League Disruptions and Incidents

 
 

Our team at NYC Footy focuses quite a bit of energy keeping the game clean, fun and as wholesome as possible. Recreational team sports, like soccer, are designed to get people out, active and socializing in a competitive (but not ridiculous) environment.

Unfortunately, events happen that do not fall within the accepted scope of behavior or service delivery that we expect here at NYC Footy.

We know that certain events can effect the player experience, and so we have created a way for players to help notify NYC Footy when league disruptions or incidents affect their experience.

Incident Reporting

Our referees have an incident reporting feature in our official NYC Footy referee app. This feature allows referees to notify the league about incidents that are important for league staff to be made aware about. Examples of incidents include:

  • Major injuries

  • Equipment failures

  • Red cards

  • Abusive or concerning language

  • Overly aggressive or violent behavior

  • Other breaches of our code of conduct.

For players, we have an incident reporting for available here, which allows players to also submit a report if they experienced or witnessed a concerning incident that they feel is in the best interest of NYC Footy staff to be made aware of.

Management of incidents

Once an incident is reported, NYC Footy staff members review the report to see if additional action is required (e.g. supporting a player that suffered an injury, investigating a breach of our code of conduct, etc.). If It is decided that a particular report requires an investigation, then the individual submitting the report will be contacted within a week of the submission for further details.

League Disruption Reporting

Though we have a league disruption submission protocol, this does not mean you, as a player, should expect to experience a disruption. We work very hard to avoid any disruption to our community, but we know that unexpected events may happen and we want to ensure that we are made aware so that we can make it right.

Similar to incident reporting, players are encouraged to report a league disruption event here so that the event can be investigated and appropriate action (e.g. game rescheduling) can be taken.

Players that experience a league disruption must submit a league disruption event via our league disruption form within one (1) week of the disruption event.

Examples of league disruptions include: 

  1. Referee/League staff late arrival or no show 

  2. Delayed start caused by the referee or league staff

  3. Missing or damaged equipment or field (such as goals or field conditions)

  4. Schedule conflict; a park/facility being used by another permit holder; blackout time or date; field is inaccessible.

  5. Weather related events

  6. Forfeit without notice   

  7. Other  (to be explained by the person submitting a report)

Management of league disruptions.

Once a league disruption is confirmed, NYC Footy will do our best to address the event appropriately. For instance:

  • Delayed kickoff: If a game began late as a result of a late-arriving official, the official in question will be put on notice by the league. Additional offenses may lead to suspension or removal of official duties.

  • Game-time shortened: If a game is shortened meaningfully (> 10 minutes) as a result of a late official, or failure of a previous permit holder to leave the field, NYC Footy will first work to ensure this does not happen again (e.g. address the league official, contact the Parks Department, etc.) and also work to extend a future game time to make up for the inconvenience. If there are repeated occurrences, NYC Footy will work on adding an additional game to the schedule.

  • Significant game-time shortened or game unplayable: If a disruption leads to a shortening of a game by a half or longer, NYC Footy will work to reschedule said game as a double-header in a future week. If that is not possible, then NYC Footy will reschedule the game at a later date/time and/or different location and provide compensation proportionate to the inconvenience via a discount code or credits.

  • If rescheduling the game is not possible due to field availability or other reasons, the game will be considered played and entered as a 0-0 tie for standing purposes. The affected team/players will receive compensation proportionate to the inconvenience via a discount code or credits.

  • If rescheduling a game is made possible, it is expected that the teams will attend the rescheduled game.

    • If one team does not agree to attend or rejects the option(s) offered, the game will be considered played and the opponent will receive a 3-0 win for standing purposes (there will be no forfeit penalties assessed)

    • If both teams do not agree to attend or reject the option(s) offered, the game will be considered played and a result of 0-0 tie will be logged for standing purposes.

    • In all cases above, team captains will speak on behalf of their entire team (including Free Agent team captains).