PBLNYC CODE OF CONDUCT
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Pride Basketball League, New York City (the "PBLNYC") establishes this Code of Conduct as the organization's statement of behavioral standards that all players are required to read and follow. The Code of Conduct reflects the Mission Statement of the PBLNYC and clarifies the expectation that PBLNYC players have responsibility for their actions both on and off the court, and are accountable for those actions when PBLNYC standards are violated. This Code of Conduct aims to protect the PBLNYC, its Board, players, officials, sponsors, partners, vendors, volunteers, and spectators.
Mission Statement
The PBLNYC provides a safe and welcoming environment free from harassment and discrimination for members and friends of the LGBTQ+ community to play basketball and build camaraderie.
Scope
This Code of Conduct shall apply to conduct during PBLNYC Women’s+ Division and Men’s+ Division games as well as in certain PBLNYC-related spaces, specifically:
· Group chats, team chats, WhatsApp or other online groups initiated or controlled by the PBLNYC, the Board, or team captains;
· PBLNYC social media (including posts, DMs, comments, tagging, sharing photos); and
· During PBLNYC sponsored and promoted events, parties, and activities.
Section 1: Anti-Violence & Anti-Harassment Policy
PBLNYC is committed to creating and sustaining a community that is free from harassment, discrimination, bullying, and abuse, in all their forms. Accordingly, harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited. This includes but is not limited to:
· Sexual Harassment: Unwanted sexual advances or propositions, persistent flirting, unwanted sexual jokes or gestures, or unwanted visual/verbal conduct of a sexual nature.
· Sexual Violence & Assault: Unwanted or nonconsensual physical, intimate, or sexual contact of any kind.
· Verbal Harassment: Demeaning, threatening, or persistent unwelcome language, especially targeting a person’s identity, including race, religion, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity.
· Gender-based harassment: Misgendering, transphobia, or behavior that disrespects or invalidates someone’s gender identity or expression.
· Racial or cultural harassment: Racist language, jokes, slurs, or actions targeting someone’s race, ethnicity, or cultural background.
· Bullying, threats, or intimidation: Repeated behavior meant to harm, humiliate, degrade, isolate, exert coercive power over others, or compromise the physical, emotional, or mental safety of another.
Section 2: Sportsmanship Policy
Sportsmanship is defined as: fairness and respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing. All players shall conduct themselves with the highest level of sportsmanship both on and off the court.
Section 3: Prohibition on Aggressive Play
Overly aggressive play will not be tolerated under any circumstances. No player may physically harm, threaten to physically harm, or intimidate a fellow player, official, or spectator.
Section 4: Reporting Code of Conduct Violations
The PBLNYC encourages players and other members of the PBLNYC community to report violations of the Code of Conduct and recognizes that reporting violations—particularly in cases of violence or harassment—can be vulnerable and difficult.
Suspected Code of Conduct violations can be reported in multiple ways, whether by players, witnesses, or others with first-hand knowledge of the incident (the “Complainant”):
· Speaking to any Board member in person.
· Reaching out to your Captain.
· Emailing: board@pridebasketballnyc.org
The Complainant should provide a brief description of the incident.
Suspected Code of Conduct violations may also be investigated at the initiation of the PBLNYC Board, Captains, or other PBLNYC representatives or officials.
Section 5 : PBLNYC Disciplinary Process
The PBLNYC is committed to providing all community members a fair and impartial disciplinary process in keeping with the values expressed in its Mission Statement.
Upon receiving a report of a suspected violation of the Code of Conduct in accordance with Section 4 (the “Complaint”), the PBLNYC shall endeavor to conduct a timely investigation of the Complaint in accordance with the procedures set forth below. The PBLNYC will keep the contents of the complaint confidential along with evidence gathered during the investigation except to the extent that disclosure is reasonably necessary as part of the investigation or serves a legitimate interest of the PBLNYC, including player safety, as determined by the PBLNYC in its sole discretion. Players are likewise expected to keep communications with or from the PBLNYC during the disciplinary process confidential except where disclosure is reasonably necessary to the investigation or serves the player’s legitimate interest.
The investigation of a Complaint shall be led by the Men’s+ or Women’s+ Division Commissioner, as applicable, or such Commissioner’s delegate, and may include, among other things, interviews with the Complainant, the person alleged to have committed the violation of the Code of Conduct (the “Accused”), and witnesses, the gathering and review of evidence, and consultation, if appropriate, with outside advisors.
At the conclusion of the investigation, the Men’s+ or Women’s+ Division Commissioner shall present the Complaint to a quorum of the Board. Any director with an actual or potential conflict of interest shall be recused and not participate in the investigative process, Board discussions and deliberations, or Board vote in respect of any such Complaint.
The Board shall serve as fact finder in respect of Complaints and seek to determine, following the investigation, including any additional investigative work directed by the Board, whether credible evidence supports that a violation of the Code of Conduct has more likely than not occurred. The Board shall also be responsible for the determination of discipline.
Pending investigation, the PBLNYC reserves the right to take interim measures to protect player safety or serve other significant interests of the PBLNYC. In cases where the PBLNYC determines not to impose discipline pursuant to the Progressive Discipline Policy, the PBLNYC may pursue alternative resolutions of Complaints, such as facilitating informal resolution between players, reinforcing PBLNYC values, reassigning players to other teams, or taking such other non-disciplinary action as the PBLNYC in its sole discretion deems appropriate.
The Women’s+ Division Commissioner and Men’s+ Division Commissioner may determine that a Complaint does not warrant investigation or disciplinary action when the Complaint does not allege a violation of the Code of Conduct or is outside the scope of the Code of Conduct. In appropriate cases, the Women’s+ Division Commissioner and Men’s+ Division Commissioner may also submit a Complaint to the fact finding and vote of exclusively the Women’s+ Division Designees on the Board or Men’s+ Division Designees on the Board, as applicable.
All PBLNYC players, captains, representatives, and officials are expected to cooperate during an investigation. Retaliation of any kind is strictly prohibited and will serve as independent grounds for discipline under the Progressive Discipline Policy. Any serious and repeated violations of confidentiality by participants in the disciplinary process may likewise give rise to discipline pursuant to the Progressive Disciplinary Policy.
Section 6: Progressive Discipline Policy
To ensure a safe environment, the PBLNYC reserves the right to take disciplinary action against any person who is found to have violated Sections 1-3 of the Code of Conduct in accordance with the procedures set forth herein, any person who engages in retaliation or breaches of confidentiality in violation of Section 4 of the Code of Conduct as determined by the Men’s+ and Women’s+ Division Commissioners, and any person who the full Board of Directors of the PBLNYC, in its sole discretion, deems to be a threat to the safety and security of the PBLNYC, its Board, players, officials, sponsors, partners, vendors, volunteers, or spectators.
The following steps outline the PBLNYC’s Progressive Discipline Policy (the “Policy”), whereupon increasing discipline may be imposed on players and other persons by the PBLNYC based on the number of offenses within the prior two seasons:
1. First Offense (Warning): If the Board finds that an PBLNYC player is behaving contrary to the Code of Conduct, they will receive a warning letter via email from the Board. Additionally, a hard copy will be kept on file.
2. Second Offense (Suspension): If the player commits a second offense, they will be suspended for the following two games. The player will receive notification of the suspension via email from the Board. Additionally, a hard copy will be kept on file. A player who is suspended is not eligible for a refund or partial refund of fees nor shall they be allowed to attend the two games for which they are suspended.
a. If the conduct occurred during the last game of the season, and if the player is a member of a playoff team, the suspension will carry over into the playoffs.
b. If the conduct occurred during the last game of the season, and if the player is not a member of a playoff team, the suspension will carry over into the next regular season of the PBLNYC in which the player is a participant.
3. Third Offense (Expulsion): If a player who has been suspended continues to behave in a manner that violates the Code of Conduct, the player will be expelled immediately. A player who is expelled is not eligible for a refund or partial refund of fees nor shall they be allowed to attend any game or PBLNYC-sponsored function. The player will receive notification of the expulsion via email from the Board. Additionally, a hard copy will be kept on file.
a. A player who has been expelled from the PBLNYC may petition the Board for probationary reinstatement two full seasons after the season in which the player was expelled. For example, if a player was expelled during the Fall 2013 season, the player shall be required to sit out the Spring 2014 and Fall 2014 seasons with their petition for probationary reinstatement not being valid until the Spring 2015 season.
b. To apply for probationary reinstatement, the player must send an email to the Board (board@nycgaybasketball.org) no later than two weeks prior to the end of registration for the season in which they are requesting to be reinstated. The player must specify why they deserve to be reinstated.
Notwithstanding the above, in the event the Board determines a serious offense under the Code of Conduct has occurred, including the Anti-Violence & Anti-Harassment Policy, the Board may immediately impose any form of discipline available under the Policy (including a warning, suspension, or expulsion) as well as the permanent expulsion of that person (by unanimous vote of the Board) irrespective of whether the offense is the person’s first, second, or third offense. In appropriate cases, the Board may also impose a “no contact” order against that person at PBLNYC games and other PBLNYC spaces within the domain of the Code of Conduct.
Discipline for violations of Section 4 of the Code of Conduct shall be determined by the PBLNYC Division Commissioners and may include, in instances in which a director is found to have violated the Code of Conduct, suspension from participation in the PBLNYC Board or removal, subject to a right to appeal such discipline to the full Board under Section 7.
Section 7: Action Taken by the Board
All discipline issued under this Policy must be approved by a majority vote of the Board (or Women’s+ Designees or Men’s+ Designees, if applicable) in a vote where a quorum of directors eligible to vote cast a vote. Once a Complaint has been fully presented and deemed submitted, the Board (or voting Designees) will be given twenty-four (24) hours to vote. Following such vote, the Complainant and Accused shall be notified of the Board’s decision.
In exceptional cases, following the imposition of discipline pursuant to the Code of Conduct, the Accused may, within five (5) business days of being notified of the imposition of such discipline, seek an appeal to the Board presenting any additional evidence or argument on why the imposition of discipline should be reversed. If no such appeal is timely sought or if the discipline is affirmed on appeal, the discipline imposed shall be deemed final and the Accused shall have no right under the Code of Conduct to seek further review.
In keeping with the PBLNYC being a volunteer-led, community-based basketball organization, no discipline imposed under the Code of Conduct shall be understood to determine legal guilt or innocence, resolve disputed claims or allegations between the parties, or impact any legal rights of PBLNYC community members. Rather, the disciplinary process is strictly limited to determining whether violations of the Code of Conduct have more likely than not occurred.
The Code of Conduct may not provide an exhaustive list of all actions detrimental to the PBLNYC, its Board, players, officials, sponsors, partners, vendors, volunteers, and spectators. Thus, the full Board of Directors of the PBLNYC, by unanimous vote, reserves the right to permanently expel any person, at any time, at its sole discretion.
Section 8: Expected conduct of captains
As representatives of the PBLNYC and "spokespersons" for their individual team, it is doubly important that captains and alternate captains be held to the highest level of conduct as they set the example for the team. If a captain or alternate captain is suspended, they will be removed from their position. The Board will then appoint a new captain or alternate captain for their specific team.
Section 9: Technical Fouls
We recognize that members of the Board are not the sole arbiters vis-à-vis Code of Conduct violations. At times, these matters will be left up to referees to decide on, as such, the following represents the process for technical fouls issued during games:
There is a zero-tolerance policy for Code of Conduct violations during games. Referees will issue a single warning for low-level Code of Conduct violations. Referees will issue technical fouls for any subsequent low-level violations if the warning is ignored.
Higher level Code of Conduct violations such as hate speech or profanity towards referees and/or other players will result in an immediate technical foul. Flagrant technical fouls can be called at any time.
Two technical fouls in a single game will result to a partial game suspension: the player will be ejected from the current game.
Three technical fouls in a single season will result to a full game suspension: the player will be unable to participate in the subsequent game.
That a technical foul was awarded to a player during game play does not preclude discipline pursuant to the Code of Conduct.
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The Code of Conduct is effective for both the Women’s+ and Men’s+ Division on August 21, 2025