bend fc Code of conduct
BEND FC CODE OF CONDUCT
Building a Positive Soccer Culture Together
At Bend FC, we believe how we behave matters just as much as how we play.
Our Code of Conduct establishes the standards of sportsmanship, fair play, respect, responsibility, and integrity expected from everyone who represents Bend FC—including players, coaches, parents, guardians, volunteers, staff, and spectators.
Culture does not happen by accident. We build it together.
All Bend FC members are expected to follow Club policies, rules, agreements, and standards, as well as the policies established by our governing organizations. Bend FC is a member of the Oregon Youth Soccer Association (OYSA), US Youth Soccer, US Club Soccer, and the Girls Academy and follows the policies and regulations established by those organizations.
COACHES' CODE OF CONDUCT
Coaches are teachers, leaders, and role models.
Every coach has an opportunity to influence young people far beyond the soccer field. Bend FC coaches are expected to lead with professionalism, consistency, humility, and respect.
KNOW THE GAME
- Understand and uphold league, competition, and Club rules.
- Prioritize player development, safety, learning, and enjoyment.
- Create an environment where players are challenged, supported, and encouraged to improve.
RESPECT OFFICIALS
- Treat referees and game officials with respect at all times.
- Accept decisions without arguing, confronting, or publicly challenging officials.
- Model appropriate behavior when disagreements occur.
MODEL SPORTSMANSHIP
- Demonstrate respect toward opposing players, coaches, parents, and spectators.
- Teach humility in victory and grace in defeat.
- Take appropriate steps to manage runaway scores and maintain a positive, competitive environment for all players.
ACT PROFESSIONALLY
- Maintain composure and self-control at practices, games, tournaments, and Club events.
- Never use language, gestures, or actions that are hostile, abusive, threatening, humiliating, or inappropriate.
- Remember that the coach's behavior sets the tone for the team.
TEACH CHARACTER
- Develop more than soccer players—develop confident, responsible, resilient, and respectful young people.
- Teach teamwork, accountability, fair play, and respect.
- Consistently demonstrate the values we expect from our players.
PLAYERS' CODE OF CONDUCT
Players represent themselves, their families, their teammates, their coaches, and Bend FC.
Being part of Bend FC means accepting responsibility for your actions and understanding that character matters both on and off the field.
RESPECT & SELF-CONTROL
- Control your emotions and actions, even when things do not go your way.
- Never use abusive, profane, offensive, or discriminatory language.
- Never use inappropriate gestures, taunts, or behavior toward others.
PLAY WITH SPORTSMANSHIP
- Respect teammates, opponents, coaches, referees, and spectators.
- Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.
- Shake hands and show appropriate courtesy following games.
- Celebrate your team's success without disrespecting another team.
PLAY FAIR
- Compete with intensity while respecting the rules and the safety of others.
- Never intentionally injure, intimidate, or harm another player.
- Honor both the letter and the spirit of the game.
BE A GOOD CITIZEN
- Represent Bend FC positively at school, at home, in the community, and on the field.
- Take responsibility for your choices and actions.
- Demonstrate respect, responsibility, integrity, resilience, and leadership.
PARENTS' & GUARDIANS' CODE OF CONDUCT
Parents and guardians are partners in the soccer experience.
Young players learn by watching the adults around them. The sideline should be a place of encouragement—not instruction, criticism, or conflict.
POSITIVE SIDELINE BEHAVIOR
- Encourage players positively and enthusiastically.
- Allow coaches to coach and players to play.
- Refrain from coaching, directing, or instructing players from the sidelines.
- Support your child without placing unnecessary pressure on performance or results.
RESPECT EVERYONE
- Treat players, coaches, referees, staff, volunteers, board members, and other families with respect.
- Accept the decisions of game officials without confrontation or public criticism.
- Never engage in threatening, abusive, hostile, or disrespectful behavior.
MODEL SPORTSMANSHIP
- Demonstrate humility in victory and grace in defeat.
- Congratulate both teams and recognize good play regardless of which team made it.
- Reinforce the values of teamwork, effort, respect, and fair play.
COMMUNICATE RESPONSIBLY
- Address concerns calmly and through the appropriate Club channels.
- Do not use Club communication platforms to criticize, attack, embarrass, or disparage others.
- Remember that disagreements can be handled respectfully without creating conflict within the larger Club community.
CLUB COMMUNICATION TOOLS & CONDUCT
Bend FC communication tools—including email, newsletters, messaging platforms, team communication channels, and other Club-sponsored systems—exist to support legitimate Club, team, player, family, and program-related communication.
Club communication platforms may not be used to:
- Promote or advocate for political candidates, political parties, or political causes.
- Conduct or promote personal businesses.
- Distribute unrelated commercial or promotional material.
- Harass, threaten, intimidate, or personally attack another individual.
- Make disparaging, defamatory, derogatory, or hostile comments about players, families, coaches, staff, volunteers, board members, or the Club.
- Create unnecessary negativity or conflict within the Club community.
We expect Bend FC members to communicate with professionalism, respect, and a shared commitment to the mission of the Club.
Concerns and disagreements should be addressed constructively through the appropriate channels—not through Club-wide communication platforms.
Bend FC reserves the right to remove inappropriate content and restrict, suspend, or revoke access to Club communication tools when those tools are misused.
OUR COMMITMENT TO POSITIVE SOCCER
Bend FC is committed to creating an environment that is safe, inclusive, challenging, supportive, and fun.
We want our players to love the game, develop their abilities, build meaningful relationships, and become better people through their experiences with soccer.
Violations of this Code of Conduct may result in disciplinary action, including, but not limited to:
Warning • Apology • Probation • Suspension • Removal from a Program • Expulsion from the Club
Players, parents, guardians, spectators, coaches, volunteers, and staff are responsible for their actions and for upholding the standards of the Bend FC community.
By participating in Bend FC programs, each player, coach, and parent/guardian acknowledges and agrees to abide by this Code of Conduct as a condition of participation and membership.
REFEREE ABUSE
Bend FC will strictly enforce applicable US Soccer referee abuse prevention policies, including US Soccer Policy 531-9.
There is no place in our Club for abuse, harassment, intimidation, or disrespect toward referees or game officials.
Respect the game. Respect the officials. Respect each other.
REPORTING A CONCERN
Concerns or violations involving the Bend FC Code of Conduct should be reported through the appropriate Club leadership channels.
Reports may be reviewed by Club leadership and, when appropriate, referred to the Technical Committee or other appropriate Club authority.
Depending on the circumstances, corrective action may include a warning, apology, probation, suspension, or removal/expulsion from the Club.
Our goal is not simply to discipline behavior—it is to educate about appropriate behavior, protect our players, uphold our standards, and build the culture we want Bend FC to represent.
OUR MISSION
Bend FC's mission is to provide positive, safe, and competitive experiences in which our youth can enjoy developing into elite soccer players while growing in life skills such as teamwork, responsibility, resilience, and leadership.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
"Our goal is to offer programs that any child in our community can access at some level, regardless of socioeconomic background. We strive to be a high-performing organization made up of good humans who value our community's most precious resource—its kids."
Donnie Emerson
General Manager, Bend FC
OUR CORE VALUES
COMMITMENT
Improvement, confidence, and success require commitment.
We are committed to our teammates, our coaches, our training, our games, our Club, and ourselves. We show up, we prepare, and we follow through.
HARD WORK
Give your best effort—every day.
Success is not guaranteed, but effort is always a choice. We expect our players, coaches, and families to work hard and take pride in doing things the right way.
RESPECT
Respect the game. Respect the people. Respect the opportunity.
We respect our teammates, opponents, coaches, referees, parents, volunteers, and community. Every person representing Bend FC is responsible for representing the Club positively.
ENJOYMENT & FUN
We play soccer because we love the game.
Enjoyment comes from challenging ourselves, improving our abilities, competing with purpose, and sharing the experience with teammates. We want our players to work hard, compete hard, and—most importantly—enjoy being part of the game.
THIS IS HOW WE DO THINGS AROUND HERE.
We compete.
We work hard.
We respect the game.
We respect each other.
We hold ourselves accountable.
We represent Bend FC with pride.
And we remember that developing great people is just as important as developing great players.
