Code of Conduct

1. Scope

This Code applies to everyone at an Aspire Sports activity — leagues, classes, camps, clinics, drop-in sessions, tournaments, and events — and everywhere those activities happen: the field, the sidelines, the lobby, the parking lot, the group chat, and the league's social channels.

• Rostered players (adult and youth): all sections.
• Team organizers: all sections, plus §9.
• Spectators, parents, and guardians: §§2–4, 6–8, 10–12.
• Coaches, referees, staff, and contractors: our staff code of conduct, which incorporates this one as a floor.

Acceptance of the Aspire Sports Waiver and Release of Liability constitutes agreement to this Code.

2. The standard

Play hard, play fair, and leave the place better than you found it. Concretely:

• Respect the referee. The call stands. Play on. Disagree after the whistle, through your team organizer, not at the official.
• Play hard, play fair — youth and adults, same standard.
• Shake hands. No trash talk, no targeting, no retaliation.
• Zero tolerance for abuse, verbal or physical, on or off the field.
• No participating under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Respect the venue. Follow the posted rules of the facility, clean up your bench area, and treat the staff the way you would want to be treated.

3. Respect for everyone

No discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. This covers slurs, targeted taunting, and "it was a joke."

Sexual harassment of any kind — verbal, written, physical, or online — is grounds for immediate and permanent removal. There is no warning step for this.

4. Prohibited conduct

The following are violations of this Code:

Toward officials and staff

• Abusive, threatening, or persistent dissent toward a referee, coordinator, or staff member
• Following, confronting, or approaching an official during or after a game
• Threats or intimidation of any kind, including after the event and online

Toward other participants

• Fighting, striking, spitting, or any deliberate attempt to injure
• Dangerous or reckless play that disregards the safety of others
• Harassment, bullying, or discriminatory language

Eligibility and fair play

• Playing under another person's name, or fielding a player who is not on the submitted roster and has not signed a waiver (see §9)
• Deliberately misrepresenting age, division eligibility, or skill level to gain advantage
• Betting on Aspire games, or facilitating gambling among participants

Substances and safety

• Participating while impaired by alcohol or drugs
• Bringing alcohol to the venue except as the facility's own posted policy permits
• Smoking or vaping anywhere inside the facility
• Ignoring a removal-from-play instruction from a referee, coordinator, or medical responder

Property and premises

• Damaging facility property or equipment; the responsible person bears the cost of repair
• Entering restricted areas, or bringing a person to field level who has not signed a waiver

5. Sidelines: spectators, parents, and guardians

One voice on the field is enough.

• Cheer for effort — yours and theirs.
• Let the players play and the coach coach.
• The referee's call is final. No comments, no approaching officials.
• Keep it positive and keep the volume down. They can hear you.
• Lose your cool and you will be asked to step out. Repeat it and you will be asked not to return.

Field-level spectators sign a spectator release before entering. Anyone at field level without one will be asked to move behind the barrier or leave.

6. Youth programs

Additional standards apply wherever minors participate.

• Adults do not have one-on-one private contact with a minor who is not their own child. Two-deep supervision at all times: never a single adult alone with a single child out of sight of others.
• No transportation of a minor by Aspire staff or contractors without a parent-confirmed arrangement in writing.
• No direct messaging of minors by staff or contractors on any platform. Communication goes through the parent or guardian.
• Photography and video of minors for publication is covered by the parent/guardian media grant in the waiver, accepted at registration. Published material identifies a minor by first name only — never a full name, never a school, never a home neighborhood. A parent may ask in writing for a specific post to be taken down and we will make reasonable efforts to do so. Staff and contractors are separately barred from posting player imagery outside Aspire's own channels.
• Suspected abuse is reported externally, not internally first. U.S. Center for SafeSport: 1-833-587-7233. Franklin County Children Services: 614-229-7000. Emergency: 911. Report to Aspire Operations in addition to, never instead of.

Head injury and removal from play

Any participant who shows signs of a concussion — or who reports symptoms after a blow to the head or body — is removed from play immediately and is not permitted to return that day. Return to play requires written clearance from a physician or other authorized health care provider.

Adults are held to the same removal standard. It is not negotiable, and a player's own opinion that they are fine does not override it.

7. Injury and emergencies

• Report every injury to a referee or coordinator before leaving the venue, however minor it seems. An unreported injury is one nobody can help with later.
• Staff will call 911 when the situation warrants it and will not wait for permission.
• Keep emergency contact details current in your registration. They are the first thing staff read out to EMS.

8. Enforcement

The default ladder

Most situations resolve in one step. The posted ladder is:

1. Verbal warning — on the spot, from a referee or coordinator. Logged.
2. Written warning — emailed, with the incident described. Copied to the team organizer.
3. Ban — removal from the league. No refund.

Warnings carry across the season, not across the game. Two written warnings in a season escalate to a ban.

Conduct that skips the ladder

Some conduct does not get a warning. The following result in immediate removal from the venue and at minimum a one-game suspension pending review, up to permanent ban:

• Fighting, striking, spitting, or any deliberate attempt to injure
• Threatening or physically contacting a referee, coordinator, or staff member
• Slurs or targeted harassment based on a protected characteristic
• Sexual harassment of any kind — permanent, no review of the outcome, only of the facts
• Any conduct that would be a crime

A red card or ejection carries an automatic one-game suspension, served at the next scheduled game, in addition to anything this Code imposes.

Who decides

A referee or coordinator makes the call in the moment. Suspensions beyond the automatic one game, and all bans, are decided by Aspire Sports Operations after reviewing the incident report and hearing from the person involved.

Appeals — you always get to tell your side

This is a promise printed on the wall at the venue, and it is binding on us.

1. Any decision beyond a verbal warning can be appealed by emailing hello@aspiresportsohio.com within 7 days of the decision.
2. Aspire Sports Operations reviews the incident report, the referee's account, and the appellant's account.
3. A written decision is returned within 7 days of the appeal.
4. An appeal does not pause a suspension already in effect, except where the facts are genuinely in dispute.

Referee accountability runs the other way too: after every game we send a short survey asking you to rate your referee. Respect runs both ways, and that data is reviewed.

Refunds

Removal for a Code violation does not entitle anyone to a refund, in whole or in part. This is stated identically in the Terms of Service, the waiver (§14), and the refund policy. If a removal is overturned on appeal, the refund position is restored to what it would have been on the appeal date.

Where a team is removed, the team organizer is the party of record for the fee. Individual players on a removed team are handled case by case; a player who did nothing wrong should not silently lose a season because a teammate did.

9. Team organizers

If you registered a team, you carry two extra obligations:

1. Every player who steps on the field for your team has signed a waiver — including substitutes, late additions, and guests. You warrant this at team checkout and you indemnify Aspire if it turns out to be false.
2. You are the channel. Disputes, appeals, schedule questions, and roster changes come through you rather than from eleven people at once. In return, you get the written warnings and the decisions first.

You are not responsible for your teammates' behavior. You are responsible for their paperwork, and for passing this Code along to them.

10. Reporting a violation

• In the moment: tell the referee or the coordinator on site.
• After the fact: email hello@aspiresportsohio.com, within 7 days where possible.
• Anything involving a minor's safety: the external numbers in §6 first, then Aspire.
• Retaliation against someone who reports in good faith is itself grounds for a ban.

Reports are logged in the operations incident log. Names are shared only with the people who need them to act.

11. Changes to this Code

Aspire Sports may update this Code. The current version is published at aspiresportsohio.com/code-of-conduct. Material changes are emailed to registered participants and take effect at the start of the next session.

12. Governing terms

This Code supplements, and does not replace, the Aspire Sports Waiver and Release of Liability and the published refund policy. Nothing in this Code limits Aspire Sports Holding LLC's rights under those documents, or the rights of Fleet Parking LLC d/b/a Soccer One as the owner and operator of the venues, to deny access to its premises.