Regulations, as well as codes, function within certain spectrums and activities in a bid to control the certain events, as well as prevent some. Similarly, in sports and physical education, there are set rules, which consist of codes and regulations that govern the manner in which the two activities are conducted depending on state stipulations and requirements. The codes and regulations are put in place as a guide for coaches, as well as participants of sports and physical education, which make the activities run smoothly. It is important for the parties involved in sports and physical education to adhere to the stipulations of codes and regulations as breaking some of them results in certain legal implications. These can be detrimental to one’s career in either sports or physical education both as a coach and as a participant. Virginia state regulations and codes on athlete/child protection in sports and physical education have been established towards ensuring the safety of the athletes/children as well as guiding coaches on how to go about training them without legal and ethical issues (Virginia Law, n, d.). The aim of this paper is to explain the regulations under athlete/child protection in sports and physical education, the implications of the regulations on the writer’s practices, as well as professional future recommendations/ practices for future practitioners.
Virginia State Regulations and Codes on Athlete/Child Protection
Athlete/child protection in sports and physical education entails directing efforts towards ensuring underage athletes are safe from abuse, harassment or any form of discrimination. Additionally, these regulations stipulate important information that all stakeholders in the context of Athlete/Child require to both know and practice to achieve the best of outcomes. For example, setting the documentation requirements, interactions of the athlete with third-party stakeholders, among many other important factors. Certain regulations and codes of conduct are set for both athletes and coaches to ensure the rights of both parties are upheld during sporting activities and physical education. Sports and physical education programs have both the legal and moral obligation to ensure minors/underage athletes’ rights and talents are protected from exploitation as well as harm. Looking at specific codes and regulations can help further understand the important role that they play in ensuring sporting activities, and its respective stakeholders interact and function in a manner that is beneficial to all. In the below sections, a few examples will be discussed.
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Documentation as an important aspect of the Codes and Regulation
Under Virginia ’s Codes and regulations, numerous stipulations touch on the aspect of documentation as an important requirement. For example, one can look at the Parental Consent Form as a key example of the regulation that comes with documentation requirements for the involved parties. Obtaining consent from parents or guardians is a key stipulation under the select codes and regulations, and it is vital for any stakeholder to understand this factor as well as act accordingly from a documentation perspective. There are other codes that are present, which also come with the important element of ensuring that there is proper documentation of important activities for the underage athlete as well as the involved stakeholders. For instance, ensuring proper documentation regarding athlete’s information is an important role that the codes and regulations play. A key factor that can illustrate this is § 22.1-264.1., which simply ensures that student-athletes in their documentation process do not provide false information especially in the case of residency. Thus, what can now be derived from a general standpoint is that the codes and regulation provide for the requirement of proper documentation of important information. Such as in the case of parental and athlete consent, other documents to do with safety, health, insurance, awareness of roles and responsibilities and preferred code of conduct for all stakeholders are also present.
Code of Conduct
The State regulations also touch on the code of conduct that is expected from all the participating stakeholders. This is an important factor largely because having a preferred set of standards when it comes to behavior helps ensure that sporting, as well as other activities, are carried out in the best possible way. A key example that can be cited in this case is that of the code of student conduct, which also provides the expected demeanor that the state has concerning student-athletes. This largely prevents them from participating or carrying out activities that would be detrimental to their education as well as sporting life. As such, it is an important aspect of Virginia’s codes and regulations as it pertains to student-athletes.
It is also important to regulate the conduct of other third parties that are involved in this context. For example, coaches, parents as well as school administration among others are also required to exhibit certain conduct to sporting activities, interaction with athletes among other critical issues. Another example that can help illustrate this factor is that of Parental Responsibility and Involvement Requirement (Mitten, Davis, Smith, & Shropshire, 2016). This provision seeks to focus on parents, requiring them to ensure that their children who are athletes maintain the best conduct of behavior. In so doing, the State codes and regulation from a general standpoint go on regulate the issue of demeanor and not only for the athletes themselves but other third parties. This is also another critical role that the State’s codes and regulations perform.
Safety and Health Awareness and Practice
The last aspect to be examined by the paper when covering on the important codes and regulations of the states concerning underage athletes is that of safety and health awareness as well as practice. Safety and the health of the participating athletes in any sports establishment or context is a very important issue that should always be properly addressed. In this case, going ahead to ensure that all the stakeholders are aware of the risks as well as the respective requirements that protect the athletes from the occurrence of this risk, is something that the codes and regulations have strived to address in detail (Mitten, Davis, Smith, & Shropshire, 2016).
Not only does the Virginia codes and regulations regarding child/athlete cover on key issues such as insurance, but they also go on to cover on the important practice of educating not only the athletes but other parties such as coaches on important safety and health standards (Virginia Law, n, d). One example, which can illustrate this is that of the Student Athlete Protection Act.
This plays the important role of ensuring that there are key standards that all the involved stakeholders should be familiar with when it comes to safety and health of the athlete. For instance, if one goes ahead and looks at the issue of concussions, they are exposed to the fact that it is also a state requirement for athletes and coaches to be aware of this injury (Virginia Board of Education n, d). There is also the need to ensure that they are educated in terms of how to prevent as well as to handle in the case of its occurrence (Virginia Board of Education n, d). This shows that from the perspective of safety and health, especially that of the athletes, the state through set regulation has set to ensure high standards so that all parties can benefit from this factor.
How the Above Regulation Impact Practice
The above regulations to a large degree shape the practice of any professional going into the field of sports and physical education in numerous ways. One requires an in-depth understanding of these codes and regulations to ensure the professionalism of practice as well as properly execute the day to day tasks that they are required to. The first critical implication that paper would like to highlight is that of a thorough understanding of the importance of documentation when it comes to sports, its education, as well as the involvement or working with other parties in the given context. A practitioner must not only be aware of the requisite documents that are necessary for this field but to also understand their role as well as importance regarding upholding standards in practice. Thus, documentation is a key item, in that the professional must be aware of all the documents that are necessary for practice, concerning handling underage athletes as well as ensure that they are properly filled and adhered to.
The second aspect regarding the impact that can also be mentioned is that of roles and responsibilities for the practitioner. In the case of a sports coach, there are certain requirements as well as responsibilities placed upon him or her by the state codes and regulations. These have been mentioned above and include important aspects such as conduct, awareness to safety and health standards, as well as key responsibilities required when practicing in this context (Berry, 2005). This does have a major impact considering that the individual is not only required to understand but to practice these. Therefore, they do strongly impact any individual who pursues a profession in sports especially as discussed in the context of underage athletes. The awareness of the practitioner to existing standards is a key factor that must be put into consideration, especially because failure to doing this could result in negative consequences for the individual. Therefore, it is important to go ahead and highlight the fact that from the aspect of impact, the professional is influenced concerning awareness, understanding and effective implementation of the codes and regulations.
Summary Conclusion and Recommendations
To conclude this paper, it is essential to highlight the key factors that have been discussed. In the above sections, a general overview of the key components of State regulation and codes concerning child/athletes has been provided. It touches on critical factors such as documentation requirements for involved stakeholders, code of conduct, safety and health, due process among other important factors. The implications of these on a professional have also been highlighted especially from the perspective of awareness, implementation as well as adherence. Thus, the key recommendation that can be made to practitioners wanting to be involved in the sector is that of a proper understanding of these codes and regulations, in order to ensure key standards are maintained in the sector.
The professional should also be aware that these codes and regulations are periodically revised for improvement, and this must make strong efforts to ensure that they too update their understanding concerning the subject matter. The codes also spell out the different stakeholders involved as well as their roles and responsibilities, for instance, in the case of dealing with underage athletes, parents or guardians are a major stakeholder, that is required to have active participation in their children’s sporting activities or career. Thus, understanding the types of stakeholders present and their role as well as respective requirements is also a key recommendation for any individual pursuing such practice. These among others help any professional venturing into this space to properly navigate it and achieve the best of outcomes.
References
Berry, C. (2005). Sports Law AND Regulation: Cases, Materials, AND Problems.
Mitten, M. J., Davis, T., Smith, R. K., & Shropshire, K. L. (2016). Sports law: governance and regulation . Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
Virginia Board of Education, (n, d). Guidelines For Policies on Concussions in Students. Virginia Board of Education . Retrieved from: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/guidance/health/2016 guidelines-for-policies-on-concussions-in-students.pdf
Virginia Law (n, d). Guidelines and policies and procedures on concussions in student-athletes. Law.lis.virginia.gov . Retrieved from: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter14/section22.1-271.5/
