| Complaint Policy
The BYHA has a process in place to properly deal with issues of concern. In order to ensure that your concerns are dealt with as quickly and promptly as possible please follow the following procedures. Please note that verbal concerns are not dealt with by the BYHA as official complaints.
Concerns Directed to the Administration Group:
The only concerns that should be directed to the Administration Group are related to administrative issues such as registration, refunds and questions of a general information nature.
Please note that under no circumstances is the Administration Group to be approached with respect to complaints regarding the running of a team, coach selection, issues regarding referees, game scheduling, etc. The Administration Group is not involved in any of these processes directly and they cannot and will not address these issues. All other concerns must be directed as outlined below.
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Team Concerns:
All concerns regarding the running of a team (ie player ice time, exhibition games, tournament selection) need to first be directed to the team. This means discussing any issues with the Head Coach or Manager if you feel comfortable (after following the twenty-four hour rule). If you are uncomfortable approaching the Head Coach directly then discuss your concerns with the Team Parent Representative.
The Team Parent Representative is to act as an intermediary between the coaching staff and the parents (further information on the role and responsibilities of the Team Parent Representative can be found in Resolution 3.10).
Every team in the BYHA is required to have a Parent Representative elected by the parents on the team (not appointed by the Coach) at the start of each new season. If your team does not have one then contact your age group Convenor who will discuss the election of a Team Parent Representative with your Coach and the appropriate League Vice-President. Any team that does not elect a Parent Team Representative will have their Head Coach suspended until such time as the Team Parent Representative is elected.
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Team Finance Concerns:
Questions regarding team finances are to be directed to the team Manager who is responsible for communicating all budgeting information directly to the Coaching staff, the Parent Representative and all of the parents and players on the team. For more information on fundraising and team budgets see Resolution 28 - Ways and Means.
For more information on the responsibilities of the Team Manager – Representative see Resolution 6.0 Manager - Representative. For more information on the responsibilities of House League see Resolution 8.26 - Financial Reports. For more information on the responsibilities of Intra-City see Resolution 9.08 - Team Budgets/Finances.
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Forwarding Concerns to a League Convenor:
Convenors assist the League Vice Presidents to ensure that teams comply with OMHA Regulations and Policies and the BYHA Resolutions. This includes issues such as suspension clarification, game sheet collection, carding, AP rosters, tournament paperwork, playoff requirements, resolutions issues, budget collection, anything regarding the administration of keeping the team on the ice in conjunction with the BYHA and OMHA guidelines. Please address your concerns in writing and forward to the Convenor for your age group and include a copy for the appropriate League Vice-President. The Convenor is required to address your concern(s) in conjunction with the League Vice-President and any other interested parties.
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Forwarding Concerns to a League Vice-President:
Each League is responsible for the running of the league and the governance of the league as per the League Resolutions. If you feel your concerns have not been adequately dealt with by your Parent Team Rep or by your League Convenor then forward your concern to the appropriate League Vice-President. Concerns must only be forwarded in writing only, no emails (attention General Manager) after following all of the above steps. The League Vice-President will respond accordingly (i.e. may deal with the matter directly, through a discipline committee, may bring the concern to the appropriate League, Executive or Board Committee for further discussion) and in a timely fashion.
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Forwarding Concerns to the Executive Committee:
Concerns must only be forwarded in writing only, no emails (attention General Manager) after following all of the above steps. The Executive Committee will only deal with issues that affect the Association as a whole. All other issues should be directed to the above. For more information on the Executive Committee see By-Law 7.08 Executive Committee.
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Team Parent Representative Concerns:
All elected Team Parent Representatives are able to voice concerns regarding issues within their team, league and / or the Association through the Parent Rep Team meetings that are held periodically during the course of the season. The meetings are co-ordinated by the Vice-President Parent Rep and each of the three duly elected League Parent Reps. For more information on how the Parent Rep process operates click on the page titled Parent Rep.
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Coach Selection Concerns:
The BYHA has developed a Parent Participant coach evaluation form, which is an important tool in assisting in coach evaluation and coach selection. It is therefore critical that as many evaluations as possible be returned. Starting with the 2004 / 2005 season the BYHA will post statistics regarding the number of questionnaires sent and received by league so that Members are able to see how many forms are returned with the hope that the number of returns will increase each year.
Any concerns regarding Coach selection must be provided to the Association BEFORE the coach selection process has begun. Complaints received after coaches have been selected will not be considered in the current coach selection process . Further, all concerns must be in writing, signed and dated and forwarded to the head of the appropriate League Vice-President. For more information on the Representative League coach selection process see Resolution 13.0 Coach Selection.
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Officiating Concerns:
Before sending in a concern regarding referring see the Protest and Appeal Concerns section below. All complaints about refereeing concerns (conduct, attitude, etc) must be put in writing attention of the Referee-in-Chief for the BYHA and forwarded to the General Manager for processing. Further information on the Fair Play and Code of Conduct for Officials is found in the Referee Manual posted on the Referee's page of the BYHA web site.
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Harassment and Abuse Concerns:
The BYHA follows the Ontario Minor Hockey Association requirements for the prevention of abuse and harassment in the game of hockey. If you feel that your concern relates directly to an issue of harassment and abuse please forward your concern in writing to the President of the BYHA care of the General Manager.
All BYHA personnel ( part-time and full-time staff, volunteer, participant, team official, on ice official) have a legal responsibility to inform when a person has reasonable grounds to suspect a participant is, or may be suffering, or may have suffered from emotional, physical abuse and neglect and/or sexual abuse; and shall immediately report the suspicion and the information on which it is based to the local child protection agency and/or the local police detachment. For more information on Harassment and Abuse see Resolution 14.04 - Harassment and Abuse.
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Concerns addressed to the OMHA:
The OMHA will only deal directly with the center contact (a person desiginated by the BYHA to receive official communication with and between the OMHA) and will not respond directly to issues of concerns raised by Members of the Association. Please do not copy the OMHA or contact them directly regarding Association issues.
In addition the OMHA is not to be contacted by coaching staff or parents regarding internal BYHA matters (see Resolution 5.02 I - General).
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Protest and Appeal Concerns:
All protests must be filed according to BYHA Resolutions, except for Representative League protests, which must follow OMHA procedures. For House League protest rules see Resolution 8.29 - Protest. For Intra-City see Resolution 9.27 Protest.
The only matters that may be protested (aside from those contained in the BYHA Resolutions) are as follows:
- A game official's rule application which in the opinion of the aggrieved team may be incorrect and may have given the opposition team a distinct advantage;
- The participation of a player or team official deemed to be ineligible;
- A violation of any BYHA, OMHA, OHF or Hockey Canada rule, regulation or policy deemed to have had a significant and legitimate effect on the outcome of the game.
Matters that may not be protested are as follows:
- A game official's discretion and judgement of rules.
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E-mailed Concerns:
Please be advised that concerns sent in by e-mail would not be considered official complaints received by the BYHA. The Association will only consider a complaint received in writing, signed and dated as an official complaint.
In addition please do not use the Contact Us page to blanket e-mail all the Executives within the Association. These e-mail addresses are to be used for official BYHA communication only and for inquiries of a general nature.
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