Club Code of Conduct – Athletes

Rowing and Young People
Rowing provides an excellent pathway for children and young people to learn new skills, become more confident and maximise their own potential.
Through your participation, you can learn and develop life skills, have fun and enjoyment, make friends and experience life in a way that can enhance your personal growth throughout your lives.
Rowing Ireland wants sport to be safe, to be fun and to ensure that all rowing and associated activity takes place in the spirit of ‘Fair Play’.
Fair Play Charter
Fair play is the guiding principle of the Sports Council Code of Ethics as well as the Rowing Ireland Code of Ethics and Good Practice which is designed to provide guidance for those working with young people in rowing. It states that “All children’s sport should be conducted in an atmosphere of fair play”. Ireland has contributed and is committed to the European Code of Sports Ethics, which defines fair play as: “much more than playing within the rules. It incorporates the concepts of friendship, respect for others and always playing with the right spirit.
Fair play is defined as “a way of thinking, not just behaving”. Standards of behaviour are as important as sports performance.
In taking this approach you are encouraged to:

  • Do your best – put in your best effort.
  • Improve and develop your skills.
  • Make friends.
  • Play by the rules.
  • Appreciate/accept everyone in the group, regardless of ability, race, religion, gender etc.

As a member of Lee Rowing Club, you are entitled to:

  • Feel safe and secure when you are taking part in your sport
  • Be treated fairly by everyone: adults and other athletes
  • Be treated with dignity, sensitivity and respect.
  • Participate in rowing on an equal basis, appropriate to your ability and stage of development.
  • Be happy, have fun and enjoy the sport.
  • Say no to something which makes you feel uncomfortable
  • Make a complaint in an appropriate way and have it dealt with through a proper and effective complaints procedure.
  • Be listened to, believed and allowed to reply
  • Know that any information the Club holds about you is treated with confidentiality
  • Have a voice in the decisions that affect you within the Club and Rowing Ireland

As a member of Lee Rowing Club, you agree to:

  • Treat other athletes, coaches, committee members and volunteers with fairness and respect.
  • Play fairly, do your best and have fun.
  • Make high standards of Fair Play the standard others want to follow.
  • Respect opponents. They are not enemies; they are partners in a sporting event.
  • Congratulate opponents after events, whoever wins.
  • Give opponents a hand if they are injured and make allowances so they can get attention.
  • Accept apologies from opponents, when they are offered.
  • Respect fellow crew/squad members and support them both when they do well and when things go wrong.
  • Act as role models for younger members
  • Treat rowers from minority groups with the same respect you show other people.
  • Be modest in victory and be gracious in defeat: “Be a Sport”
  • Approach the club Child Welfare Officers with any questions or concerns you might have.
  • Coaches and parents should encourage children to speak out and support them in doing so.

You should not:

  • Cheat.
  • Use abusive language or argue with umpires, officials, crew mates or opponents.
  • Use violence
  • Bully (See Anti-Bullying Charter)
  • Tell lies about adults or other children.
  • Spread rumours.
  • Take banned substances to improve performance.
  • Keep secrets about any person who may have caused you harm.

Anti-Bullying Charter

  • There shall be no name calling (either face to face, behind one’s back, or on social media)
  • There shall be no physical abuse
  • There shall be no ganging up on people
  • There shall be no exclusion of people
  • There shall be no slagging
  • Everyone should feel respected
  • Problems should be discussed
  • We all have responsibility to ensure that bullying is not tolerated in our Club