The “Not in my House” campaign is simple. It is letting spectators, parents, players and officials know that bad behaviour and bullying is not acceptable at our games. The stadiums/sports fields are our houses. That is where we work and play. We set the rules and all parties should abide by our standard, or they are not welcome.
As part of the “Not in my House” campaign, each club will be given some yellow cards to hand out to spectators who are being disrespectful with their comments to referees, players or officials. All parents will be advised of these warning cards via email, Facebook or a face-to-face team/club meeting.
By informing all participants about the campaign at the start of the year when they sign on, it should be somewhat of a deterrent for bad behaviour at games. As everyone will know what the yellow card is for, it will be embarrassing for a parent to receive one in front of the entire crowd.
It will only take a handful of times for you to act on the offender’s behaviour at your club before you should see a considerable change in the culture. When deciding what behaviour is appropriate, make it personal. What would you do if the referee was your child, husband, uncle, brother, sister or friend? Is it bullying or abusive? Would you tolerate that behaviour in your house?
If you cannot abide by our house rules, you are not welcome!