At its mid-year meeting in 2001, the United Soccer Coaches Board of Directors approved the following Code of Ethics and Conduct, which was implemented immediately. It is provided here as a service to our members.

• Soccer is the players’ game. The paramount concern of coaches is the holistic development, welfare, enjoyment and safety of their players.

• Coaches bear responsibility for teaching their players to strive for success while playing fairly, observing the Laws of the Game and the highest levels of sportsmanship.

• Coaches shall treat officials with respect and dignity, and shall teach their players to do the same.

• Our opponents are worthy of being treated with respect. Coaches will model such respect for opponents and expect their players to do likewise.

• In both victory and defeat, the behavior of a coach shall model grace, dignity and composure.

• Coaches shall adhere to the highest standards and the regulations of the institutions they represent: clubs, schools, sponsoring organizations and sports governing bodies.

• Coaches have a responsibility to promote the interests of soccer, including treating media with courtesy, honesty and respect.

• Coaches shall model inclusive behavior, actively supporting cultural diversity while opposing all types of discrimination, including, but not limited to, racism and sexism, at all levels of soccer.

• Coaches are responsible for taking an active role in education about, and prevention and treatment of, drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, both in their own lives and in the lives of their players.

• Coaches shall refrain from all manner of personal abuse and harassment of others, whether verbal, physical, emotional or sexual, and shall oppose such abuse and harassment at all levels of soccer.

• Coaches shall respect the declared affiliations of all players, and shall adhere to all guidelines and regulations on recruiting established by the governing bodies having oversight of their teams and leagues.

• Coaches shall seek to honor those who uphold the highest standards and principles of soccer and shall use appropriate protocol to oppose and eliminate all behavior that brings disrepute to the sport - violence, abuse, dishonesty, disrespect and violations of the Laws of the Game and rules governing competition.

Members who have questions concerning this Code of Ethics and Conduct or who wish to become involved with the committee’s work in ethics for the sport of soccer, please contact:

Dr. Brian Crossman, Chair, United Soccer Coaches Ethics Committee, Covenant College, 14049 Scenic Highway, Lookout Mountain, GA 30750

Office Phone: (706) 419-1513 Email: crossman@covenant.edu