PAXTON YOUTH SOCCER ADULT CODE OF CONDUCT

Please realize that everyone wants you to enjoy the games.  This page is provided in an effort to assist you and your player in gaining the maximum benefit possible from the soccer match. Below are some simple rules you should observe.  Please consider them carefully.  Our coaches have been advised to ask parents to follow this code of conduct at games and practices. 

• Support your player. Please do your best to attend practices, clinics, and games.  Your player’s skills will improve only with practice. Remember to pick up your player on time. Make sure your player arrives to activities with proper equipment, water, and dressed for the weather. 
• Do not shout instructions to your player. This will cause confusion and may result in erroneous play on your player’s part. The coach has instructed your child on how to play. If you shout instructions, your player will probably try to please you and the coach at the same time. In trying to do two things at once, the player may fail at both. 
• Cheer for your player when they successfully play the ball. However, remember your player is a member of a team. Let the other players know you support them. Refrain from disparaging or degrading remarks. 
• “Suffer in silence” whenever something occurs that goes against your player’s team. A display of anger may inflame a delicate situation resulting in embarrassment for you or your player. Some adults embarrass their players by making a spectacle of themselves. 
• Always be a gracious competitor. Remember that the adults supporting the other team are equally enthusiastic about their team’s success. 
• Do not run up and down the sidelines.  Find a comfortable place, ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE FIELD FROM THE PLAYERS, to sit down or stand and enjoy the match. 
• Do not shout insults at the referee. Adults should NOT communicate with the referee. The referee has the power to stop the match if the crowd becomes discourteous. To have been the cause of such drastic action would be a humiliation to you, your player, and the team.  
• If your team loses, adopt a positive attitude.  Compliment your player for good plays and effort. Ignore the mistakes. Your player will be happy you noticed the good qualities over a loss. 
• Remember — your player will forget about today’s game. Next week they will probably have forgotten the score.  However, both of you will remember that you had a good time playing the most popular sport in the world.  
• No pets are allowed at the soccer fields at any time. 
• All non-playing minors must be supervised at all times.
• Absolutely no alcoholic beverages are permitted at any soccer game – home or away. 
• Don’t be a sideline coach or referee. Paxton Youth Soccer coaches and referees are adult volunteers. They volunteer their time to help make your player’s soccer experience a positive one. They need your support, too. That means refrain from coaching or refereeing from the sidelines. In a volunteer organization like Paxton Youth Soccer there is always an opportunity to take your interest in coaching or refereeing to the next level and become one yourself! 

Coaches must ensure that adults are thoroughly familiar with the code of conduct that is expressed in these rules. Remember — the referee has the authority and responsibility to eject a coach from a game if they don’t keep proper spectator control.