This Code was ratified by the Annual General Meeting of Horsham Hockey Club held on 17th May 1994, and is here presented with minor amendments resulting from the formation of England Hockey Limited, the 2005 revision of the Code of Discipline and further amendments in April 2007.
This Code is also available, in PDF format, for downloading.
This Disciplinary Code is intended to provide a framework to ensure the maintenance of discipline, and to penalise any action or misconduct which at any time may bring the Club into disrepute.
The Code shall apply to players of all teams playing under the name of the Club regardless of the type of match. Organisers of touring sides playing under a name other than that of the Club, but which contain members of the Club, are requested to consider the provisions of the Code should disciplinary action be felt appropriate.
This Code should be read as an extension of the Code of Discipline for Hockey in England as published by the HA.
The provisions of this Code apply differently depending on the Offence:
The Committee shall have the following members: the Club President, the Club Chairman, the Club Disciplinary Officer and the relevant Club Captain. One of these shall hold an umpiring qualification to at least Level 2 standard. (If not, such an Umpire should be co-opted for any particular meeting).
The Committee shall meet on an ad hoc basis, preferably on the day of any relevant offence, but in any case as soon as possible after the match in which the offence occurred.
The Committee shall firstly meet with the Player concerned to confirm the details of the offence: the Player will normally be accompanied by the relevant Team Captain, but may choose any other representative, who was present when the offence occurred, if desired.
Having heard the details, the Committee will adjourn to consider their response, and the disciplinary action they may wish to impose. Such action will be communicated to the Player and the relevant Team Captain as soon as practical after it is determined.
Offences to be considered under this Code fall into three categories: Yellow Card, Red Card and Matchday Misconduct Offences.
A Yellow Card Offence is one for which a Player receives a temporary suspension from participating in a match; there is no requirement for a Yellow Card to be actually shown.
For the purposes of this Code, only those Yellow Cards received for Dissent will be considered, although a record will be maintained of Yellow Cards received for playing offences, and the Committee may take these into account when determining any disciplinary action.
The provisions of this Code will apply to the third and subsequent Yellow Cards received by the Player in any one Season: at the end of a particular Season any cards previously received are disregarded.
Should the Committee determine that the award of the Yellow Card was justified, and that disciplinary action is required, the Player will serve a Period of Suspension on the following basis:
| Card Received | Period |
|---|---|
| Third | 1 Match |
| Fourth | 2 Matches |
| Fifth | 3 Matches |
| ..... | ..... |
In other words, a Player receiving a Yellow Card for the fourth time may serve a suspension of 2 Matches – irrespective of whether they have already served a suspension for the third Yellow Card: the suspension will include only those matches for which the Player is available for selection.
A Red Card Offence is one for which a Player is suspended from further participation in a match: there is no requirement for a Red Card to be actually shown.
The award of a Red Card results in an immediate and mandatory period of suspension from participating in any way in a Hockey match, at any level, under the jurisdiction of the HA; this includes playing, umpiring, coaching or managing for Mens, Ladies, Mixed or Junior teams, indoors or outdoors, but excludes training sessions. The period of suspension shall consist of consecutive days, beginning immediately after the match in which the Red Card was awarded, with the day of that match being Day 1 of the period – excepting that any period of suspension scheduled to be served between 1st May and 31st August of any Season will be served from 1st September of the next.
| No Violence | Violence Offered | Violence Given | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To Player | To Umpire | To Player | To Umpire | |
| 16 | 30 | 90 | 60 | 180 |
| Note: | ||||
|
Umpire includes an officially appointed League or Technical Delegate. Player includes a team coach, manager or physio and spectators. |
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The Committee will consider these periods of suspension to be the minimum for the various offences: in particular, offences including violence are likely to attract a more severe penalty than that shown, including termination of membership of the Club. In all cases, the periods of suspension provided for under this Code may be required to be served in addition to any period applied by the HA. For second and subsequent Red Card offences committed in any period of 12 calendar months (ie. not just a single Season) the minimum penalty imposed shall be at least double that prescribed above.
A Matchday Misconduct Offence is committed when at any time during the day of a match, but excluding the time from the start to the end of the match, a person due to participate or who has participated in the match acts in such a way that one of the match umpires decides such an act:
For the purposes of this Code, procedures for dealing with Matchday Misconduct Offences will be as per Red Card Offences shown above.