal reprimand (verbal);
2. Formal reprimand (written);
3. Temporary suspension from a competition;
4. Permanent suspension from a competition;
5. Dismissal of entire team competing in a competition.
6. Permanent suspension from all competitions - Current Year
7. Permanent suspension from all competitions- 1 or more Years

April 17, 2004