The Kingston Impact Basketball Club is dedicated to ensuring that all of our programming provides a safe and inclusive environment where all of our athletes and coaches can thrive.

To support this, we've adopted several policies that are intended to:

• Educate our staff and volunteers on safe sport best practices.
• Protect and address all athletes, coaches and all members of our club from all forms of maltreatment.

All individuals whose position with the club is one of trust or authority which may relate to, at a minimum, finances, supervision, or Vulnerable Participants will fall under our Background Screening Policy.

Regardless of your role, all volunteers and staff are required to fill out our Screening Disclosure Form prior to actively taking on any responsibilities within the club.

For those that are over the age of 18 and meet the Level 2 – Medium to High Risk category, where they may be involved in a supervisory role, direct others, be involved with finances, and/or have access to vulnerable participants will also be required to provide a Police Background Check including the Vulnerable Sector Check.

Examples of roles that require this extra step include:

1. All employees
2. Executive members
3. Directors
4. Coaches who travel with athletes
5. Coaches who could be alone with athletes

While the Screening Disclosure Form will be required annually, the Police Background Check will only be required every 3 years.

Note:

• The cost of the Background Check will be covered by the Kingston Impact upon receiving it.

We believe that our programs are valuable to an individual’s physical, intellectual, social, and/or character development and accordingly, we value inclusion.

Guided by this value and in compliance with all applicable laws and our governing bodies, we have adopted our Inclusive Participation Policy, that ensures that individuals can participate in our programs in a manner consistent with their gender identity.

Pursuant to Ontario Basketball policies, individuals must select one gender to participate for the duration of that program. Participants may not participate in concurrent programs as different genders.

The gender will be self identified during the registration process.

We are committed to providing a respectful sport culture that delivers an inclusive, accessible, welcoming, and safe sport experience.

We adopted our Prevention of Abuse Policy to ensure that individuals who participate in an Impact or affiliated program will be in an environment that is free from all forms of maltreatment and that treats every individual with dignity and respect.

If anyone has reasonable grounds to suspect that any member of our club may be suffering from or may have suffered from maltreatment, please report it to safesport@kingstonimpact.ca.

The Rule of 2 serves to protect minor athletes in potentially vulnerable situations by ensuring more than one adult is present. The goal of the Rule of Two is to ensure all interactions and communications are open, observable, and justifiable. This includes closed-door meetings, travel, and training environments, amongst others.

Rule of Two Implementation Practices:

1. Ensure a coach is never alone and out of sight with a participant without another screened coach or screened adult (parent or volunteer) present.

2. Allow training environment to be open to observation.

3. Ensure a participant rides in a coach’s vehicle with another adult present.

4. Consider the gender of the participant(s) when selecting the screened coaches and volunteers present.

5. Eliminate one-to-one electronic messaging. Ensure that all communications are sent to the group and/or include parents.

The following infographic from Coach.ca summarizes best practices:

All volunteers and staff are required to annually fill out:

• Screening Disclosure Form

For those who require a Policy Background Check with the Vulnerable Sector Check enabled, you may request it online:

• Kingston Police

Please email to the Club's Program Director upon completion.

If a letter is required to explain why the vulnerable sector check is required, please ask your Club Program Director as well.