LEAGUE DISCIPLINE

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The 2009 season went much like the last and once again the Disciplinary Committee was called upon to deal with a number of issues.

At the outset we asked for each Club to supply a copy of its Disciplinary rules and the response was excellent. This enabled us to monitor the fact that Discipline was something that was taken very seriously by you and that we all had a vested interest in ensuring that the game is played in the right spirit, with indiscipline having no place in either the League or the sport. Sadly though, on occasions, this was not put into practice.

We approach Disciplinary matters in a number of ways:

1. Require Clubs to deal with matters at first hand, without the necessity of League intervention.
2. Apply an instant summary penalty of a two week ban, in appropriate cases.
3. Convene a Disciplinary inquiry in more serious incidents or in the event of a Club not accepting our recommendations.

We believe that this process has generally worked well but is not infallible and we will be once again reviewing the process before the pre season meeting in April.

The purpose of having Clubs deal with matters at first hand is done to ensure that each Club acts on any referral that is made and this year one Club in particular, Dringhouses, dealt with an incident in an exemplary way. Following a report from an Umpire in a Division Five fixture, the Club convened a meeting in accordance with its own Disciplinary rules and demonstrated fully how to properly deal with the seriousness of the offence. The report from their Secretary Mark Hayter was exceptional, thorough and well presented. Guidance was sought in areas of difficulty and the principle of working together was applied to deliver a fair reasonable and appropriate result and penalty.

In recent years the “summary” procedure has been put into effect well and again this year was no exception with a number of Clubs responding well to our intervention and recommendations. The result of the exercise being that the Disciplinary Committee has only been convened on four occasions, one of which was to deal with an administration, rather than an on the field misbehaviour issue and in one case, when a Captain was called to answer charges, his account was accepted and the complaint dismissed. This was a perfect example of working together to reach the right conclusion on an incident.

At Disciplinary hearings, the members who have sat on the Committee have been more than qualified to deal with matters, applying experience, fairness and an aptitude to the problem in hand. I have also continued to adopt the policy of generally not having the attendance of those who have reported problems and we will continue to do this. It is to ensure that in the event of a problem, the matter can be brought to our attention without the anxiety of having to attend a meeting and to be taken to task. It does not however prevent a complainant attending if they wish to do so or at the request of an individual against who an allegation has been made.

Whilst there is much debate about the extent of the penalties applied, which in one case was described as “harsh” and in another “soft,” this will always be a contentious issue and although decisions can often be in a grey area, an objective view is always taken. The principle is that the right message has to be delivered in order to maintain standards and try to advocate that indiscipline is a means to chaos and will jeopardise the future enjoyment of the game and the increasing of participation both at playing, scoring, umpiring and Official levels.

Discipline continues to be an area of development and does evolve with each incident and will continue to do so. We are continually striving to improve upon our efficiency and how we apply the rules and fix the penalties. The principle of Clubs and the League “working together” becomes even more relevant.

An area of concern on a personal level is the derogatory comments made by a small minority which are detrimental to those who I have an association with. No one should have to tolerate this and whilst I continue to be committed to the position that I hold, those who have an issue with the matters that I am entrusted to deal with should subscribe to the principle of taking steps to prevent incidents from happening instead of leaving the Disciplinary Committee to try and “cure” it or blame others to detract from their shortcomings.

I am of course grateful to all those individuals and Clubs that have been in the forefront of issues this year, particularly for their patience and understanding, where matters could have been dealt with differently or untarnished by breadwinning work commitments. Misunderstandings and tolerance in an occasional telephone conversation has shown to me that the calibre of all who are entrusted or volunteer to be a Guardian of their Club, is exceptional.

In my final remarks for this year, the only thing missing is the Oscar, although it is other people that deserve that and not me. My thanks during the year are extended in particular to my fellow Officers, our League Chairman Bernard Stevens, Albert Pattison, Rob Richtering and John Goodrick. Their support, tolerance and understanding has once again been exceptional and as a League we would be so much poorer without their commitment and good Counsel. Equally, your League Committee are the foundations upon which the League survives and I would like to express my thanks to them for their invaluable contributions and commitment.

Stephen Carr

Disciplinary Secretary

DISCIPLINARY PENALTIES IMPOSED BY LEAGUE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE
DURING YEAR ENDED 30^TH SEPTEMBER 2009:

† Penalty imposed by club .

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