Historically, the CU community has successfully resolved concerns by parents, players, coaches and trainers without the intervention of the CU board. For this reason, the CU Board strongly encourages parties to resolve issues within each team by discussing their concerns directly with the Parent Manager (PM).  The PM can then consult the CU By-Laws, Code of Conduct, PM Liaisons, and Director of Training to appropriately address the concerns.

When approaching a PM please remember:

* They are volunteers who have made an extraordinary commitment for the benefit of the children in our community.  Without their efforts, CU soccer would not be possible.

* Patience, understanding and respect go a long way in cultivating a productive and positive relationship between players, PMs, parents and trainers.

* Discussions should always be non-judgmental and respectful.

* PMs should not be approached during or immediately after a game.  Youth sports universally recognize a “cooling off” period of 24 hours before addressing an incident to enable all involved the opportunity to rethink and review the circumstances and details of the issue.

If the issue cannot be resolved through the PM, CU has the following formal grievance policy to facilitate the effective resolution of issues in a timely and confidential manner.

(Please note that the process below applies only to grievances within the CU community.  Issues with the
opposing team’s players, parents and coaches must be addressed via the team PM and CU League contact)

Description of Formal Grievance:

Grievances typically result from 1) A specific incident that occurs during a game or practice or 2) a pattern of behavior over the course of the season that violates the CU by-laws or Code-of-Conduct.  A grievance can be lodged against any PM, player, parent, trainer or CU Board member.

Grievance Procedures

Step 1:

Attempt to resolve the issue directly with the team PM as outlined previously.

Step 2:

Escalate the grievance to the CU Board Ombudsmen committee by writing to chathamunitedcomplaints@gmail.com (Please also email chathamunitedreg@gmail.com to indicate to us that you have sent in a complaint. This email account is not actively monitored).  The Ombudsmen committee, which is comprised of parents from the Chatham community, formally reports to the CU President, but operates independently and is authorized to investigate all issues.  Any Ombudsmen committee member that identifies a conflict of interest with the persons involved in the grievance will recuse herself/himself from the grievance investigation.

The CU Ombudsmen committee recognizes the sensitive nature of certain grievances and will take all reasonable steps to insure that the information reported and gathered through the investigation be kept confidential and only shared with those individuals necessary to resolve the grievance.

Step 3:

The Ombudsmen committee will thoroughly investigate the grievance based on reviews of CU by-laws/Code of Conduct and discussions with all necessary parties, including Parents, PMs, trainers, and officials.

Step 4:

Recommend action to the CU Board for final review and implementation.  The CU Board reserves the right to take any action it may deem appropriate in response to the grievance including and without limitation, suspending or expelling players, PM, parents, trainers, or board members from the club.  A formal response will be sent to the originator of the grievance outlining the decision of the Ombudsmen committee, actions taken and follow-up procedures.

All decisions made by the Ombudsman and Board are final.