ZERO TOLERANCE NCR SPORTS BLACKHEATH TAG

Tag has been getting quite competitive recently(a growing number are joining at the most basic level, while there is an increase of very experienced ones) where situations have led to some unnecessary disruption on and off the field. We are also concerned about the sensitive area of discrimination and innuendos which is just as wrong as direct accusations. The fact we are all so very much connected, we need to be vigilant of rumour’s and how misinformation spreads.

We believe it’s mainly due to the following factors:

Misunderstanding and not cross referencing information from the correct source.
More players and competitiveness
Different levels of play and behavioural patterns
Organisers not taking it serious enough.
Refs accepting unnecessary tackles or collisions.
No proper rules to define what contact is in Tag.
Most players have full contact experience and habits are inclined to pop up now and again unintentionally.
Some players not taking the game seriously enough and acting out of character taking the fun element out of tag.

Zero Tolerance really came about due the growing incidents of contact on the tag playing field. The aim is to bring contact to the fore and expose a strong awareness of it. There is no hard and fast rules here, it’s just a campaign(attempt) to reduce the amount of collisions whenever possible.

Any clubs or leagues associated with TRugby.Com supports the ‘Zero Tolerance’ campaign for the health, safety, and fun of the sport. This new policy states that their organisers, refs, and staff must address all concerns including discrimination and bullying.

It’s very helpful if organisers or refs can sense situations erupting. For this reason, we look out for early signs.

When contact situations arise, it must be addressed especially if there is anybody intimidated, effected, or hurt when it comes to such incidents.

They have the right to call out any such situation without fear of being singled out in a negative way and positively feel assured there is accountability. To successfully provide this attention, a mutual respect between all the league/club staff and players must be in place.

All staff aim to be polite, helpful, and sensitive to all players’ individual needs and circumstances. They would respectfully remind players that very often staff could be confronted with a multitude of varying and sometimes difficult tasks and situations, all at the same time. The staff understand some players do not always act in a reasonable manner and will take this into consideration when dealing with complaints:

As a rule, under no circumstances will this be tolerated:

Bad language or swearing
Any physical violence towards any person
Verbal abuse of any form including verbally insulting one another
Racial abuse and sexual harassment will not be tolerated

Persistent or unrealistic demands that cause stress to anyone will not be accepted. Requests will be met wherever possible, and explanations given when they can. We ask everyone to be always courteous.

Analogy from Iwan Basten an avid skier and sailor with ref to contact

To offer both a ski and sailing perspective….
Beginners(1) crash into each other all the time, but never very badly.
Advanced(2) sailors or skiers almost never crash into each other but when they do it’s bad as they are going for it.
Put the two together and you get the outcome of frequent bad collisions.
Group 1 do things group 2 don’t expect and group 2 are not in a mindset all the time to allow for group 1 learner behaviour.

Solution, in both sports, is to control group 2 the advanced mindset and behaviour when mixing with group 1.

Sailing does it, skiing does it, warning more advanced people to take extra care around less experienced.
Max fine is prison in both sports!

For social media purposes we ask those supporting this campaign to use #Contagless