Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Code of Conduct

(Violations can be reported here: Anonymous Code of Conduct Violation Report )

Youth sports are a fun and exciting time for players, coaches, parents, family and friends.  It’s a time of learning for the athletes about competition, team play, socializing, hard work and how to make that pay off.  Baseball, as America’s pastime is the perfect sport to education young athletes about all of these.  From time to time, “heat of the battle” issues arise during competition, develop during practices, or just things don’t go right.  Tempers flare and normal people just don’t act normal.  For these times, RYBA has developed a Code of Conduct and a Compliance Committee to handle these issues.  The following link will direct you to these policies and I urge you to read it carefully.


RYBA code of behavior outlines the issues that can impact a game and a team.  We have expectations that all players, coaches, families, and visitors will follow these codes.  We cannot address every individual type of inappropriate behavior but we provide these rules as a guidepost.

Violations for breaking the RYBA code of conduct will be strictly enforced (outlined in the section).  Any ejection will immediately require that individual(s) to leave the premises if the offender fails to leave the grounds for any reason, the game will be forfeited to the non-offending team.  If the individuals still will not leave, law enforcement may need to be called.


Any ejections of any kind are reported by the umpire to RYBA.  RYBA will then convene the Compliance Committee to investigate, meet, and go over the incident with all individuals deemed involved in the issue.  The Compliance Committee will hand down the decision and meet with the offending party in the issuance of its decision.

A critical aspect of the Code of Conduct deals with “Respect for the game”.  RYBA takes this seriously and this applies to not only players, coaches and umpires but also applies to the spectators themselves. Please read these and we suggest that you talk over these with your player, as well as family.  Abide by these and please report any conduct you feel is in violation of these principles. 

Compliance Committee

                On our website, you will see not only the rules, but the sanctions as well.  These are handled by the Compliance Committee.  This committee is important to maintain an unbiased investigation and ruling should issues arise.  You can read the make-up of the committee and how investigations and decisions are made.  Remember, the committee will not involve any board member that may be considered “part of the situation”.

Summary:  RYBA takes this policy very seriously.  Unfortunately, we meet a number of times throughout the year for issues that arise. Most are handled easily and efficiently, some take more time.
One question that always comes up is “how do I report a violation of the Code of Conduct if an ejection doesn’t happen and I want to point out the violation?”  RYBA urges you to please call or email the grade commissioner involved immediately.  Their email contact is located on the RYBA website and included in this link below:


                There is a very good article that has circulated around baseball lately.  It is from Mike Matheny, former major league baseball player and currently the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals.  It is a valuable read and we encourage everyone to give this a serious look.


Please remember these rules apply to not only house, K-8, but for all levels including traveling.  Our policies are guidelines and rules to ensure that the game of baseball is an enjoyable time for all and a time for learning valuable lessons of life and leisure.


Thank you,

Dan Herold
Past President

Rochester Youth Baseball Association (RYBA)