Zero Tolerance Policy

Little League Alberta Zero Tolerance Policy  

Little League believes all participants in Little league baseball deserve to be treated with respect. Players and game officials are learning the game. Coaches and managers are volunteers. To create an environment that allows all participants to learn and grow, little league Alberta will advocate and enforce a Zero Tolerance Policy with respect to abuse of any participant, Coach, manager, official, player or parent/fan.  

Abuse will be defined as any form of physical, emotional and/or sexual mistreatment or lack of care which causes physical injury or emotional damage to a child. A common characteristic of all forms of abuse against children and youth is an abuse of power or authority and/or breach of trust. In Alberta a person is considered a child up to the age of 18 years.  

Emotional abuse is a chronic attack on a child's self-esteem; it is psychologically destructive behavior by a person in a position of power, authority or trust. It can take the form of name-calling, threatening, ridiculing, berating, intimidating, isolating, hazing or ignoring the child's needs.  

Physical abuse is when a person in a position of power or trust purposefully injures or threatens to injure a child or youth. This may take the form of slapping, hitting, shaking, kicking, pulling hair or ears, throwing, shoving, grabbing, hazing or excessive exercise as a form of punishment.  

The Little league Alberta Zero Tolerance policy will include any abuse against adults including that which may cause emotional distress for our players, officials and fans.  

Any ejection for abuse will automatically result in a 3-game suspension, with the game in question counted as the first game. In the event the abuse comes from outside the playing field, a written complaint must be formally lodged with Little league Alberta. The complaint may be lodged by any player, coach, game official, or observer and must be signed by a Tournament Official plus another witness. Tournament Official will mean, District Administrator, League President or a Board Member of the league/District designated Diamond Director. The offending party will be immediately banned from the next two games, with the game in question counting as the first game.  

Any confrontation that escalates to physical violence defined as "intentional physical contact with force" will result in a suspension, the minimum being one-year suspension from all little league parks within the boundaries of Little League Alberta to a maximum lifetime suspension. Physical violence shall include but not be limited to pushing, punching, tripping, kicking or hitting with any object including a person's hand or any part of their body.  

For all Little League Alberta sanctioned events, the President/CEO of little league Alberta and/or a designate, will deal with immediate disciplinary matters in accordance with this policy. Should the accused desire to appeal, it is required they do so within 48 hours of receiving a discipline notice. The Discipline Committee will convene and deal with the allegation accordingly to the Disciplinary Action Policy. 

Any person that is subjected to a suspension is entitled to an appeal hearing before a committee convened to rule on the validity of the complaint. At such a committee meeting the ejected party shall have the right to hear all charges, read any written complaints and defend his/ her position to the committee. If any individual cannot attend the hearing, that individual may designate someone to speak on their behalf or provide a written statement to the committee. Should any individual pass on attending or participating in the opportunity to defend him/ herself the committee reserves the right to rule based on the material before them. The committee retains the right to impose sanctions for the good of little league Alberta, including its' players, coaches, managers, game officials and fans.  

NOTE: Any matter that is consistent with the likelihood of being a criminal offense will be referred to the local policy in the jurisdiction the alleged offence took place.  

SANCTIONS: 

Emotional Abuse Complaints: 

1st Offence - Minimum Two (2) Game suspension and permitted to return after completing the Provincial Child Abuse Course.  

2nd Offence- Minimum Five (5) Game suspension 

3rd Offence- Season Suspension and meeting with Disciplinary Committee prior to being permitted to return  

4th Offence- Lifetime suspension  

Little League Alberta Disciplinary Action Policy Procedure Guidelines  

The Little League Alberta Disciplinary Action Policy and Guidelines apply to players, coaches, parents, spectators and Little League officials and should be read in conjunction with the Little League Alberta Zero Tolerance Policy.  

The Little League Alberta Appeal Hearing Committee shall be convened on receipt of an appeal by any party that has been suspended. The appeal must be received in writing to the Chairman of Little League Alberta or the Summer Travel Ball Coordinator.  

The Little League Alberta Hearing Committee shall consist of the following members, or in their absence, a designated representative. All disciplinary action shall be decided by a majority vote of this Committee: 

• Little League Alberta Chairman
• Provincial Umpire in Chief / or a District UIC appointed by the LLA Chairman (not dealing with the original decision) if an on-field matter or a LLA Executive Member if not an on-field matter
• A District Administrator not involved in the process

The Little League Alberta Hearing must be held within five (5) days of the appeal. The meeting will be held virtually by ZOOM if the committee desires. 

• A more immediate time frame will be used to address incidents that occur during Tournaments. 

The following parties shall be entitled to attend the Disciplinary Hearing to answer questions from the Hearing Committee and provide additional information for the Committee's consideration when deciding action to be taken. 

• All parties involved in the incident under review
• In the event a player is under review, one parent must attend with the player.
• Witnesses, if any, on behalf of each party including game or league officials who witnessed the incident.

The Disciplinary Hearing shall be conducted in the following manner. Each party shall be notified of their scheduled Hearing time. Each party shall meet with the Hearing Committee separately. Each party is required to remind outside of the Hearing room until all parties have been interviewed. This will enable the Committee to verify any additional/conflicting information received during the interviews.  

The hearing will proceed as follows:  

Discipline decision will be made by the Discipline Committee of Little League Alberta. It will consist of the President/CEO, Divisional Director, & Provincial or Designate. 

• The committee members will convene and select a chair from among the members present 

• The accused or his/her representative will be asked to be present
• The official complaint and penalty applied shall be read into the record or heard from the President of little League Alberta.
• The accused party shall have an opportunity to respond for up to (5) five minutes.
• LLA/Accuser will be allowed to call witnesses one at a time who the hearing committee chair shall ask for his/ her evidence.
• The accused will be allowed to call witnesses one at a time who the hearing committee chair shall ask for his/ her evidence.
• Once the hearing committee is satisfied it has the information it requires the hearing will be adjourned
• The 4-person committee will reconvene without any witnesses to render a decision in the matter within three days, the decision will be delivered in writing to the accused and copied to the President of the league involved, the District Administrator of the League involved, and the Little League Alberta Executive.
• All non-party witnesses must remain outside.

The decision will be final and binding. Should new information come to light the committee reserves the right to recall the issue based on a majority vote of the original members of the hearing committee.  

The Little League Alberta Appeals Hearing Committee decision shall be final. Further Appeals will not be accepted. Each party has the opportunity to present their views and pertinent information at the Hearing. In the event that any party is unable to attend the scheduled Hearing, they have the right to be represented by a designated speaker on their behalf or to submit their views in writing for the Committee's consideration.  

The Little League Alberta Committee decision may not be waived, or disciplinary action reduced by any party. In the event that additional information becomes available after the Committee has met, the Hearing Committee may reopen with a majority vote of the Committee members present at the original Hearing. 

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