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Rules of the Club 2007
1.
Annual Subscriptions for individual or family membership, as agreed at
each AGM, are renewable in January each year. In the case of a Family
membership, this entitles 1 person in that family to vote at any General
Meeting. The subscription for 2007 is £25.
2.
Membership of the Club requires all swimmers to attend training at least
twice a month. Failure to do so may result in their pool time being
withdrawn. A condition of the Club’s affiliation to Special Olympics UK, is
that that our swimmers are required to train for 26 weeks of the year.
3.
Swimmers must be on poolside, doing their warm-up exercises, and be ready
to enter the water at the start of a session, currently 1.00 p.m.
(Saturday) and 6.30 p.m. (Sunday). To avoid disrupting the session, members
arriving late will NOT be allowed to swim.
4.
For reasons of hygiene, all swimmers must enter and leave the pool area
via the main changing rooms and use the showers and footbaths provided.
5.
Swimmers are required to provide their own drinking bottles and ensure
they are brought to all swimming sessions. Swimmers leaving items of equipment
at home will be charged 5p. Loss of Club equipment, on loan to swimmers, will
be charged for at cost.
6.
Only Coaches and Pool Staff are allowed on poolside at training
sessions. The Team Manager/Head Coach may suspend a member for misbehaviour,
or conduct likely to endanger other members, or on medical grounds, as set out
in paragraph 13 of the Club Constitution (copy available from Secretary).
7.
All main-pool swimmers are expected to participate in a minimum of 50% of
the competitions for which they are eligible during the year, subject. Please
see him if in doubt about eligibility
8.
All other swimmers, once capable of swimming one width, with or without
assistance, are expected to participate in at least 50% of the competitions for
which they are eligible during the year. Please see Team Manager if in doubt
about eligibility.
9.
When signing up for an event, a Parent/Carer’s signature must accompany
the swimmer’s name. A swimmer who withdraws from the event after the closing
date will be asked to pay £5 to help cover the cost of entry fees and travel.
10.
Swimmers must wear their full kit (i.e., Reading Cygnets tracksuits and
Reading Cygnets swimwear, as designated) when travelling to and competing in all
events in which they are representing the Reading Cygnets Swimming Club.
11.
Parents/Carers are expected to accompany swimmers to all events wherever
possible. Where the arranged travel is by coach, this is subsidised by the
Club and is free to the swimmers. For all others travelling with them a charge
will be made, based on the hiring cost of the coach, divided by the total number
travelling, up to a maximum charge of £10 per person. (Occasionally an
additional cost may be incurred, e.g., the ferry to Isle of Wight galas, and
this will be added.) A Parent/Carer not accompanying a swimmer will be charged
£10 and asked to pay this in advance.
12.
Where subsidised coach travel has been arranged, ALL swimmers are
expected to use it. Parents/Carers wishing to use their own transport should
first take swimmers to one of the designated pick-up points to board the coach.
They may, however, take swimmers home by their own transport, if they so wish,
providing they have first informed the Team Manager and gained permission.
As stated in 11 above,
Parents/Carers are expected to accompany swimmers to events wherever possible.
In cases where they are unaccompanied, it is the Parents/ Carers’ responsibility
to be at the designated drop-off point in time to collect them from the coach on
the return journey, as Team Officials cannot be responsible for the safety of
unaccompanied swimmers after they leave the coach.
CODE OF
CONDUCT FOR READING CYGNETS SWIMMING CLUB
Dress Code for
Swimmers attending all Competitions
Club tracksuits to be worn
when travelling by coach to away meets
Only Club swimsuits, tee-shirts, hats and shorts to be worn when on
the poolside.
Behaviour and Personal Conduct
Stay together as a team at all times. Ask Team Managers for
permission to
leave the poolside.
Listen to instructions given by
Team Managers, Coaches and any pool-side helpers
No booing other competitors or
clubs. This is not good sportsmanship and should not be encouraged.
Mobile phones are not to be used
on poolside, particularly ones which take photographs. These contravene ASA
rules.
If attending meets where overnight
stays are involved, suitable dress to be worn when going for meals and when
walking around the hotels.
Adherence to “Lights Out” times
must be obeyed. Leaving the rooms after these times will not be permitted.
This includes all the swimmers including the over 18s.
Respect other people are who are
also staying at the hotel. Noise should be kept to a reasonable level, and
when using radios, CDs
Smoking will not be permitted.
Drinking of alcohol will not be
permitted during the duration of the competition. Exceptions to this rule may
be permitted on the last evening of the competition for swimmers over 18 years.
THE GOOD REPUTATION OF THE READING CYGNETS
SWIMMING CLUB MUST BE OF THE HIGHEST STANDARD
AT ALL TIMES
Policy on Photography and Photographing Swimmers
Why Have a Policy?
This Policy applies to all photographs
taken on film or digital camera (including mobile phones) and all sorts of
moving pictures including video recordings (and video streaming).
The terms “child” or “children” include
anyone under the age of 18 and
vulnerable adults
There has been much talk about whether it
is safe to have images taken of children participating in sport.
Whilst the great majority of images are
appropriate and are taken in good faith, it is a fact that images can be
misused and children can be put at risk if common-sense procedures are not
observed.
To set out such procedures, this Policy has
been prepared by the Amateur Swimming Association (“ASA”).
The ASA acknowledges the assistance of the
Premier League and is grateful for their consent to the reproduction of
elements of the Premier League Code of Practice “Images of Children’s
Participating in Activities at Premier League Clubs” within this Policy.
Aims of this Policy
First, as in all matters concerned with the
safeguarding of children, the ASA aims to help Clubs establish and develop
good practice.
Second, the ASA aims to help Clubs avoid
three potential sources of child abuse:
A. The use, adaptation, or copying of
images for child abuse, either on the internet or in print.
B. The possible identification of a child
when an image is accompanied by significant personal information which can
lead to the child being ‘groomed’.
C. The identification and locating of
children where there are safeguarding children concerns. Such cases would
include, for example, children who could be compromised by an image
because:
They are removed from their family for
their own safety.
There are restrictions on their contact
with one parent following a parental separation.
They are a witness in criminal proceedings.
The ASA have been aware of
cases where the photographing of swimmers has been used for illicit
purposes. Such illicit photos are taken by persons purporting to be
official photographers, hence the ruling that no one unconnected with an
event i.e not a parent/carer takes photos unless they are a suitably
approved photographer and have the consent of the meet manager.
Recommended Best Practice
1. The publishing of a photograph of
swimmer under 18 either on a notice board or in a published article or
video recording (including video streaming) of swimming competitions
(“Publication”) should only be done with parents consent and in line with
ASA guidelines. An issue has arisen in the past where a child’s photo was
published and led to a parent under court order only to have supervised
contact with that child, discovering their whereabouts and making direct
contact.
2. A parent or guardian has a right to
refuse to have children photographed. The exercise of this right of
refusal should not be used as grounds for refusing entry into a swimming
competition. Therefore any photo that may go to press or on a notice
board, be it through a member of the club or official photographer, should
have receive parental consent before publishing/ displaying the photo,
preferably in writing. A suggested Form allowing parents to indicate
refusal of consent is set out below.
3. Under ASA guidance on the taking of
photos once a parent has signed the Club’s Photography Book Register we
are happy for them to take photos on the belief that their swimmer is the
main subject of the photograph. Other competitors nearby may be included
in the shot but should not be the main subject of the photo. However,
another person can object to a parent/carer taking a photo if they believe
their child not the child of the photographer to be the main subject of
the photo, but in practice this seldom happens.
4. In the case of Open meets and other
competitions where the host club has an Official Photographer present all
parents attending should be made aware of this in your meet details. If
photos are to be published anywhere the individual parent should be given
the opportunity to withhold their consent. Their right to do so should be
specifically drawn to their attention. The ASA guidelines on photos for
publication are as follows:
All photographs must observe generally
accepted standards of decency in particular
Action shots should be a celebration of the
sporting activity and not a sexualised image in a sporting context.
Action shots should not be taken or
retained where the photograph revels a torn or displaced swimming costume.
Poolside shots of children should normally
be above the waist only in a swimming costume though full length tracksuit
shots are approved.
Photographs should not be taken from behind
swimming blocks at the start of a race or exhibit young swimmers climbing
out of the swimming pool.
Published photographs may identify the
swimmer by name and club but should not state the swimmer’s place of
residence or school attended.
The ASA do not wish to stop parents
photographing their children if they wish at their "moments of glory" but
all clubs have to ensure they do all we can to safeguard children’s well
being in the current climate of concern.
The Official Photographer
The aim of each Official Photographer
should be to help celebrate and promote swimming
When taking an image they should be asked
to
Focus on the activity rather than the
individual child
Include groups of children rather than
individuals if possible.
Ensure all those features are appropriately
dressed.
Represent the broad range of youngsters
participating in swimming – boys and girls, disabled children, members of
minority ethnic communities.
Photographers should be invited to apply
for inclusion in the ASA list of Designated Children’s Photographers,
explaining to them that they will be screened and trained by the ASA on
safeguarding children matters before they are placed on the list.
Clubs should screen applicants for their
suitability (just as they would check any other member of staff or
volunteer working with children) and then provide training for them in the
Club’s Safeguarding Children policies and procedures
The Official Photographer (whether a
professional photographer or member of the Club Staff) should receive
clear instructions, preferably in writing, from the Club at an early
stage.
Clubs should provide them with a copy of
this Policy and a clear brief about what is appropriate in terms of
content – images should not be allowed to be taken outside the activity
being covered.
Clubs should determine who will hold the
images recorded and what is to be done with them.
Policy on videoing children during club
sessions
The videoing of children during club
sessions is not recommended. Any videos that are taken would have
to be justified by the club as to why this video has been made. (e.g. to
assist in swimming stroke development).
Assuming a video is taken then the written
consent is required from the parents of the children with an invitation to
the parents to attend the videoing and subsequently view the video.
Any concern and the videoing should cease
and the video not used.
After videoing, unless it can be justified
as to why the video is to be kept the videoshould be destroyed once it has
served its purpose.
Additionally, the videoer should be
extremely careful in the content of the video.
Mobile phones
Mobile phone should be registered as a
camera if it has that facility in line with ourpolicy on cameras. All
clubs need to make its members aware that while the ASAdoes not support
the banning of phones as children need them to keep in touch withparents,
particularly in emergencies, they support a requirement that manufacturers
ensure they add a “noticeable sound” that it is audible if a phone camera
is used.In the meantime clubs should remind members any photos taken
should come within our guidelines and that if
mobile phones are taken into changing rooms the facility to take photos
must not be used.
Should photographs (with or without) names
of children be posted on a club website?
It is recommended that individualised
photographs should not be kept on a clubs website and certainly not with
identifying names as this could lead to a child being approached and
placed in a vulnerable position. The same applies to a clubs printed
materials such as a clubs annual report
The only exception to this policy is where
the child’s parent or carer provides specific written consent to the Club
publishing photographs.
This consent may be withdrawn at any time
and Club’s should take all reasonable steps to respect the wishes of the
parent/carer
FORMS TO REFUSE PHOTOGRAPY/VIDEOs ARE AVAILABLE FROM
THE WELFARE OFFICER = See contacts
Or
DOWNLOAD FROM HERE
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