Soccer is a player’s game. The paramount concern of each coach is the development, welfare, enjoyment, and safety of each individual player.
A coach bears the responsibility for teaching each individual player to strive for success while playing fairly, observing the laws of the game while displaying the highest level of sportsmanship.
A coach is responsible for cultivating each individual player’s love of the game.
Each coach carries the responsibility for teaching character building values such as respect, hard work, perseverance, courage, trust, honesty, humility and pride to each individual player.
Each coach shall seek to improve his/her knowledge of the game and coaching to ensure that he/she is providing age appropriate information and the best development experience to each individual player.
Each coach shall treat officials with respect and dignity and shall teach each individual player to do the same.
ALL opponents are worthy of being treated with respect. A coach will model such respect for opponents and expect each individual player to do the same.
In both victory and defeat, the behavior of the coach shall model grace, dignity and composure.
Each coach shall adhere to the highest standards and regulations of the institutions he/she represents: clubs, schools, sponsoring organizations and sports governing bodies.
Coach 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 the games.
Each coach is responsible for taking an active role in education about prevention and treatment of drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse in the lives of each individual player.
A coach 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 the game.
A coach shall respect the declared affiliations of each individual player.
A coach 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.
The Oklahoma Soccer Association would like to thank the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association for allowing us to use their code of ethics as templates during the development of our code.
