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What
are policies and procedures?
The
role of policy development in a sporting or recreation organisation
is to guide the actions of all persons involved or connected
with the organisation in regard to any area of activity in
which the organisation has jurisdiction. Policies are guidelines
for directors, committee members, employers and members and
might include:
- Policies
on doping (in sport)
- Policies
in the service to members of an organisation (customers)
- Policies
on crowd control in events
- Policies
on financial management
- Policies
on marketing and promotion
- A code of
conduct (participants in events)
- Policy on
juniors in sport
- Policies
in the control of infectious diseases (i.e. the Blood Bin)
In some cases
policies must be observed (mandatory) whilst in other cases
policies serve as only as guidelines (advisory). The consequences
of acting in contravention to a policy, which is mandatory,
will be different to the consequences of acting in contravention
to a policy, which is advisory. In the case of a failure to
observe a policy which is mandatory there will be prescribed
penalties.
For instance
an athlete found guilty of using a banned substance to enhance
performance in contravention to a sporting body's policy on
"Drugs in Sport" will suffer an automatic ban from
the sport. However in the case of a person who has failed
to observe the organisation's safety policy will "suffer
the consequences". Such consequences may range from nothing
at all to the possibility of being sued in a civil court or
even indicted on a criminal charge.
Policies should
not be seen only as a set of rules for people to follow. Governments,
organisations and even individuals may formulate policies
that are trend setting or future shaping. For instance, a
recreation organisation may have a policy for fostering recreation
activities that are non-competitive in nature. Such a policy
will determine the future of the organisation in terms of
the people who are likely to be members, the types of events
that will be organised and the future growth potential of
the organisation.
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