Purpose and Structure

In order to address incidents in which NCS members exhibit excessively poor conduct and/or unsporting behavior during NCS-sanctioned events, and to ensure the fairest possible treatment of  members involved in such incidents, NCS maintains a Disciplinary Committee (DC) with authority to review complaints about members’ conduct when submitted on a “Confidential Conduct Report” to the Director of Officiating (DO)  (form available here: NCS Code of Conduct Report);  review evidence pertaining to cases; decide whether or not to award penalties against players; and enforce any penalties.

The DC will consist five (5) NCS Board Members:

1. the President

2. the Vice-President for League

3. the Vice-President for Women

4. the Vice-President for Juniors

5. the Director of Officiating (DO) who chairs the Committee and ensures that the below Procedure for Submitting and Reviewing Complaints is followed.   If not enough officers are available to form a Committee of five, the DO shall appoint NCS Board Member(s) sufficient to form a complete Committee, selection subject to the consent of the existing DC members.

Procedure for Submitting and Reviewing Complaints

(i) To submit a complaint from an incident with a Player, complainant must complete a NCS Code of Conduct Report (CCR) and submit it to the DO at Director of Officiating within two (2) weeks of incident.  If there are witnesses to the incident, complainant should include their names and contact details on the CCR.   Reports not submitted to DO within two (2) weeks of incident will not be reviewed.

(ii) DO submits CCR to Disciplinary Committee for review.  After review, DC decides by majority vote if follow-up for disciplinary action is necessary.   In that case, DO collects additional testimony from witnesses as available and submits testimony to DC for review.

(iii) DC reviews all available evidence and decides by majority vote if  CCR is to be sent to Player.   If DC so decides, Player may submit a written objection/rebuttal to the DO within fourteen (14) days .  Objection/rebuttal may include testimony from additional witnesses who shall confirm their testimony to the DO within seven (7) days . Unconfirmed testimony will not be allowed.    DO submits objection/rebuttal to DC whenever available.

(iv) After review of all evidence, DC decides by majority vote if disciplinary Penalty shall be imposed on Player.  If disciplinary Penalty is not imposed, the case will be closed.  Otherwise, DC will determine the Penalty and its duration.

(v) DO informs Player of Penalty and if appropriate, Player’s Club Professional or Team Coach and/or Team Captain(s).   DO also informs those individuals at the expiration of Penalty period that it has terminated.   During Probation and Suspension, upon the presentation of new evidence, DC may amend or reverse its decision.

(vi) During a Penalty period, if the DC receives a CCR indicating that the Player has repeated the offense, DC will follow the procedure for review.  If warranted, the DC may elevate the level of Penalty for the prior offense from that which would have been determined for an isolated or first offense.

Penalties

Probation

When a Player is on Probation, the DO may request of NCS Event Directors that they monitor the Player’s conduct.  Probation will not exceed one (1) year.   If there are no additional CCRs involving the Player for the duration of Probation, no further action will be taken and the case will be closed.

Suspension

Player is prohibited from participating in NCS events for a period of up to one (1) year.

Termination

Player’s membership in NCS is revoked.  Player may not be a member of NCS and may not participate in NCS events for a minimum period of two (2) years.   NCS shall refund Player’s annual NCS membership fee pro-rated to the date of Termination and inform US SQUASH of the Penalty.