Selections are the basis of many grievances in sport. How can this be avoided? Ensuring a fair, transparent and well communicated selection process is essential.
Clubs should clearly set out selection policies, and ensure they are well understood by athletes, coaches, managers, officials and parents/supporters.
Disappointments and disagreement will still occur – but if your club has taken active steps to ensure the fairest selection process possible, a positive culture results, lessening the likelihood of issues.
What club committees can do
There are 8 key steps club committees should follow to create safe and fair clubs.
Generally, when it comes to selections consider:
- The purpose for the selection and the age of participants
- Existing requirements and practices in your sport eg. no grading of children u6-u10
- Take an open, transparent mindset and approach – don’t shroud it in secrecy
- Consider selection objectives or principles eg. all players have equal game time
- Develop selection policies that detail things like:
- Criteria and process
- Eligibility requirements eg. age, number of games
- Influencing factors such attitudes and behavior
- Provision to withdraw from selection activities for injury management
- Provision to for selectors to consider issues such as misconduct
- The right for an athlete to withdraw
- Dispute procedure
- A right to change the criteria from time to time to adapt to requirements.
- Choose selectors
- Outline role of selectors
- Determine a process for choosing selectors (aim to avoid selectors that may be perceived to have a conflict of interest)
- Detail a procedure for selectors to follow
- Set out the procedure for how and when selection will be communicated
- Communicate your selection policy and process widely and with ample notice.