LEVITTOWN SOCCER CLUB
INTRAMURAL AND SNOOPY PROGRAM

ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY - REFEREE ABUSE

adopted by LSC Board 8/29/07

There is a nation-wide shortage of referees in soccer due in part to the verbal tirades and physical threats that young referees are subjected to by unsporting coaches and spectators. These novices often leave the system at an early age, affecting all levels of soccer up to the World Cup. The referees who officiate our Snoopy and Intramural games are our children, and should not be subject to fear or intimidation of any kind during a match. Therefore the following ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY is immediately adopted by the Levittown Soccer Club Board and will be strictly enforced:

Based soley on the referee report, an immediate 1 game coaching suspension (and prohibition from attending the suspended game as a spectator) will automatically be issued to any Coach or Assistant Coach who commits any of the following actions:

1. Places a referee in fear of physical harm

2. Fails to control a team parent or spectator, thereby placing a referee in fear of physical harm

3. Creates or contributes to a disorderly atmosphere at a match which in the referee's opinion precludes the safe completion of the match

4. Creates an atmosphere of intimidation and fear for any referee by any means, including but not limited to persistent verbal abuse, repeated dissent, and/or entering the field of play without the referee's permission for the sole purpose of engaging the referee

At the discretion of the Levittown Soccer Club Board, a Disciplinary Committee may be convened to interview the subject coach before reinstatement to game-day coaching activities is permitted.