Grievance Policy

Competitive team athletics, by its very nature, creates situations where everyone may not be happy all the time. Knowing when to communicate and how to communicate with your athlete’s coach may be a concern for parents at some time during the season.

Most often the concern is how to inquire about issues surrounding playing time. At Pioneer Volleyball Club, we require the athlete to take responsibility for their participation. For this reason, we expect the athlete to talk to the coach first when they have a problem concerning their playing time, or if they are unclear about what the coach expects from them either in practice or competition. The appropriate way to do this is for the athlete to ask the coach what they need to do to get more opportunities to play in matches.

Coaches have been instructed not to discuss coaching decisions with a parent. These coaching decisions include, but are not limited to specific match decisions, substitution patterns, etc. The coach will not be required to defend his/her thought process or conclusions in the determination of playing time, and it is improper for a parent to request that.

Parents are never to confront a coach at a tournament. If you wish to speak with the coach regarding an issue during a tournament, we have a 24 hour policy. You must wait 24 hours to contact the coach, this is to protect you from saying or doing something that could jeopardize your child’s position with PVC.

Specifically, the procedures to follow if you as a parent, or your athlete as a member of a PVC team, have concerns about PVC policies or a coach’s actions are, in this order:

• The athlete will speak or meet with the coach to discuss the matter.
  
  
• If the matter remains unresolved, or if the athlete has reasonable concern that speaking to the coach will not resolve the matter, the parent should speak to or meet with the head coach. Parents should contact the head coach via phone or email to setup a meeting. Meetings are to be at times and locations other than tournaments. If a coach is approached by a parent during a tournament, we have instructed the coach to refuse to discuss any controversial matter, to refer the parent to the Club Director and to walk away from the situation. The recommended time for a parent and/or athlete to talk to a coach about a problem is a previously arranged meeting time either before or immediately after a scheduled practice.
  
  
• If the matter remains unresolved, or if the parent has reasonable concern that speaking to the coach will not resolve the matter, the parent may speak to the Head Coach and the Club Director. In certain situations, Pioneer Volleyball Club may ask the athlete to attend the meeting also. Meetings should be previously arranged. Meetings will not be scheduled during a tournament. The Head Coach or the Club Director will not engage in discussions about “coaching decisions.”
  
  
• If the problem remains unresolved, the final resolution will be a committee of 3 members of the program consisting of members of the board of directors and coaches. Members of the committee must have no personal interests in the outcome of the grievance.
  
  
  Other Policies Regarding Grievances
  PVCwill not tolerate hostile, aggressive confrontations between a parent and any official, or a parent and any coach, or a parent and any athlete, or a parent and any other parent, whether the coach, athlete or other parent is a member of PVC or not. Violation of this policy may result in the athlete being dismissed from Pioneer Volleyball Club without refund.
  
  It is inappropriate for an athlete or a parent to approach other PVC members about a problem the athlete or parent is having with a PVC coach, about objections to coaching decisions, or about disagreement with an administrative decision. Asking uninvolved people to take sides in an issue is unfair to the third party and to the Club.
  
  For the psychological health of the teams and the Club as a whole, grievances need to be handled between the parties involved and in the proper manner. If an athlete or parent is approached and asked to listen to, or express an opinion about matters between two other parties in the Club, it is strongly encouraged to refer the complaining party to take the matter up with the coach in question, the Head Coach, and/or the Club Director.
  
  Any member who, as a third party, hears remarks or stories about PVC, its employees or its policies, that cause the member to be concerned, is encouraged to contact the Head Coach and/or the Club Director immediately to determine the facts, or to alert the club administration to a situation it may be unaware of.