Codes of conduct can serve as a moral compass for your student-athletes. But, to be effective, they must be revised on a frequent basis.

By David Paling

David Paling is the Director of Athletics, Health, and Physical Education for the Middleboro public schools in Middleboro, Mass. He is a frequent contributor to Athletic Management.

Whether you are a new or veteran athletic director, you have probably faced situations involving your code of conduct. If you have done a great job writing and communicating your code, the process should go smoothly: The wrongdoing is reported and the appropriate penalty assessed.

But sometimes the application of the code is not so easy. Maybe the code is not completely clear or is inconsistent with the school's own code of conduct. Maybe the rules that a coach communicated to the team are not exactly the same as those written in the athletic department code. Or maybe the code is outdated.

When was the last time you reviewed your code of conduct? Here at Middleboro (Mass.) High School, we are currently revising our code, as are several other athletic departments in our state. In the process, I've learned there are some important rules to follow when it comes to making a code of conduct fair, consistent, and up-to-date.

Rule #1: Update your code to match the current climate.
At Duxbury High School, located in a suburb of Boston, Athletic Director Thom Holdgate found his code of conduct under fire after two athletes were dismissed from their teams following an incident involving alcohol. The football team's captain and a golf team member were riding in a car where alcohol was found but not consumed.

"Our school policy said that if an athlete was found in the presence of alcohol, dismissal from the team would be the result," says Holdgate. "This was a more stringent policy than our state association holds, and underscored the fact that our school viewed this violation as a very serious matter.

"It's important to note that our zero-tolerance policy stemmed from several deaths that happened here in the mid 1980s, all involving alcohol and high-speed driving," continues Holdgate. "Our school had reacted to these tragedies by assuming this clear and strong position."

But almost 20 years after the alcohol-related tragedies, the zero-tolerance policy was heavily scrutinized. Some Duxbury parents took exception to the athletes' removal from their teams, and a series of strained and tense meetings were held to air out both points of view. Was this rigid position still the best fit?

"Our football captain played a prominent role on the team, so there was some controversy associated with his dismissal," says Holdgate. "Some parents felt we were being overzealous and that their kids were suffering as a result of the rule. They felt we should be more focused on helping our kids rather than having a very strict rule."

At that point, Duxbury administrators conceded to the parents and revisited their long-standing chemical health rule. They now follow the state association's standard and impose a two-week suspension (for a first offense) if in-season athletes use, consume, or possess drugs or alcohol. Athletes merely present in these situations would no longer be automatically dismissed from their team. There is also an added caveat: The athlete must also meet with a counselor for risk assessment purposes.

Rule #2: Make sure your codes are in sync with other rules.
Along with being outdated, Duxbury's zero-tolerance alcohol rule was problematic because it didn't follow the state association standards. When revising your code of conduct, it's critical to carefully examine if your athletic department policies mesh with other standards, such as school policies, state association rules, and any state laws.

For example, here at Middleboro, athletic policy states that failure to participate in physical education class disqualifies a student from participating on a sports team later that day. The administration feels that this rule is a good way to encourage participation in physical education by all students, so we have made sure it appears in our athletic handbooks and our high school handbook as well. It's important that this policy is clearly understood by all athletes and coaches.

Staying in sync with state association rules is mandatory to avoid having players disqualified or having to forfeiting games down the road. The more important ones we publish in the Middleboro athletic handbook include those that focus on academic eligibility, chemical health, transfers, game ejections, and taunting.

You should also know about the latest state and federal laws that might pertain to your code of conduct. For example, here in Massachusetts, hazing is considered a criminal act. Therefore, along with being dismissed from their team for hazing, student-athletes need to know they may also face criminal charges. Jail time, fines, or both can result. We make a point to go over this part of our code of conduct very carefully.

Rule #3: Make your code clear to your coaches.
Codes of conduct can backfire when coaches don't understand and embrace them—something that happened here at Middleboro. Because I want as many kids as possible in our school to participate on teams—my ideal world includes a 100-percent participation rate in athletics—one of our rules reads, "Generally, no student may try out for a team after one month of the season has elapsed." This leaves open the opportunity for students to join the team late if there have been extenuating circumstances.

However, our football coach was working hard to build commitment on his team and decided it would be counter to his efforts to allow anyone to join the team after the first day of practice. He was challenged by an athlete who had skipped preseason to take a family trip, yet still wanted to join the team. The coach did not interpret the rule to mean he had to let new athletes join, and there was a difference of opinion.

We decided to reach a compromise. The player was allowed on the team with the stipulation that he would miss a prescribed number of games in order to make up the lost time. But, more importantly, I realized the need to revisit the one-month rule in our handbook, which we plan to do this spring. It was intended to allow athletes to join teams after the season has started, but can be interpreted otherwise.

Another aspect of your code that should be clear to your coaches is what leeway they have in making their own rules. At Dennis-Yarmouth High School, Athletic Director Bob Haff thinks carefully about what part of the code should be team-specific.

"For example, we don't have a departmental policy on what the consequences will be for missing a practice," Haff explains. "We think that the unique nature of each sport has to be factored into this decision, so we let the coaches make this determination on their own.

"The role I play in this is to collect each set of team rules before the season starts and simply make sure that they are all compatible with the bigger picture," he continues. "You don't want one coach to use rules that are overly out of sync with those of other coaches."

Rule #4: Leave room for a range of penalties.
One of the biggest points of contention with conduct codes is whether the penalty fits the wrongdoing. When Duxbury revisited its conduct code, it made sure to set up a range of penalties. To cover things like profanity, unruly conduct, and fighting, penalties range from warnings to two-week suspensions. For more serious offenses such as theft, gross unsportsmanlike conduct, and any second violations of the aforementioned, immediate removal from a team for the remainder of the season is usually the result.

Athletic directors also advise leaving some leeway with penalties. Holdgate says that when penalties are doled out, he takes into consideration the athlete's previous disciplinary record, the severity of the offense, the degree of danger to self, others and the school, and the degree to which the student is willing to change his or her behavior.

"Every case is different," Holdgate says. "You can't impose the same penalty for an athlete who stops at a party for one minute for the first time ever versus the kid who has a history of drinking and was at the party for three hours."

Haff agrees, adding that if codes are too specific, administrators can find they've painted themselves into a corner. "A more general-by-design approach will let you factor into your decision such things as the severity of the violation and the history of the person who broke the rule," he explains.

Rule #5: Consider loosening no-absence rules.
At the varsity level, most athletic departments expect student-athletes to attend every game unless they are sick, injured, or have a very persuasive excuse. However, some athletic departments are starting to loosen this rule and make it more sensitive to students' busy lifestyles.

We recently ran into this dilemma with a soccer player who skipped her last game of the season to attend a concert. The game had been postponed and the rescheduled date conflicted with the concert. The player had paid a lot of money for the ticket and, with her parents' approval, chose to attend the concert.

Our athletic handbook has a rule stating, "Athletes are expected to attend all scheduled competitions…and missed games may result in failure to earn the letter awards," so the coach decided to dismiss the player from the team. Consequently, she did not receive the traditional letter awards. The parents thought that since the game had been rescheduled and the conflict was unintentional, their daughter should have received her awards.

While I stood by the coach's decision, it made me wonder if this rule was too rigid. The facts in this case—the final game of the season, a rescheduled contest, and a player with a spotless history—presented an element of gray to a seemingly black and white rule.

The same questions can arise for team practices, which has led Hanover High School Athletic Director Fran Coyle to become more flexible with his policies on absences from team functions. "These days, kids are pulled in a lot of different directions," he says. "You could have an athlete involved in another co-curricular activity that occasionally requires and expects his or her attendance, just as sports do. There has to be some wiggle room to provide for these situations."

Rockland High School provides for extended absences from team practices with a rule that first requires communication from the athlete to the coach about the specifics of the absence. Their rule also specifies that the athlete may be suspended from play for a number of contests not to exceed the number of contests missed due to the absence. Ditto for practices. Practice sessions must be made up before being allowed to return to contest competition.

"It's the most reasonable position we've found," says Rockland Athletic Director Gary Graziano. "With family commitments sometimes taking students away from sports, we've taken a middle-of-the-road solution to the problem."

Rule #6: Allow for due process.
Your conduct code should also explain the process of how penalties for breaking conduct codes will be issued. In many cases, the level of wrongdoing will determine the process.

For example, here at Middleboro, when there is a minor violation, I will conduct the investigation and issue the penalty with the athlete's sport coach. For a major violation, there will be involvement by assistant principals or the principal. The state association rules regarding chemical health, for instance, require that the principal confirm there has been a violation. Often, the situation will dictate the level of administration involved.

Another important component is how due process works at your particular school. Most schools allow students and parents to present a defense if they don't agree with the penalty. It's important that this process is clearly spelled out in your code of conduct.

At Middleboro, we ask that athletes and parents first take their concerns directly to the coach. If they are not satisfied, they can request to meet with the athletic director. If they are still unhappy, they can go to the principal. From there, they can appeal to the superintendent of schools.

Rule #7: Communicate the code.
The last step to revising a conduct code is the communication of its contents. There has to be a clear understanding between the school, athletes, and parents. The handbooks all athletes receive are a common vehicle to convey this information. Most handbooks contain sign-off forms, akin to signing a contract, where parents and athletes indicate they have read, understood, and accepted the information.

At Hanover, Coyle makes sure coaches go through all the rules with their athletes, while at Duxbury, Holdgate meets personally with each team. "I also highlight a lot of our rules through articles in our local newspaper," Holdgate says. "We are very thorough when it comes to getting the word out."

Getting the word out ultimately serves the real purpose of the codes: instilling the values that will benefit your student-athletes throughout their lives. The presence of conduct codes can be a powerful, positive force within a high school, and help create a vibrant learning environment.

Certainly, not everyone will agree with your codes and how you implement them. But if you include enough specifics, provide a process, convey the information, and ask for signed consent, then your experiences should prove to be good ones. In the end, you are providing your student-athletes a moral compass that will help keep your house in order.

Sidebar: WHO SHOULD REVISE?
It's important to revisit your conduct code on a periodic basis. But who should be involved in reviewing and revising it?

At Duxbury High School, the conduct code is reviewed annually by Athletic Director Thom Holdgate, two coaches, two student-athletes, at least one parent, and a school administrator. "The things that need to be tweaked are tweaked, and the things that seem to work fine are left in place," says Holdgate. "Any changes we make are then reviewed by our principal. He may have the school council react to it, and ultimately it goes before our school committee."

Here at Middleboro, we will formally review our athletic code of conduct, as well as our general policies and practices, this spring. Our review committee will consist of myself and as many of our head coaches as possible. I will ask committee members to use their experiences to help analyze our rules and suggest possible changes. We will ultimately bring our changes to the principal to be certain that they mesh with our high school handbook.

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