Beadling Personnel Communication & Social Media Policy

Purpose: Beadling Soccer Club strives for excellence on and off the field and recognizes that innovations in technology have changed the way and frequency in which coaches and teams communicate.  While Beadling expects players to represent the club in a positive and professional manner, we expect coaches and Beadling personnel to always adhere to the highest standard.  This policy sets forth expectations with respect to communication (live, email, text, and all social media platforms) between Beadling Personnel and teams and/or players.

Coach and Beadling Personnel Communication & Social Media Expectations:

• Communication between Beadling Personnel and a minor or underage player must never be private.  A private communication is defined as one that cannot be interrupted by another adult.  

• Communication or conversation regarding illegal or age inappropriate topics should never take place and is not permitted.  This includes, but not limited to, drug and alcohol use, sexually explicit language & imagery, and any requests for players to comment on other player’s appearance, attractiveness or general abilities.

• Do not use SnapChat (or any similar app that automatically deletes the content of a communication) to communicate with players.

Clarifying examples:

• When communicating with a player(s) via text or email, you should always ensure that there is at least one additional adult in the communication stream.  Always include another Beadling-affiliated adult (coach or team manager), or the player’s parent or legal guardian if necessary.  If a player communicates to a coach privately, the coach should respond with including another adult in the communication stream as noted above.

• If communicating via any social media platform, ensure that the communication is public as no private channels are permitted.

• Beadling Personnel who are acting as a legal guardian (parent or legal guardian advanced approval) or in an emergency situation, are permitted to communicate privately but the topics should be kept professional in nature and be age appropriate.